This was different from the kind of collision that has become second nature to Rakeem Nunez-Roches over an eight-year NFL career.
After the first day of training camp with the Giants, the defensive lineman was driving away from the team facility in the Meadowlands complex when he was involved in a two-car crash that left him with a concussion and cost him full availability for five practices.
“Definitely was fortunate coming out of that situation,” Nunez-Roches said before Tuesday’s practice. “Looking at that accident and both vehicles being totaled, it was definitely an eye-opener. At the same time, shoot, I am in a car wreck every week at practice, so it wasn’t anything different. God blessed me to be safe — no bumps, bruises or broken anything, so it was all good.”
New Jersey state police did not comply with multiple requests made by The Post to supply a police report or information on the June 25 crash, which resulted in Nunez-Roches being sent to a local hospital to “do all these tests.”
Nunez-Roches, who signed a three-year, $12 million contract to bolster the run-stuffing interior defensive line, explained what happened through his eyes.
“I saw [the other car] approaching the stop sign … but as I am looking at her, I’m like, ‘She’s going way too fast. I don’t think she’s going to stop,’ ” Nunez-Roches said.
“I was able to apply the brake a couple seconds before she hit me because if I didn’t, she was going to hit me straight on. As she hit me and I spun in a circle. It was more frustration because I was heading home to help my wife put the kids down before bed check. I was really more mad about that than the accident.”
Ben Bredeson is competing with Tyre Phillips and Josh Ezeudu to start at left guard, and with John Michael Schmitz to start at center.
While not devoting his full attention to one or the other could be seen as hurting his chance to win either job, Bredeson took an optimistic viewpoint.
“Always been a goal of mine to be able to be versatile and play multiple positions,” Bredeson said before a practice in which he worked as a second-teamer.
“That’s something that I’ve always worked on and it’s what I’ve been doing since I came into the league.”
CB Adoree’ Jackson bumped into the slot for a couple snaps for the second straight practice.
Some of the NFL’s top corners offer that versatility to travel with top receivers, but is it a real possibility for Jackson?
Safety Jason Pinnock was the starter next to Xavier McKinney for the third straight day, which might be an indication that he is far ahead of Dane Belton and Bobby McCain after the three all rotated days as starters last week.
“We’ll see,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “We’ve got to keep practicing different combinations.”