Bermuda?s NFL star Antonio Pierce is already making a big impression at the New York Giants? training camp.

Although the regular season opener is still more than a month away, the $33 million linebacker has caught two Eli Manning interceptions in practice sessions and is impressing his new team-mates with his intensity and enthusiasm.

?You like a guy to be able to step in, especially a new guy, and take charge of his huddle without overdoing it. He?s done that,? fellow linebacker Carlos Emmons said of Pierce, who joined the Giants from free agency in the off-season after four years at the Washington Redskins.

?You get some guys who come in and don?t do anything at all because they don?t want to alienate people, or someone who comes and forces themselves to try and be a leader.

?He came in, took the job on, picked up the defence fast and showed everybody he was serious about what he was doing. The leadership comes out of that.?

Pierce, who has been back to Bermuda twice this summer to visit father Cleo Burrows, cited this added responsibility as one of the main reasons behind his decision to leave the Redskins.

At FedEx Field, the 26-year-old spent three years on special teams before earning a starting spot courtesy of an injury to Mike Barrow. He then went on to lead the second best defence in the NFL in tackles.

Through free agency he has now been transformed from an impressive reserve to a big-money starter ? a role he appears delighted with.

?They signed Antonio Pierce, and that?s what I?m going to give them,? he told a New York magazine this week after a training session at the University of Albany where the players will be entrenched until August 24.

?How I am is: Whatever defence I?m on, we want to be the number one defence in the league. It doesn?t matter how many injuries you have. We want to be number one, and I?m trying to set the tone for that every day.?

Cross-town rivals the Jets are joining the Giants for two combined training sessions today and they will see their first action in a pre-season scrimmage at Cleveland a week today.

They also have visits from Carolina and the Jets followed by a trip to Super Bowl champions the New England Patriots ahead of their home opener against Arizona on September 11 at Giants Stadium.