Coming off a troubling season Taijuan Walker Jersey , New York Giants cornerback Eli Apple seemingly has grown up.

A bad attitude led to a suspension for the final game of the 2017 season and a couple of benchings earlier in the campaign has been replaced by a business-like approach.

That’s rapid progression for a soon-to-be 23-year-old who appeared to have worn out his welcome two years after the Giants drafted him with the 10th pick overall.

The change didn’t just come. It’s been coming since Pat Shurmur was named coach and Dave Gettleman took as general manager. They met with Apple after a 3-13 season and told him he would be starting with a clean slate.

”It is definitely important for me, first impressions,” Apple said. ”I just wanted to show that I was a hard worker and just continue to show that even now as we continue to go on with these practices, staying on top of that and trying to get better every day.”

Apple is going to be a key piece for the Giants in James Bettcher’s 3-4 system. He has the talent to be a lock-down cornerback, which would give the Giants two. Janoris Jenkins is on the other side of the field.

”They have a lot of confidence in me,” Apple said of the coaching staff. ”They told me that they feel I am a really good player and as long as I listen to them, I can get better and become a Pro Bowl player. I see that as well. With my athleticism, I see myself, especially in this defense, I see myself as excelling in it and I am looking forward to the season.is”

Apple started 11 of 14 games as a rookie and finished with two interceptions, 49 tackles, and a fumble recovery Authentic B.J. Upton Jersey , playing on a team that went 11-5 and earned a playoff berth. Last year was a horror. He started seven of 11 games, didn’t have an interception, and was suspended for the final game of the season for getting into an argument with coaches about playing on a scout team. The Giants called it conduct detrimental to the team.

Safety Landon Collins didn’t hesitate to say last season that Apple needed to grow up.

Apple won’t say what caused the turnaround, but it’s obvious something has changed.

On the field now, Apple is all smiles and ready to work. The former Ohio State product frequently goes over to Jenkins and picks his brain.

”Like when I see Jackrabbit make a play on the other side, I think to myself, `OK, it’s time for me to make a play if the quarterback comes my way,”’ Apple said of Jenkins. ”But it’s always fitting that I’m trying to pick his brain because he was All-Pro, Pro Bowl corner, so he’s definitely one of the best in the game. So, if I can learn as much as I can from him Chargers Uchenna Nwosu Jersey , that’ll make me a better player.”

Apple also is taking no downs off. Early in Saturday’s workout, he hounded first-year receiver Amba Etta-Tawo on a pass over the middle. Later on the Giants’ first day in pads, he gave second-overall draft pick Saquon Barkley a good bump on a running back.

Shurmur certainly has been impressed by the new version of Apple.

”With my eyes, just a few months into this, I’m seeing a guy that’s all about his business,” Shurmur said. ”He is very business-like and he is covering really well, which is a good attribute for a corner. I like the way he is working. He’s out there challenging but he is also being smart. Based on what I have seen, there are very few mistakes that he is making when we move the coverage around and I like the way he is functioning in the building.”

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In combining for 42 goals in five regular-season games and 25 in their first three playoff games, the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets often put on what coaches and players alike have described as a track meet on skates.

In Thursday night’s 2-1 win at Winnipeg that equaled the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals at two games each, the Predators never let the Jets get out of the starting block. It used two personnel changes, plus renewed commitments to defense and puck support, to stifle the NHL’s second-highest scoring team during the regular season.

With home-ice advantage back in its grasp for Game 5 on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Authentic Customized Patriots Jerseys , Tenn., the Predators will probably stick with the defense-first approach that pushed them into the Stanley Cup Finals last year.

“It was something we really focused on, playing solid defensively,” Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne said. “That was an amazing team effort. We played a really solid game throughout the 60 minutes and it’s obviously a big win for us.”

Many Twitter coaches scoffed at Nashville coach Peter Laviolette when he scratched Kevin Fiala, who scored the double-overtime game-winner Sunday night in Game 2, in favor of the older, slower Scott Hartnell. But Hartnell’s 98th playoff appearance was a good one, as he gave the Predators a physical presence while neutralizing Winnipeg’s top defenseman, Dustin Byfuglien.

Inserting Yannick Weber for Alexei Emelin on the third defense pair with Matt Irwin added some quickness and reduced the Jets’ chances of power-play time, as Emelin tends to take penalties.

Nashville used a more conservative forecheck and steered puck-carriers away from the ice’s center, forcing Winnipeg to settle for longer shots at times. And when the Jets did produce high-danger chances, Rinne stood tall in his best game of the series with 32 saves.

That included an improbable stop with the knob of his stick Browns Chad Thomas Jersey , which denied Josh Morrissey the game’s first goal about midway through the first period.

Winnipeg center Bryan Little described his team’s attempts to attack the Predators’ defensive scheme as “skating into a wall.” The Jets will have to come up with some adjustments for Game 5.

“When they’re defending that well,” Winnipeg right winger Patrik Laine said, “we just have to get pucks in deep and get a lot of O-zone time. Just try to shoot a lot and create some loose pucks.”

Laine was one of the Jets’ few bright spots from Game 4, snapping a six-game scoring drought with his marker in the last minute of the match. Laine could have had a hat trick were it not for two quality saves by Rinne, one late in the first period and another in the third period.

Simply put, the matchup of the league’s best regular-season teams has turned into point and counterpoint. Both Jets wins have been answered by Nashville victories, and the teams are now in best-of-three mode.

“We’re heading home playing in front of our fans in a big game,” Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban said. “We know they are going to get better as the series goes on. This is exactly what the teams expected it to be. Now we got home ice back.”

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