Bobby Okereke-Shane Bowen relationship vital to Giants’ success in 2024

It takes time.

That is the case with most meaningful, lasting and successful relationships, right?

For the Giants to be hitting on all cylinders on defense this season, the returning middle linebacker and the new orchestrator of the operation need to be able to finish each other’s sentences. They need to be of one mind during games. One needs to anticipate what the other is thinking and expect what the other is set to implement. When one talks, the other hears the words inside his helmet radio transmitter. It is as if they are in lockstep, in unison.

This is what Bobby Okereke had with previous defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, their partnership allowing the brainy linebacker to blossom as he directed his teammates with poise and purpose. The longer these pairings are together, the stronger the bond. Martindale is no longer on the scene , though, and Okereke, in his second season with the team, now has a second coordinator, Shane Bowen, to get to know, get to learn from and get to sync with.

“It is a growing relationship,” Okereke said this week after a training camp practice in the intense heat. “Shane has to get to know me, I got to get to know him — how we’re going to be in stressful situations as the plays go on. But I think we’re developing a great rapport. Obviously, me and Wink had a great rapport last year. So, just working to develop that again.”

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It would have been easier for Okereke if things did not so sour between Martindale and head coach Brian Daboll, leading to an ugly confrontation the day after the 2023 season ended, resulting in Martindale walking out (he currently runs the defense at the University of Michigan ) and Daboll going through an extensive interview process before hiring Bowen. Mastering the inside and outside of an entire defense — something Okereke must do — is not a springtime project or a summer fling. It is a massive task, and it is ongoing.

Okereke in the huddle is the one player designated to get the call from the coordinator and relay it to the other 10 defensive players on the field. He must be in the middle of everything, because he actually is in the middle of everything.

“With that position, you want to be on the same page,” Bowen said. “You want to make sure that he sees things the same way you do in terms of concept, scheme. I think that will grow as we go in terms of why calls are being made in certain situations. You want to have that leadership from that position, obviously, because he touches everybody. The front, the back end, he’s involved with all of them. But that doesn’t go without saying, I want all our guys to have an understanding of why.”

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They all need to know “why,” but it is Okereke who must know the “why” and also the “where” and the “how.” Martindale’s blitz-heavy system was new to Okereke last season, and it took a bit for him to truly know it.

Once he did, it was lights out, as Okereke put in a sensational debut season for the Giants. He made such an immediate impression that he was voted in as a team captain despite being new to the squad. He led the team with 149 tackles, matched his career high with two interceptions, and set career highs with 11 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and six quarterback hits.

No wonder Okereke, 28, wanted Martindale to return and was dismayed when things ended so badly. Now, it is like starting over. Bowen is going to blitz less, play zone on the back end more often and rely on generating pressure from the front group before adding more bodies into the mix.

As an inside linebacker, Okereke will continue to run and hit and hunt the ball and tackle. There figures to be growing pains as he and Bowen figure out each other. The defense is ahead of the offense thus far in camp, but Okereke does not sound satisfied yet.

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“Getting a little more comfortable, starting to figure out where we can play with a little more instinct, a little more freedom,” Okereke said. “I think Shane’s doing a great job. We’re all acclimating pretty well.

“We’re in a good spot. We’re growing every day. Obviously, we’re still installing. Guys are still getting a feel for each other, how we communicate, how we play.”

Former Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, currently the Raiders’ head coach, spent four full seasons (2005-08) with defensive guru Steve Spagnuolo, and by the end they were in complete harmony. It does not always mesh as cohesively as that. It is the goal, though.

“He’s a veteran player at this point, so he asks good questions,” Bowen said of Okereke, “questions that I want those guys to ask. But I think it’s important for the entire unit to know why, like, why are we doing this? Why is this called? Because when you understand the why, you understand the strengths of it. You understand the weaknesses of it. There’s a little bit more buy-in.”

It is a process, again, for Okereke.

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