Sometimes it can be hard to tell how Olivier Vernon feels by looking at him. He’s fairly stoic and stone-faced, never really letting any hint of what is happening inside him creep out.
So when fellow Giants linebacker Kareem Martin said Vernon is “excited” and “ready to get back out there with us” this week against the Panthers, the natural question was: How can you tell?
“I’ve gotten a bead on him a little bit,” Martin said, smiling.
Another way to tell is from the way others are talking about Vernon. After a few weeks of crying wolf regarding his pending return to the lineup from a high ankle sprain, the Giants seem fairly certain that this will be the game in which their best pass-rusher and top linebacker finally makes his season debut.