Landon Collins finished third in the voting for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2016. Now he’s one week into his latest NFL spot on the New York Giants’ practice squad and waiting to play for the first time since Dec. 21.

“It’s humbling for sure, coming from where you’re at the top,” Collins said on Friday, “and now you’ve got to build your way back up.”

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The former Alabama All-American originally joined the Giants as the first pick in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. A Pro Bowl safety in 2016, 2017 and 2018, Collins earned first-team All-Pro recognition in 2016.

But after four years in New York, Collins signed as a free agent with the Washington Redskins in 2019. The Giants didn’t use their franchise tag on Collins, which would have kept the defensive back in New York or allowed the team to trade him.

Collins had made it halfway through a six-year, $84 million contract with Washington when the Commanders released him on March 16. Collins received $42.669 million from the deal while playing 35 games in three seasons. He missed nine games in 2020 with an Achilles tendon injury and four games in 2021 with a foot injury.

Collins blamed his departure from New York on former Giants general manager Dave Gettleman.

“I want fans to understand that it wasn’t the Giants,” Collins said. “It was Dave Gettleman. It sucked. I wanted to stay, but Gettleman didn’t want me here, so I had to take my chances somewhere else. Coming back is a dream come true.”

The Giants brought him back as a practice-squad member on Oct. 7 for $358,200.

“They didn’t make me any promises,” Collins said. “They just told me to come in here and learn the dime position for now. That’s about it. Learn dime and safety. I said, ‘All right, cool.’ …

“Basically, the dime position is a defensive-back position, so I would put it in that category, so it’s like a linebacker, but it’s a DB position. When you play, you can also play a linebacker. I can play both.”

Despite the change in his circumstances, Collins said he is “still smiling” and hopes to make an impact for the Giants again.

In 2021, Collins had 81 tackles, seven tackles for loss, three sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries while playing 675 defensive snaps in 13 games with Washington, mainly in a safety-linebacker hybrid position. Collins was the only player in the NFL with at least three sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries last season.

“I can be a playmaker,” Collins said. “I know I’m still a game-changer, and since I left here, it was like, just when I started making plays, I’d get banged up or hurt and it wasn’t meant to be. This is another chance, and I want to get back to being a player for this team I know I can be. This is where I want to be, and knowing they wanted me back, I’m going to do everything I can to stay and make plays for the Giants again.”

Each NFL team can elevate two practice-squad players to active status for each game.

On Friday, New York coach Brian Daboll said Collins was “learning how we do things here. Again, your first week here, there’s a lot to learn, a lot to pick up schematically how we do things. He’s making progress.”

Daboll had the same “making progress” answer when asked what kind of shape Collins was in.

After winning four games during the 2021 season, New York has won four of its first five games in the 2022 season. The Giants play the Baltimore Ravens at noon CDT Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.