Brian Burns was dissatisfied to see Shane Bowen fired as Giants defensive coordinator, even when he wasn’t stunned.
As a captain of the Giants’ protection, Burns had grown shut with Bowen throughout their two seasons collectively.
“I wish we could’ve gotten it done for him,” Burns stated Tuesday.
The Giants fired Bowen on Monday, lower than 24 hours after one other fourth-quarter defensive collapse led to a 34-27 loss in Detroit.
It was the Giants’ fifth loss this season in a sport wherein they led by at the least 10 factors, and the fifth time they blew a fourth-quarter lead.
Bowen’s exit got here two weeks after the Giants (2-10) fired Brian Daboll as head coach.
“It’s the nature of business,” stated Burns, who, like Bowen, arrived earlier than the 2024 season.
“Once you have that first firing, things start to happen from there. I’ve seen it before, so it wasn’t a crazy shocker, but it’s tough sometimes having that relationship with somebody for so long and then they just leave.”
Burns does, nonetheless, have a good bond with Bowen’s substitute.
The Giants named outdoors linebackers coach Charlie Bullen the interim defensive coordinator. When interim head coach Mike Kafka defined that call Monday, he referenced the manufacturing of Bullen’s place group, which is headlined by Burns.
Burns, a seven-year veteran, boasts a career-high 13.0 sacks by 12 video games, whereas his 17 tackles for loss match his profession greatest.
“I feel like he really brought out the best in all of us,” Burns stated of Bullen.
“I feel [Kayvon Thibodeaux] is playing his best ball of his career since he’s been here. I feel like I’ve been playing the best ball of my career, from a rushing standpoint, from a dropping [into coverage] standpoint, really just understanding the entire defense. … Charlie’s a guy that’s gonna shoot it straight.”
Bullen has 18 years of teaching expertise, together with 12 within the NFL. He spent seven seasons with the Miami Dolphins, with whom he overlapped with now-Giants basic supervisor Joe Schoen, and three with the Arizona Cardinals, the place he labored underneath then-DC Vance Joseph.
The Giants appointed Bullen, who’s in his second season with the staff, the interim defensive coordinator regardless of him not having any DC or play-calling expertise.
Bullen acquired the job over secondary coach Marquand Manuel, who was the Atlanta Falcons’ defensive coordinator from 2017-18, and line of defense coach Andre Patterson, who was a school DC and the Minnesota Vikings’ co-defensive coordinator from 2020-21.
“I think he’s a smart coach,” Kafka stated of Bullen. “I think he’s detailed. He’s aggressive, and his room has had a lot of production. I think he’s ready for the task, and I know he’s ready for the task.”
And whereas touted rookie move rusher Abdul Carter is but to place up numbers underneath Bullen — he has 0.5 sacks thus far — Thibodeaux and Burns have each spoken about how Bullen helped them with their mindsets.
“We’ve had many talks,” Burns stated. “He said, ‘To do something you haven’t done, you have to do something you haven’t done.’ That’s essentially talking about my process. I really feel like he helped my process out a lot, just from watching film to what I do on my body, and the intentionality that I put [into] everything.”
Bullen is now tasked with turning round a Giants unit that ranks thirtieth in complete protection (385.0 yards per sport) and in opponent scoring (27.8 factors per sport).
“If you want to look at it as a clean slate, you can,” Burn stated. “But we’ve got five [games] left, five guaranteed, and that’s all we’re gonna get. … All the goals that you wanted to hit, that you had penciled out before the season, why not go out there and give it all you’ve got to get to it?”
