‘He gets the ball’: Jason Pinnock ‘excited’ to partner with Dane Belton

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Safety Jason Pinnock has had a disjointed climb to become one of the Giants’ most important defensive players.

He was a cornerback at the University of Pittsburgh who wasn’t a fulltime starter until his senior season in 2020. The Jets selected him as a corner in the fifth round of the NFL Draft the following year, and in the first 14 games Pinnock totaled 27 defensive snaps.

In 2022, the Jets released Pinnock, ostensibly to place him on their practice squad. The Giants had other ideas and were awarded Pinnock off waivers. They moved him to safety and Pinnock’s defensive snap total in the first eight games was … one. But a bye-week hand injury suffered by Xavier McKinney enabled Pinnock to accelerate his progress, accumulating 458 snaps in the last nine games, five of which he started.

Last year, Pinnock quickly separated himself from free agent Bobby McCain, rookie Dane Belton and Nick McCloud in the training camp competition to line up opposite McKinney. Pinnock started the first 16 games and had the third highest snap total on the defense (1,011) before a toe injury forced him to miss the finale.

McKinney departed via free agency in the offseason and for the first time in his pro career, Pinnock started camp as a starter. He has participated in every training camp practice and taken only first-team reps. But Pinnock’s drive to prove himself remains as it was when he was hoping to get on the field for the Jets.

“That’s where the grind comes from,” Pinnock said today. “And honestly, if I was that five-star guy who was starting from the jump forever, I think I would have that same mindset. My pops (Louis, a former four-year letterman at Indiana University) coached me for 10 years. It’s a true attitude, a true model that you live by. He put my first helmet on and he walked me across my senior night in high school. It’s instilled in me that I’m always going to grind.

“I’m grateful for every snap and every chance I get to go out there with the guys. It’s a building of the faith within me. That’s all I ask for.”

Though his job is secure, his mind will never be.

“They’re trying to replace you,” Pinnock said. “They want newer, cheaper, younger, faster, whatever. So, you gotta stay humble, for sure.”

Pinnock held off the posse for another day with the biggest play in practice Sunday morning when he intercepted a Daniel Jones pass that caromed off tight end Daniel Bellinger.

In this camp, the job competition at safety is for the position next to Pinnock. The top contenders are third-year pro Dane Belton and rookie second-round draft choice Tyler Nubin. But Nubin missed several practices with a calf injury. Last week, new defensive coordinator Shane Bowen said of Belton, “he’s taken ownership of it, and he’s fighting like hell to earn that job. Which he should. It’s his job to lose right now.”

Belton intends to keep it.

“I feel like I’ve progressed well in the new defense,” Belton said. “I feel like I’m getting it down, being able to finally make plays and just continue in that role where I can help the team. So, you know, I feel like it’s been going well.”

Both Pinnock and Belton have demonstrated a knack for attracting the football. In his first two seasons, Belton had four interceptions and three fumble recoveries.

“Dane, as we know, he gets the ball,” Pinnock said. “I think we all know that. I’m excited, man. I’m excited to be with another safety just like last year as far as X (McKinney). Just ready to get the ball. That’s the biggest thing in our room.

“In football history, there’s always been those guys that the football finds them. They got a niche for it. They’re living right, that’s what we call it.”

In 2023, Pinnock picked off two passes, including one in Miami he returned 102 yards for a touchdown, tying a Giants record. That ball is in a case in his home.

His current goals have nothing to do with numbers. His focus is on keeping his career arrow pointing up.

“Keep showing who Jason Pinnock is,” he said. “Getting better. I played corner my whole life. Every practice I have, every snap, it’s just slowing down for me. And I get to show my athletic ability where I know I separate from a lot of guys for what we do.”