EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) New York Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale has been asked about talented edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux so much, he quips Charles Barkley Jersey that he feels like a defense attorney for the No. 5 overall draft pick in 2022.Why is he not getting sacks? Why is he not having a bigger impact? Why hasn't there been more pre sures?The questions are starting to go in a new direction: For instance: How good can this kid be?Thibodeaux is opening eyes in recent weeks with dominant performances. The Oregon product had a career-high three sacks in the Giants' 13-10 overtime lo s to the Jets on Sunday and that came a week after he had 1 1/2 sacks, including a strip-sack, in New York's 14-7 win over Washington.ADVERTISEMENT His 8 1/2 sacks this season are tied for third in the NFL, 1 1/2 behind Danielle Hunter of Minnesota and a half sack behind Josh Allen of Jacksonville. The guys who share the No. Chris Paul Jersey 3 spot with Thibodeaux are T.J. Watt of Pittsburgh and Myles Garrett of Cleveland. That's outstanding company.I think hes a great person," Martindale said Thursday before the Giants (2-6) practiced for Sundays game in Las Vegas against the Raiders (3-5). Hes becoming a leader of this defense as well. I think that his hard work is really paying off for him.Martindale said few see how hard Thibodeaux works, from studying in the cla sroom, looking at opposing tackles, perfecting his moves and just being coachable.Outside linebacker coach Drew Wilkins seemingly is always working with him.Hes taking advantage of situations when he gets one-on-ones, said Martindale, who has never coached a linebacker with double-digit sacks in his NFL career.Right now, Im at 8 1/2 sacks, most sacks Ive ever had in the NFL, so its like, Mikal Bridges Jersey its only up from here," said Thibodeaux, who had four as a rookie in 2022. The bar keeps continuing to move and Im proud of that.Thibodeaux admits he has looked at the sack leaders in the NFL this season and even he is impre sed by the company he is keeping. He laughed about it.Ill be honest, he said. Yeah, because now you are chasing something, sometimes when your team is not in the best position, you start to look at it like what can I use to motivate me or what motivation can you bring to the defense or the guys around, and its playing good football.Martindale has not hesitated to keep Thibodeaux on the field. Over the past three games, he has played all but eight plays.Oh man sacrifice your body, glorify your soul, Thibodeaux said. You know, you go out there and play Devin Booker Jersey hard, its going to hurt, but you know I gue s the recognition feels a lot better.While he was in good condition prior to his rookie season, Thibodeaux said it wasn't good enough, especially playing at a faster pace than college. The other thing that helped him was playing on a front line with Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.When you have great players alongside of you, its only right that you raise your level of play to theirs, Thibodeaux said. Dex has been playing great and hes going to continue to play great and I want to continue to match him so that we can Jae Crowder Jersey be a great front and a great defense.Giants coach Brian Daboll said neither backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor (bruised ribs) nor former Raiders and current New York tight end Darren Waller (hamstring) are likely to play on Sunday.While the Giants insist there is nothing wrong with placekicker Graham Gano, who has mi sed three of his past four field-goal attempts in the past two games, Mason Crosby was in the locker room after practice. Former Giant Robbie Gould also has had a tryout.___AP NFL: