Giants receivers licking chops to face Edelman

Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks and the other Giants receivers can’t wait to go against the Patriots’ Julian Edelman in Sunday’s Super Bowl.

And why not? The wide receiver-return man also plays in the secondary, a position he’s still learning.

Mario Manningham, for one, says it’ll be a mismatch in New York’s favor any time he or his fellow wideouts are covered by the former Kent State quarterback.

“He plays wide receiver,” Manningham said. “He’s not a real defensive back. Did he get drafted as a defensive back? We have a little bond going on knowing that we can beat somebody. We’re confident. I hope he’s out there.”

Cruz, the Giants’ leading receiver with 82 catches for 1,536 yards and nine TDs, said Edelman will be targeted.

“I see he’s very raw at that position, obviously, because it’s not his dominant position, but he’s quick, he’s fast, and he carries over a lot of the receiver stuff over to (cornerback), so we’ll see how it goes,” Cruz said. “Obviously, it’s going to be a position and an area that we’ll test out really early and see how it goes and how the game flows.”

Edelman said he’ll simply focus on the task at hand.

“It’s ultimately a foreign thing for me,” he said. “You’re doing everything backwards, from covering a guy to terminology on the defensive side of the ball. You have different terms. It’s like a different language from seeing things backwards on the track.”

New England coach Bill Belichick says Edelman is adjusting well.

“He has a knack for it; he picked it up quickly,” he said. “Again, he’s a smart, hardworking guy. If you ask him to do something, he’ll work really hard to get it right and try to do it. He developed a little bit as a defensive player this year, especially when we had some injuries.”

Cornerback Kyle Arrington said the Patriots are confident when Edelman moves to defense.

“He has that mentality, that beast mode in him,” Arrington said.

PARCELLS’ SUPER TREE

Bill Parcells, who is a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has an answer at the ready for the potentially thorny question of whether he has any rooting interest in this year’s Super Bowl. After all, he coached in Super Bowls for both teams, and both coaches vying for the trophy are former Parcells assistants who have a combined four Super Bowl titles between them.

So who’s it going to be, Tom Coughlin or Bill Belichick?

“I will watch the game with interest,” Parcells said with a laugh from his home in Jupiter, Fla. “I’m anxious to see what they’re doing and how they go about approaching things. Both of those guys mean a great deal to me, and I’m happy for their success.”

Parcells and Belichick were together on the Giants’ staff for both Super Bowl titles, as they combined to build a defense that was as dominant as just about any team’s of any era. All three were together for the Giants’ 1990 title run, with Belichick running the defense and Coughlin serving as receivers coach.

CLUTCH KICK REDUX?

The Patriots have won three Super Bowls during their dynastic run with Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. Two of those triumphs came on last-second field goals by their former place kicker, Adam Vinatieri, bolstering his reputation as perhaps the greatest clutch kicker in the sport’s history.

So as the Patriots wind down their preparations to face the Giants in another Super Bowl, it is only natural to wonder if their current place kicker, Stephen Gostkowski, will be up to the task if called upon Sunday.

“You think about it a little bit,” Gostkowski said. “But it’s not like it consumes my every thought. I’m worried about my first kick right now and worrying about having a good game. If it gets down to a situation like that, I’ll be ready. … My plan is to stay level-headed throughout the game and towards the end, too.”