The 2022 New York Giants may be experiencing some prosperity, but the franchise is not far removed from more tumultuous times.
Former Giants’ linebacker Jonathan Casillas recently appeared on a live recording of the New York Post’s “Blue Rush Podcast” with Jake Brown and Brandon London. While reminiscing on some of Big Blue’s more trying times, Casillas spoke candidly about ex- teammate and former Giants cornerback, Eli Apple, as well as the tension that arose between Apple and former marquee safety Landon Collins.
“He did some stuff that was very detrimental to the team,” Casillas said. “He should have been suspended earlier in the season because he was doing things over and over again in practice and in games that were like — bro what are you doing?”
Casillas mentioned that Apple, the Giant’s first-round pick in the 2016 draft, stopped running on plays both during practice and games, and insisted that he spoke with Apple about his lack of effort. However, the former linebacker also noted that ex-head coach Ben McAdoo did not confront the young player early in his tenure.
“That was the issue with Ben McAdoo. Some things that happened early in the (2016) season he kind of let slide, and then the next year… it was too late to start disciplining people,” Casillas said.
Ultimately, Casillas gave a raw take on Apple’s New York tenure.
“He was a little brat,” Casillas said. “And he was a young kid trying to play in a grown man’s league and he didn’t know what he was doing.”
Apple was traded by the Giants to the Saints in season in 2018 for a 2019 fourth-round pick and a 2020 seventh-round pick. He spent one more season in New Orleans, one in Carolina and is currently in his second year with the Bengals, who he helped reach the Super Bowl last season.
The linebacker also spoke about former Giants’ safety Landon Collins, who was no stranger to the “Eli Apple effect.” Collins labeled Apple a “cancer” during the 2017 season, and did so after Apple had acted out on several occasions.
In one particularly head-scratching moment, Apple drew the ire of teammates by tweeting during a 30-10 loss against the rival Dallas Cowboys he was inactive for. What’s worse, Apple retweeted a video of then Dallas receiver Rod Smith scoring a touchdown against the Giants. Apple and Smith were teammates at Ohio State University, but the incident and the others that transpired were not appreciated by Collins or any of the Giants staff.
When asked about Collins and the tension that arose between him and Apple, Casillas was humbly honest.
“It was probably something that Eli Apple did or didn’t do that Landon was probably on him about,” Casillas said. “Because Landon, no matter what anyone thinks of him, is a tremendous football player.”
