Darnay Holmes' secret to his hot start in NY Giants camp: 'My mind is at ease'

https://www.northjersey.com/story/sports/nfl/giants/2022/07/30/darnay-holmes-ny-giants-nfl-training-camp/65386821007/

The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Holmes plays bigger than his frame would suggest, and his ability to use his hips and quickness to get into the right place dictated by technique and his keys in a given coverage. 

Holmes graduated with his degree in less than three years from UCLA. He's got the skills and the confidence, having adopted chess as a hobby to help train his mind when Chip Kelly, his coach at UCLA, brought mindset coach Seth Makowsky to work with the team, specifically the quarterbacks.

Holmes became involved and fell in love with the mental intricacies of the game: chess and football.

"A lot of what I struggled with [in coverage], I did to myself, I should’ve been crafting at the top of the route more and working on the things I wasn’t efficient at," Holmes said. "When I got to the top of the route, I was guessing a lot, I wasn’t comfortable. Once this season came, I knew I had to be able to work the second phase in coverage. I could press, but what happens after that. I’m obsessed with improving, obsessed with figuring it out and that’s how it has to be at this level. There’s always an answer to the problem. It’s always about solving that problem, and being ready to solve the next problem."