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OFFICIAL 2013 Training Camp & Preseason: News & Tidbits Thread (1 Viewer)
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http://insidefootball.com/blog/2013/07/the-day-at-camp-july-30-2013/
The Day at Giants Camp: July 30, 2013Remember how bad the Giants run defense was last year?
Ok, I apologize if you’ve been trying to forget that – I don’t’ blame you. But we need to revisit it a bit in order for me to get into this report.
In 2012, the Giants run defense allowed an average of 129.1 yards per game, which put them 25th in the league in that category.
Yeah, that hurts, but there looks like there could be good news on the horizon. Thus far in camp – and yes it’s early, the run defense has looked quite stingy and a lot more aggressive than I recall. With today being the first day of pads – the players wore uppers –there were more stonewalling of running plays that were tried in between the tackles than I can recall all last year.
“I do like it,” head coach Tom Coughlin said of the defense’s showing. “ I’m going to like it even more if it’s maintained on Sundays. They do have a lot to prove.”
Of the run defense in particular, Coughlin said he was encouraged.
“I liked the enthusiasm. I liked the fact that from a defensive standpoint there isn’t a lot of room in there but it’s early, and that’s kind of the way it goes for offensive linemen, figuring it all out. As we advance in camp, it will continue to be very competitive.”
Perhaps as the offensive linemen get things figured out there won’t be as many stops for zero or negative yardage.. That remains to be seen when the real tests, the games and the padded practices, begin.
But if you’re looking for the silver lining regarding last year’s defensive woes, consider that the run defense is starting to come together this early is a good sign toward erasing memories of last year’s dismal performance.
INJURY REPORT
Receiver Hakeem Nicks (groin) remains limited. Also receiver Jeremy Horne was carted off the field with what Coughlin said he believes to be a foot injury. There was no immediate update on his status after practice.
No change to the PUP list, though I don’t think I’ve mentioned that defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul is the only one of the PUP guys who hasn’t been able to come outside to watch practice, presumably because he’s been inside getting treatment so he can stand on the grassy field for longer periods of time.
LINEUPS
Where’s the beef?
Look no further than the Giants defensive line, as defensive coordinator Perry Fewell unveiled a new look jumbo package in his front four, consisting of Mathias Kiwanuka and Cullen Jenkins as the ends, and Linval Joseph and Shaun Rogers as the defensive tackles. That’s 1,245 pounds of brute force that Coughlin hopes will create headaches for opposing blockers.
“Just matching personnel, but matching it with large bodies, some large people inside,” he said of the formation.
Speaking of Jumbo packages, Justin Pugh, who, if the depth chart were drawn up today, would probably be the first tackle off the bench in the event of an injury, saw snaps as the tackle-eligible in the team’s jumbo package run on short yardage and goal line drills.
Lastly, running back Michael Cox got a chance to return kickoffs today, the first time I think he’s had that opportunity..
PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS
* It was another solid practice for linebacker Kyle Bosworth, who by my unofficial count, was involved in two coverage sacks, blew up two running plays, and had one sack. Interestingly, I spoke with Bosworth earlier in the day about having to re-establish himself with a new team – that will be one of the articles I work on tomorrow – and he told me he’s been studying around the clock to make sure he not only knows his role, but the roles of the other 10 guys on the field, saying that it helps him do his job better knowing not just the play, but the background behind it.
Well, judging from the last few practices, it sure has paid off, as not only has Bosworth looked solid. He’s also worked his way to the first-team punt and punt coverage teams, a promising sign for his roster chances if he can keep this up in the preseason games.
One play in particular was breathtaking. Bosworth was in the backfield so quickly to stop Michael Cox, that the offensive lineman – I think it was Chris DeGeare, but I couldn’t tell for sure – trying to block him seemed like he never got out of his stance.
* In the receivers vs. defensive backs drills, Jerrel Jernigan and Victor Cruz did great jobs of running off their respective defenders to create separation.
* It seemed like a rough afternoon for tight end/fullback Bear Pascoe as a receiver. In one-on ones, he got his feet tangled up and went to the ground. Later in the practice, he dropped a pass that hit him squarely in the hands. It looked like Pascoe lined up more at H-back in this practice, with Ryan D’Imperio handling most of the fullback snaps with the first team.
* We nearly had our first fights of training camp, but the battles ended before it escalated. The first was a rare battle between two defensive teammates, Dan Connor and Adewale Ojomo, the grumbling coming on a special teams play.
Later on in 11-on-11, rookie Eric Herman didn’t like how defensive tackle Marvin Austin was coming at him, so there was a little pushing and shoving before that situation was diffused. Austin, by the way, beat Herman for a sack on Ryan Nassib.
* Victor Cruz might still be knocking some of the rust off, as Coughlin believes, but he sure did make a pretty snag of a red zone pass by Eli Manning, beating safety Antrel Rolle for the touchdown.
* Cornerback Corey Webster had nice position against receiver Hakeem Nicks on a fade pass to the end zone. Webster managed to slap the ball away for an incompletion.
* It was another good showing by “Damonster” – defensive tackle Damontre Moore, who continued to give offensive linemen fits. Moore has such a quick first step that often times the offensive blocker is just getting out of his stance when Moore is already by him. The result? A lot of holding, or so it seems..
* If there was one guy who stood up well to Moore, it was Justin Pugh. I’m really looking forward to seeing them go at it with full pads, but I’ll give props to Pugh for establishing a more solid base which enabled him to fend off DaMonster.
* Defensive end Justin Trattou found himself being held by offensive lineman Bryant Browning. I don’t mean to beat a dead horse here, but that third-string offensive line has not looked good at all this camp.
* A rare mistake by receiver Rueben Randle, who ran the wrong route on Eli Manning. The result? Cornerback Aaron Ross came up with the catch, the defense’s seventh interception is two days.
* In seven-on-sevens, cornerback Charles James just missed coming up with an interception of a Ryan Nassib pass. James went back to the defensive huddle and did his punishment pushups as his veteran teammates watched.
* This won’t make many people happy, but incumbent starting right tackle David Diehl was beaten by Justin Tuck, whom Diehl tried to drag down.
* Tuck also found himself going against tight end Brandon Myers on a play and it looked like Myers didn’t get low enough, the result being Tuck pushed him back. And Tuck, who was lined up inside at tackle on another play, cleanly beat James Brewer inside.
* Defensive end Adrian Tracy benefitted from what looked like a miscommunication on the offensive line when the tackle and tight end went to block the same guy. Tracy shot inside untouched for a sack.
* DeGeare is still having trouble handling Moore, as “Damonster” (best moniker ever) shot inside, forcing running back Michael Cox to cut back against the grain and to try to get around the outside edge.
* If I may borrow a page from general manager Jerry Reese’s book, I’m going to give you a number: seven. That’s seven interceptions collected by the defense in the last two practices. Oh, if only they came that often on Sundays, right?
*Linebacker Aaron Curry recorded his first “sack” of camp when he broke through the left side of the third string offensive line. Later in the practice, Curry picked off a pass thrown by Curtis Painter.
* Receiver Ramses Barden, who’s fighting for a roster spot, has quietly had a solid camp as far as running his routes cleanly and making the catches he needs to make. He probably won’t ever be a big yards after the catch guy because he seems to hit the ground much too soon before he can really get hit, but let’s give props to the guy for making the catches that need to be made.
* Tight end Jamie Childers, who has been working some at fullback, made a nice seal block to spring David Wilson around the edge. Wilson found daylight and started to run, but the whistle blew.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
We have been hearing the word “communication” a lot, especially from the members of the defensive backfield. In fact, cornerback Aaron Ross smiled broadly when we brought up the topic with him, telling us that they just came from a meeting led by coaching intern and former cornerback Sam Madison who, by cornerback Corey Webster’s count, stressed that word “at least ten times” during that one meeting alone.
“Communication is the main thing,” said Ross. “You have 80,000 people in the stands, so we can kind of hear each other call out the plays and things like that. “But if you can get down the communication and be on the same page as far as hand signals, knowing exactly what your safety has and what the linebacker has in front of you, I think that’s the biggest thing.”
According to the players I spoke with, the communication issue from last year resulted from guys not fully understanding what was being asked of them, differences in terminology when new players were plugged into the lineup due to injury, and some ambiguity in the coaches’ presentation of the game plan.
This year, there has been a greater effort by both the players and the coaches to make sure that no stone is left unturned and the sloppiness of the past is history.
“I think the coaches are doing a great job. They’re breaking down the defense so everybody can understand what’s going on,” Ross said. “All the corners will know exactly what the safeties are doing; all the safeties will know exactly what the corners are doing. We can all be on one accord. I think that’s the biggest way that we can eliminate the mistakes in the back.”
Ross said the added effort by the coaches should help the defensive secondary through things if the unit gets hit by injury.
“That’s definitely a huge part of the communication problems you see,” he said. “If it’s not explained as well the younger guys are not absorbing the information like the vets, I think that’s our job to bring them to the side and really explain to them once we go over the film in meetings that if they mess up they have to find out where their mindset was and why they were thinking that way. And that’s an easy way to get back on the same page.”
* * *
Speaking of Madison, Coughlin praised his coaching intern for the enthusiasm and energy he’s brought to the defensive backs meeting room.
“It’s good to have Sam on. Sam is very good medicine,” Coughlin said. “He was like that as a player when he was here with us, he was working and coaching and he did a nice job in that capacity. He did a good job with all the young corners then and the guys seem to respond and like the fact that he’s here right now.”
SAY WHAT?
It’s only been four practices now for receiver Victor Cruz, who during Sunday’s “Autograph Day” for fans, was still very much a fan favorite, especially every time he made an eye-opening catch.
But Coughlin, while happy to have Cruz in camp, said that the fourth-year receiver still isn’t quite back up to speed.
“He’s knocking some rust off. He’s made some really nice plays and he’s coming along and he’s definitely going to get there,” Coughlin said.
“He’s working and that’s the key. We know that’s the formula for him and he’ll work his way through camp and he’ll be ready to go.”
UP NEXT
The players are off tomorrow, but I’ll be working on a bunch of things, including the training camp report issue of Inside Football. Meanwhile, the players will be back on the field in full pads on Thursday.
The Day at Giants Camp: July 30, 2013Remember how bad the Giants run defense was last year?
Ok, I apologize if you’ve been trying to forget that – I don’t’ blame you. But we need to revisit it a bit in order for me to get into this report.
In 2012, the Giants run defense allowed an average of 129.1 yards per game, which put them 25th in the league in that category.
Yeah, that hurts, but there looks like there could be good news on the horizon. Thus far in camp – and yes it’s early, the run defense has looked quite stingy and a lot more aggressive than I recall. With today being the first day of pads – the players wore uppers –there were more stonewalling of running plays that were tried in between the tackles than I can recall all last year.
“I do like it,” head coach Tom Coughlin said of the defense’s showing. “ I’m going to like it even more if it’s maintained on Sundays. They do have a lot to prove.”
Of the run defense in particular, Coughlin said he was encouraged.
“I liked the enthusiasm. I liked the fact that from a defensive standpoint there isn’t a lot of room in there but it’s early, and that’s kind of the way it goes for offensive linemen, figuring it all out. As we advance in camp, it will continue to be very competitive.”
Perhaps as the offensive linemen get things figured out there won’t be as many stops for zero or negative yardage.. That remains to be seen when the real tests, the games and the padded practices, begin.
But if you’re looking for the silver lining regarding last year’s defensive woes, consider that the run defense is starting to come together this early is a good sign toward erasing memories of last year’s dismal performance.
INJURY REPORT
Receiver Hakeem Nicks (groin) remains limited. Also receiver Jeremy Horne was carted off the field with what Coughlin said he believes to be a foot injury. There was no immediate update on his status after practice.
No change to the PUP list, though I don’t think I’ve mentioned that defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul is the only one of the PUP guys who hasn’t been able to come outside to watch practice, presumably because he’s been inside getting treatment so he can stand on the grassy field for longer periods of time.
LINEUPS
Where’s the beef?
Look no further than the Giants defensive line, as defensive coordinator Perry Fewell unveiled a new look jumbo package in his front four, consisting of Mathias Kiwanuka and Cullen Jenkins as the ends, and Linval Joseph and Shaun Rogers as the defensive tackles. That’s 1,245 pounds of brute force that Coughlin hopes will create headaches for opposing blockers.
“Just matching personnel, but matching it with large bodies, some large people inside,” he said of the formation.
Speaking of Jumbo packages, Justin Pugh, who, if the depth chart were drawn up today, would probably be the first tackle off the bench in the event of an injury, saw snaps as the tackle-eligible in the team’s jumbo package run on short yardage and goal line drills.
Lastly, running back Michael Cox got a chance to return kickoffs today, the first time I think he’s had that opportunity..
PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS
* It was another solid practice for linebacker Kyle Bosworth, who by my unofficial count, was involved in two coverage sacks, blew up two running plays, and had one sack. Interestingly, I spoke with Bosworth earlier in the day about having to re-establish himself with a new team – that will be one of the articles I work on tomorrow – and he told me he’s been studying around the clock to make sure he not only knows his role, but the roles of the other 10 guys on the field, saying that it helps him do his job better knowing not just the play, but the background behind it.
Well, judging from the last few practices, it sure has paid off, as not only has Bosworth looked solid. He’s also worked his way to the first-team punt and punt coverage teams, a promising sign for his roster chances if he can keep this up in the preseason games.
One play in particular was breathtaking. Bosworth was in the backfield so quickly to stop Michael Cox, that the offensive lineman – I think it was Chris DeGeare, but I couldn’t tell for sure – trying to block him seemed like he never got out of his stance.
* In the receivers vs. defensive backs drills, Jerrel Jernigan and Victor Cruz did great jobs of running off their respective defenders to create separation.
* It seemed like a rough afternoon for tight end/fullback Bear Pascoe as a receiver. In one-on ones, he got his feet tangled up and went to the ground. Later in the practice, he dropped a pass that hit him squarely in the hands. It looked like Pascoe lined up more at H-back in this practice, with Ryan D’Imperio handling most of the fullback snaps with the first team.
* We nearly had our first fights of training camp, but the battles ended before it escalated. The first was a rare battle between two defensive teammates, Dan Connor and Adewale Ojomo, the grumbling coming on a special teams play.
Later on in 11-on-11, rookie Eric Herman didn’t like how defensive tackle Marvin Austin was coming at him, so there was a little pushing and shoving before that situation was diffused. Austin, by the way, beat Herman for a sack on Ryan Nassib.
* Victor Cruz might still be knocking some of the rust off, as Coughlin believes, but he sure did make a pretty snag of a red zone pass by Eli Manning, beating safety Antrel Rolle for the touchdown.
* Cornerback Corey Webster had nice position against receiver Hakeem Nicks on a fade pass to the end zone. Webster managed to slap the ball away for an incompletion.
* It was another good showing by “Damonster” – defensive tackle Damontre Moore, who continued to give offensive linemen fits. Moore has such a quick first step that often times the offensive blocker is just getting out of his stance when Moore is already by him. The result? A lot of holding, or so it seems..
* If there was one guy who stood up well to Moore, it was Justin Pugh. I’m really looking forward to seeing them go at it with full pads, but I’ll give props to Pugh for establishing a more solid base which enabled him to fend off DaMonster.
* Defensive end Justin Trattou found himself being held by offensive lineman Bryant Browning. I don’t mean to beat a dead horse here, but that third-string offensive line has not looked good at all this camp.
* A rare mistake by receiver Rueben Randle, who ran the wrong route on Eli Manning. The result? Cornerback Aaron Ross came up with the catch, the defense’s seventh interception is two days.
* In seven-on-sevens, cornerback Charles James just missed coming up with an interception of a Ryan Nassib pass. James went back to the defensive huddle and did his punishment pushups as his veteran teammates watched.
* This won’t make many people happy, but incumbent starting right tackle David Diehl was beaten by Justin Tuck, whom Diehl tried to drag down.
* Tuck also found himself going against tight end Brandon Myers on a play and it looked like Myers didn’t get low enough, the result being Tuck pushed him back. And Tuck, who was lined up inside at tackle on another play, cleanly beat James Brewer inside.
* Defensive end Adrian Tracy benefitted from what looked like a miscommunication on the offensive line when the tackle and tight end went to block the same guy. Tracy shot inside untouched for a sack.
* DeGeare is still having trouble handling Moore, as “Damonster” (best moniker ever) shot inside, forcing running back Michael Cox to cut back against the grain and to try to get around the outside edge.
* If I may borrow a page from general manager Jerry Reese’s book, I’m going to give you a number: seven. That’s seven interceptions collected by the defense in the last two practices. Oh, if only they came that often on Sundays, right?
*Linebacker Aaron Curry recorded his first “sack” of camp when he broke through the left side of the third string offensive line. Later in the practice, Curry picked off a pass thrown by Curtis Painter.
* Receiver Ramses Barden, who’s fighting for a roster spot, has quietly had a solid camp as far as running his routes cleanly and making the catches he needs to make. He probably won’t ever be a big yards after the catch guy because he seems to hit the ground much too soon before he can really get hit, but let’s give props to the guy for making the catches that need to be made.
* Tight end Jamie Childers, who has been working some at fullback, made a nice seal block to spring David Wilson around the edge. Wilson found daylight and started to run, but the whistle blew.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
We have been hearing the word “communication” a lot, especially from the members of the defensive backfield. In fact, cornerback Aaron Ross smiled broadly when we brought up the topic with him, telling us that they just came from a meeting led by coaching intern and former cornerback Sam Madison who, by cornerback Corey Webster’s count, stressed that word “at least ten times” during that one meeting alone.
“Communication is the main thing,” said Ross. “You have 80,000 people in the stands, so we can kind of hear each other call out the plays and things like that. “But if you can get down the communication and be on the same page as far as hand signals, knowing exactly what your safety has and what the linebacker has in front of you, I think that’s the biggest thing.”
According to the players I spoke with, the communication issue from last year resulted from guys not fully understanding what was being asked of them, differences in terminology when new players were plugged into the lineup due to injury, and some ambiguity in the coaches’ presentation of the game plan.
This year, there has been a greater effort by both the players and the coaches to make sure that no stone is left unturned and the sloppiness of the past is history.
“I think the coaches are doing a great job. They’re breaking down the defense so everybody can understand what’s going on,” Ross said. “All the corners will know exactly what the safeties are doing; all the safeties will know exactly what the corners are doing. We can all be on one accord. I think that’s the biggest way that we can eliminate the mistakes in the back.”
Ross said the added effort by the coaches should help the defensive secondary through things if the unit gets hit by injury.
“That’s definitely a huge part of the communication problems you see,” he said. “If it’s not explained as well the younger guys are not absorbing the information like the vets, I think that’s our job to bring them to the side and really explain to them once we go over the film in meetings that if they mess up they have to find out where their mindset was and why they were thinking that way. And that’s an easy way to get back on the same page.”
* * *
Speaking of Madison, Coughlin praised his coaching intern for the enthusiasm and energy he’s brought to the defensive backs meeting room.
“It’s good to have Sam on. Sam is very good medicine,” Coughlin said. “He was like that as a player when he was here with us, he was working and coaching and he did a nice job in that capacity. He did a good job with all the young corners then and the guys seem to respond and like the fact that he’s here right now.”
SAY WHAT?
It’s only been four practices now for receiver Victor Cruz, who during Sunday’s “Autograph Day” for fans, was still very much a fan favorite, especially every time he made an eye-opening catch.
But Coughlin, while happy to have Cruz in camp, said that the fourth-year receiver still isn’t quite back up to speed.
“He’s knocking some rust off. He’s made some really nice plays and he’s coming along and he’s definitely going to get there,” Coughlin said.
“He’s working and that’s the key. We know that’s the formula for him and he’ll work his way through camp and he’ll be ready to go.”
UP NEXT
The players are off tomorrow, but I’ll be working on a bunch of things, including the training camp report issue of Inside Football. Meanwhile, the players will be back on the field in full pads on Thursday.
netnalp
Footballguy
http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/giants/t-rock-s-take-on-the-giants-1.811990/practice-report-pads-prince-pugh-and-jumbo-looks-on-both-sides-of-the-ball-1.5798434 Practice report: Pads, Prince, Pugh and jumbo looks on both sides of the ballBy Tom Rock
There was a new sound at practice today. The pop of plastic rang through the crisp summer air as the Giants dressed in shoulder pads for the first time since their 2012 season ended on Dec. 30. And there was much rejoicing.
"It was good, it's always good to get started that way,” Tom Coughlin said. “It was real good to see … They were very enthusiastic about it and we'd like to think that would be maintained.”
Enthusiasm in football practice can often lead to fisticuffs, and while there were no brawls or real dustups, there were a couple of times tensions ran hot. The closest we came to an actual fight was when Marvin Austin and Eric Herman took a few swings at each other. This a few snaps after Austin was in the backfield and would have had a sack against Ryan Nassib. The altercation was quickly broken up. Adewale Ojomo and Dan Connor might have had an altercation on a special teams drill after they banged into each other, but two defensive guys hardly ever fight each other and they separated with love taps for each others’ helmets.
The only other fireworks came when Kevin Gilbride was screaming at Adrien Robinson, which was odd because it was in a walk-thru drill against a scout team.
The Giants are off tomorrow and then they come back on Thursday in full pads. That will increase the contact – and the tension – even further.
As for today’s report, we’ll start with the injuries as usual. One of note that happened during the practice was WR Jeremy Horne who did something to his foot and had to be carted off. The five guys on PUP stayed that way. Terrell Thomas (knee) was doing some football-type drills early on. Chris Snee (hip), Henry Hynsoki (knee) and Markus Kuhn (knee) were running as usual. And Jason Pierre-Paul (back) remained inside the facility during the workout. No need to have him standing around as he recovers from back surgery.
Hynoski, by the way, said he is still on course to return in time for the season opener. But that’s still a big we’ll see.
As for Mr. Nicks and his tight groin, he appeared to be feeling much better today. He was still limited, but he was certainly doing more than he did yesterday. In fact during offensive drills he was dancing and grooving and moving around to whatever soundtrack was playing in his head. It looked like he felt good. And he was running routes. He caught one pass in team drills, had another batted away from behind by Prince Amukamara, and was bottled up by Corey Webster on a fade in the red zone from Eli Manning. But he was doing the drills, which in his case is more important than catching the actual passes.
Which brings us to Mr. Cruz. He made a few really nice plays, including a diving catch along the sideline and a really pretty play in the red zone in which he stopped his route short, reached out to catch a pass from Eli Manning, and then pulled the ball in tight to his body to allow safety Antrel Rolle to fly past him. Cruz then cut up and into the end zone. Now there’s no way to say what Rolle would have done in a full contact drill, but the play was classic Cruz: Shifty, elusive, creative.
As you may have read already, though, Cruz is not quite up to speed. Tom Coughlin said he is still knocking off some rust after missing the offseason program. Cruz dropped an easy pass early on. He was the intended target when Manning threw a pass that was intercepted by Aaron Ross in 7-on-7s and it looked like Eli wanted Cruz to continue on his route or cut inside faster than he did. Cruz has never been the kind of player who catches every pass and nails every route. You live with those mistakes because of what he can do on the other plays like the one described above. The Giants, of course, would love to limit the mistakes as much as possible. No kidding.
Hey, we saw a new formation on defense today. The Giants went with a jumbo defensive front. At first it included Cullen Jenkins and Mathias Kiwanuka at ends and Linval Joseph and Shaun Rogers at tackle. That meant Justin Tuck was off the field. But then they tried it with Tuck on in place of Kiwanuka. Coughlin called it an experiment.
“Matching personnel and matching it with some large bodies, some large people inside,” he said.
The offense also trotted out a new jumbo look, although they did not use it in any of the team drills. With the usual starting offensive line they had Justin Pugh playing the sixth lineman slash tight end. That was the role that Will Beatty began his career at and if the Giants don’t think Pugh is ready to take over for Diehl as the starter at right tackle when the season starts, it could very well be the was Pugh starts his.
Speaking of Pugh, he was knocked backwards and rolled up and over by Damontre Moore who jumped offsides on one snap. That drew a yell from Tom Coughlin.
Later on in practice it was Pugh who jumped offsides. Worse was that as the play continued he was smoked by Adrian Tracy. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s struggled, I haven’t seen Pugh dominate yet. He was beaten today by a really pretty spin move by Damontre Moore to the inside, but guard Brandon Mosley was there to help him out. When the Giants run the ball you tend to see number 72 bouncing out of the piles and not in the middle of them generating push. That should come.
I was watching the wide receivers and corners in one-on-one drills today, but on the far field I looked up just in time to see David Wilson beating Aaron Curry deep down the field. Wilson should win that footrace every time. On the field I was watching in one-on-ones, Jernigan caught a deep ball from Manning over Aaron Ross
… Horne made a leaping catch on a deep pass from Manning …
Robinson made a nice catch holding onto the ball while David Caldwell was trying to rip it away
… Jayron Hosley broke up a pass from Ryan Nassib to Jernigan
… Nassib overthrew a deep ball down the right sideline for Hakeem Nicks, who had gotten past Trumaine McBride
…Ross broke up a pass from Nassib for Louis Murphy
… Will Hill did a nice job of poking a ball away from Bear Pascoe.
Some other observations from the team snaps: After Rueben Randle got the better of the competition yesterday, Prince Amukamara was able to break up a pass for the big receiver from Eli Manning early in 11-on-11s. Prince also poked out a pass from Manning to Nicks later on, as I mentioned above. He’s having a heck of a camp. He may be the best cornerback in New York now that you-know-who isn’t around anymore
… Will Mundy did a nice job breaking up a pass from David Carr for Robinson, but the better part of the play was Ryan Torain picking up a blitzing Aaron Curry
… Cullen Jenkins stuffed a run by Da’rel Scott early on and later did the same to Andre Brown. The Giants can’t wait to see him do that against Alfred Morris and DeMarco Murray
… Don’t discount Kyle Bosworth in the wide open linebacker competition. He’s not only a special teams player but he’s flashed some nice play on defense. Today he sliced through the line and would have destroyed Michael Cox had it been full contact. Bosworth has been turning in plays like that rather routinely. In fact he capped practice with another one, there to stop Cox on a run. Of course that’s what you get when you have a fourth-year veteran playing against third-stringers
… Cooper Taylor was in position to make a play on a toss to Cox going right … Randle caught a pass over the middle from Manning but Stevie Brown had a bead on him. Would he have broken it up in a game? Maybe. Would he have at least made it harder for Randle to catch it? Yup. Later on, though, Randle absorbed the contact from Corey Webster on a deep pass from Manning and came down with the catch rebound-style
… Aaron Curry picked off a pass from Curtis Painter intended for Kris Adams. It’s hard not to imagine what the Giants linebackers will be like if Curry and Rivers can stay healthy and play to their potential
… Nassib was not very sharp today, particularly on longer passes. He had warning track power in a home run derby. He threw a floated down the field for Barden that was incomplete and later launched a duck of a pass for Brandon Collins that was underthrown and intercepted by Junior Mertile. It was the second pick in two days for Mertile, who intercepted Nassib yesterday
… When the Giants went in their nickel package on defense they had Aaron Ross in the slot with Jacquain Williams and Spencer Paysinger on the field
… Bad drop by Bear Pascoe on a seam route down the middle. It looked like he turned late and wasn’t expecting the ball. Nice coverage by Paysinger to stick with him down the field on that play, though. Pascoe did a better job at fullback picking up a blitz by Herzlich in the red zone snaps, although Cullen Jenkins also made a push on the pocket from the outside.
There was a new sound at practice today. The pop of plastic rang through the crisp summer air as the Giants dressed in shoulder pads for the first time since their 2012 season ended on Dec. 30. And there was much rejoicing.
"It was good, it's always good to get started that way,” Tom Coughlin said. “It was real good to see … They were very enthusiastic about it and we'd like to think that would be maintained.”
Enthusiasm in football practice can often lead to fisticuffs, and while there were no brawls or real dustups, there were a couple of times tensions ran hot. The closest we came to an actual fight was when Marvin Austin and Eric Herman took a few swings at each other. This a few snaps after Austin was in the backfield and would have had a sack against Ryan Nassib. The altercation was quickly broken up. Adewale Ojomo and Dan Connor might have had an altercation on a special teams drill after they banged into each other, but two defensive guys hardly ever fight each other and they separated with love taps for each others’ helmets.
The only other fireworks came when Kevin Gilbride was screaming at Adrien Robinson, which was odd because it was in a walk-thru drill against a scout team.
The Giants are off tomorrow and then they come back on Thursday in full pads. That will increase the contact – and the tension – even further.
As for today’s report, we’ll start with the injuries as usual. One of note that happened during the practice was WR Jeremy Horne who did something to his foot and had to be carted off. The five guys on PUP stayed that way. Terrell Thomas (knee) was doing some football-type drills early on. Chris Snee (hip), Henry Hynsoki (knee) and Markus Kuhn (knee) were running as usual. And Jason Pierre-Paul (back) remained inside the facility during the workout. No need to have him standing around as he recovers from back surgery.
Hynoski, by the way, said he is still on course to return in time for the season opener. But that’s still a big we’ll see.
As for Mr. Nicks and his tight groin, he appeared to be feeling much better today. He was still limited, but he was certainly doing more than he did yesterday. In fact during offensive drills he was dancing and grooving and moving around to whatever soundtrack was playing in his head. It looked like he felt good. And he was running routes. He caught one pass in team drills, had another batted away from behind by Prince Amukamara, and was bottled up by Corey Webster on a fade in the red zone from Eli Manning. But he was doing the drills, which in his case is more important than catching the actual passes.
Which brings us to Mr. Cruz. He made a few really nice plays, including a diving catch along the sideline and a really pretty play in the red zone in which he stopped his route short, reached out to catch a pass from Eli Manning, and then pulled the ball in tight to his body to allow safety Antrel Rolle to fly past him. Cruz then cut up and into the end zone. Now there’s no way to say what Rolle would have done in a full contact drill, but the play was classic Cruz: Shifty, elusive, creative.
As you may have read already, though, Cruz is not quite up to speed. Tom Coughlin said he is still knocking off some rust after missing the offseason program. Cruz dropped an easy pass early on. He was the intended target when Manning threw a pass that was intercepted by Aaron Ross in 7-on-7s and it looked like Eli wanted Cruz to continue on his route or cut inside faster than he did. Cruz has never been the kind of player who catches every pass and nails every route. You live with those mistakes because of what he can do on the other plays like the one described above. The Giants, of course, would love to limit the mistakes as much as possible. No kidding.
Hey, we saw a new formation on defense today. The Giants went with a jumbo defensive front. At first it included Cullen Jenkins and Mathias Kiwanuka at ends and Linval Joseph and Shaun Rogers at tackle. That meant Justin Tuck was off the field. But then they tried it with Tuck on in place of Kiwanuka. Coughlin called it an experiment.
“Matching personnel and matching it with some large bodies, some large people inside,” he said.
The offense also trotted out a new jumbo look, although they did not use it in any of the team drills. With the usual starting offensive line they had Justin Pugh playing the sixth lineman slash tight end. That was the role that Will Beatty began his career at and if the Giants don’t think Pugh is ready to take over for Diehl as the starter at right tackle when the season starts, it could very well be the was Pugh starts his.
Speaking of Pugh, he was knocked backwards and rolled up and over by Damontre Moore who jumped offsides on one snap. That drew a yell from Tom Coughlin.
Later on in practice it was Pugh who jumped offsides. Worse was that as the play continued he was smoked by Adrian Tracy. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s struggled, I haven’t seen Pugh dominate yet. He was beaten today by a really pretty spin move by Damontre Moore to the inside, but guard Brandon Mosley was there to help him out. When the Giants run the ball you tend to see number 72 bouncing out of the piles and not in the middle of them generating push. That should come.
I was watching the wide receivers and corners in one-on-one drills today, but on the far field I looked up just in time to see David Wilson beating Aaron Curry deep down the field. Wilson should win that footrace every time. On the field I was watching in one-on-ones, Jernigan caught a deep ball from Manning over Aaron Ross
… Horne made a leaping catch on a deep pass from Manning …
Robinson made a nice catch holding onto the ball while David Caldwell was trying to rip it away
… Jayron Hosley broke up a pass from Ryan Nassib to Jernigan
… Nassib overthrew a deep ball down the right sideline for Hakeem Nicks, who had gotten past Trumaine McBride
…Ross broke up a pass from Nassib for Louis Murphy
… Will Hill did a nice job of poking a ball away from Bear Pascoe.
Some other observations from the team snaps: After Rueben Randle got the better of the competition yesterday, Prince Amukamara was able to break up a pass for the big receiver from Eli Manning early in 11-on-11s. Prince also poked out a pass from Manning to Nicks later on, as I mentioned above. He’s having a heck of a camp. He may be the best cornerback in New York now that you-know-who isn’t around anymore
… Will Mundy did a nice job breaking up a pass from David Carr for Robinson, but the better part of the play was Ryan Torain picking up a blitzing Aaron Curry
… Cullen Jenkins stuffed a run by Da’rel Scott early on and later did the same to Andre Brown. The Giants can’t wait to see him do that against Alfred Morris and DeMarco Murray
… Don’t discount Kyle Bosworth in the wide open linebacker competition. He’s not only a special teams player but he’s flashed some nice play on defense. Today he sliced through the line and would have destroyed Michael Cox had it been full contact. Bosworth has been turning in plays like that rather routinely. In fact he capped practice with another one, there to stop Cox on a run. Of course that’s what you get when you have a fourth-year veteran playing against third-stringers
… Cooper Taylor was in position to make a play on a toss to Cox going right … Randle caught a pass over the middle from Manning but Stevie Brown had a bead on him. Would he have broken it up in a game? Maybe. Would he have at least made it harder for Randle to catch it? Yup. Later on, though, Randle absorbed the contact from Corey Webster on a deep pass from Manning and came down with the catch rebound-style
… Aaron Curry picked off a pass from Curtis Painter intended for Kris Adams. It’s hard not to imagine what the Giants linebackers will be like if Curry and Rivers can stay healthy and play to their potential
… Nassib was not very sharp today, particularly on longer passes. He had warning track power in a home run derby. He threw a floated down the field for Barden that was incomplete and later launched a duck of a pass for Brandon Collins that was underthrown and intercepted by Junior Mertile. It was the second pick in two days for Mertile, who intercepted Nassib yesterday
… When the Giants went in their nickel package on defense they had Aaron Ross in the slot with Jacquain Williams and Spencer Paysinger on the field
… Bad drop by Bear Pascoe on a seam route down the middle. It looked like he turned late and wasn’t expecting the ball. Nice coverage by Paysinger to stick with him down the field on that play, though. Pascoe did a better job at fullback picking up a blitz by Herzlich in the red zone snaps, although Cullen Jenkins also made a push on the pocket from the outside.
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Green Bay Packers practice report
By Rob Demovsky | ESPN.com
Eddie Lacy's day to shine for Packers
By Rob Demovsky | ESPN.com
Bonus:
Eddie Lacy's day to shine for Packers
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netnalp
Footballguy
Coughlin's Press Conference (Transcript) Eric from BBI : 7:26 pm
Head Coach Tom Coughlin
July 30, 2013
Q: It’s not full gear, but how good was it to see some of the cracking going on today with the shoulder pads on?
A: It was good. It’s always good to get started that way, it was real good to see. The majority of the time we were on our feet. There was a few occasions where I didn’t appreciate it, but it was good to see them; they were very enthusiastic about it, you like to think that would be maintained.
Q: Have you seen Eli kind of enjoy his interactions with Nassib and almost adopt a teacher kind of role in a way?
A: Oh, I’ve seen that since day one, yeah, oh yeah. Eli has done a real good job at that, and he continues to do that, and he does enjoy that role.
Q: Is that something that you talked to him about maybe when you drafted Ryan?
A: Well, I talked to him about bringing in a young player and how challenging it was going to be for the young guy, and I’m sure he remembers his early days. He really does try to help.
Q: How is Aaron Ross doing, it looks like he’s playing well.
A: Yeah, he’s doing pretty good, yeah. Boy that interception yesterday was really good, really good, so I like very much what I see. He really enjoys being back, and he has a big smile on his face. He’s worked hard, I like it.
Q: It’s an unusual situation, I mean guys when they leave, they usually don’t come back. They usually don’t get a second chance.
A: Well, here’s a second chance. Another chance. He did pretty good when he was here, I like that thought.
Q: A guy like Jacquian Williams had a lot of experience before he got hurt. Is the injury slowing him down in the sense that he’s not where you wanted him to be?
A: Yeah, I mean there’s no question that the last year was a problem, in terms of the continuous development of any player. He just missed some time. But he’s back on track and I hope that he’s going to stay out there, that’s the key for all these people. The thing that they must understand is you’ve got to practice, you’ve got to practice.
Q: Some of the defensive guys seem to have a little chip on their shoulder. Do you like …?
A: I do like it. I’m going to like it more if it’s maintained on Sundays. They do have a lot to prove.
Q: Did you like what you saw from the run defense today? It’s the first time you’ve seen it with pads.
A: It’s early on. The best thing I can say is I liked the enthusiasm. I like the fact that from a defensive standpoint it doesn’t look like there’s a lot of room in there. But it’s early. That’s kind of the way it goes for offensive linemen. Figuring it all out, etc. Young guys, but as we advance in camp, it will continue to be very competitive.
Q: You used a lot of jumbo packages on defense where you had Shaun Rogers and Cullen Jenkins and Linval Joseph. Is that something you’re going to experiment with this year?
A: That’s being experimented with right now. Just matching personnel, but matching it with some large bodies. Some large people inside.
Q: How’s Jeremy Horne?
A: I’m not sure. They told me that he had some kind of a foot injury but I don’t know what to expect.
Q: And Hakeem is still limited?
A: He’s limited.
Q: Aaron Curry had a nice pick today, is he starting to show you some flashes of what you need to see?
A: We’ll see. He’s working his way back into football and that’s what he needs. He’s had his moments where he hasn’t been able to compete and play. Now he’s back at it and let’s hope he continues.
Q: How nice has it been to have Sam Madison around again?
A: It’s good to have Sam. Sam’s good. Very good medicine. Sam was like that as a player when he was here with us. He was working and he’s coaching and he did a nice job in that capacity. He did a good job with all the young corners then. The guys seem to respond and like the fact that he’s here right now.
Q: Those young corners he played with, they’re now the old corners, so they have a connection to him obviously.
A: They do have a connection and they’re happy to have him back. Back and around.
Q: Victor missed the offseason. Are you kind of surprised at how he looks like he hasn’t missed a beat out there?
A: I don’t know what you’re seeing. He’s knocking some rust off. He definitely is. He’s made some really nice plays. He’s coming along and he’s definitely going to get there. I wouldn’t tell you he’s (there). He’s working. He’s out here. We know that’s the formula for him and he’ll work his way through camp and he’ll be ready to go.
Head Coach Tom Coughlin
July 30, 2013
Q: It’s not full gear, but how good was it to see some of the cracking going on today with the shoulder pads on?
A: It was good. It’s always good to get started that way, it was real good to see. The majority of the time we were on our feet. There was a few occasions where I didn’t appreciate it, but it was good to see them; they were very enthusiastic about it, you like to think that would be maintained.
Q: Have you seen Eli kind of enjoy his interactions with Nassib and almost adopt a teacher kind of role in a way?
A: Oh, I’ve seen that since day one, yeah, oh yeah. Eli has done a real good job at that, and he continues to do that, and he does enjoy that role.
Q: Is that something that you talked to him about maybe when you drafted Ryan?
A: Well, I talked to him about bringing in a young player and how challenging it was going to be for the young guy, and I’m sure he remembers his early days. He really does try to help.
Q: How is Aaron Ross doing, it looks like he’s playing well.
A: Yeah, he’s doing pretty good, yeah. Boy that interception yesterday was really good, really good, so I like very much what I see. He really enjoys being back, and he has a big smile on his face. He’s worked hard, I like it.
Q: It’s an unusual situation, I mean guys when they leave, they usually don’t come back. They usually don’t get a second chance.
A: Well, here’s a second chance. Another chance. He did pretty good when he was here, I like that thought.
Q: A guy like Jacquian Williams had a lot of experience before he got hurt. Is the injury slowing him down in the sense that he’s not where you wanted him to be?
A: Yeah, I mean there’s no question that the last year was a problem, in terms of the continuous development of any player. He just missed some time. But he’s back on track and I hope that he’s going to stay out there, that’s the key for all these people. The thing that they must understand is you’ve got to practice, you’ve got to practice.
Q: Some of the defensive guys seem to have a little chip on their shoulder. Do you like …?
A: I do like it. I’m going to like it more if it’s maintained on Sundays. They do have a lot to prove.
Q: Did you like what you saw from the run defense today? It’s the first time you’ve seen it with pads.
A: It’s early on. The best thing I can say is I liked the enthusiasm. I like the fact that from a defensive standpoint it doesn’t look like there’s a lot of room in there. But it’s early. That’s kind of the way it goes for offensive linemen. Figuring it all out, etc. Young guys, but as we advance in camp, it will continue to be very competitive.
Q: You used a lot of jumbo packages on defense where you had Shaun Rogers and Cullen Jenkins and Linval Joseph. Is that something you’re going to experiment with this year?
A: That’s being experimented with right now. Just matching personnel, but matching it with some large bodies. Some large people inside.
Q: How’s Jeremy Horne?
A: I’m not sure. They told me that he had some kind of a foot injury but I don’t know what to expect.
Q: And Hakeem is still limited?
A: He’s limited.
Q: Aaron Curry had a nice pick today, is he starting to show you some flashes of what you need to see?
A: We’ll see. He’s working his way back into football and that’s what he needs. He’s had his moments where he hasn’t been able to compete and play. Now he’s back at it and let’s hope he continues.
Q: How nice has it been to have Sam Madison around again?
A: It’s good to have Sam. Sam’s good. Very good medicine. Sam was like that as a player when he was here with us. He was working and he’s coaching and he did a nice job in that capacity. He did a good job with all the young corners then. The guys seem to respond and like the fact that he’s here right now.
Q: Those young corners he played with, they’re now the old corners, so they have a connection to him obviously.
A: They do have a connection and they’re happy to have him back. Back and around.
Q: Victor missed the offseason. Are you kind of surprised at how he looks like he hasn’t missed a beat out there?
A: I don’t know what you’re seeing. He’s knocking some rust off. He definitely is. He’s made some really nice plays. He’s coming along and he’s definitely going to get there. I wouldn’t tell you he’s (there). He’s working. He’s out here. We know that’s the formula for him and he’ll work his way through camp and he’ll be ready to go.
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Nice addition, looking forward to any FBG who can dig up any information on how the Rams WR and RB depth chart battles are looking!
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What we learned Wednesday: Never a dull moment for Eagles
By Chris Wesseling
Around the League Writer
By Chris Wesseling
Around the League Writer
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Steelers training camp observations: Can the D replace James Harrison?
By Ryan Wilson | CBSSports.com
August 1, 2013 10:15 am ET
(click on the linked article to see the related pictures)
By Ryan Wilson | CBSSports.com
August 1, 2013 10:15 am ET
(click on the linked article to see the related pictures)
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It's not all on Andrew Luck
Colts plan to use talented tight end duo and running game to ease QB's burden
By John Clayton | ESPN.com
Colts plan to use talented tight end duo and running game to ease QB's burden
By John Clayton | ESPN.com
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Rex Ryan in unenviable position
Under pressure to win, Jets coach dealing with talent-deficient offense
By John Clayton | ESPN.com
Under pressure to win, Jets coach dealing with talent-deficient offense
By John Clayton | ESPN.com
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Marrone wants Bills to hurry up
New coach brings faster-paced offense, but how quickly will young talent develop?
By John Clayton | ESPN.com
New coach brings faster-paced offense, but how quickly will young talent develop?
By John Clayton | ESPN.com
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Browns not done rebuilding
Healthy Trent Richardson, defensive switch should pay off, but how much?
By John Clayton | ESPN.com
Healthy Trent Richardson, defensive switch should pay off, but how much?
By John Clayton | ESPN.com
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netnalp
Footballguy
The Day at Giants Camp: August 1, 2013
Head coach Tom Coughlin is not one to miss a minute of training camp for an optional event. that’s scheduled to take place hundreds of miles away from where his team is training.
But this weekend is going to be a little different, as Coughlin and a group from the team’s front office will board a private jet to Canton, Ohio, the site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which on Saturday, will opens its doors to one of the Giants’ very own.
That would be Bill Parcells, the Giants head coach from 1983 to 1990, who led the team to its first two Super Bowl victories in franchise history, and Coughlin’s boss and mentor from 1988 to 1990.
“I’ll leave after practice, the coaches will take over the evening meetings and then we’re going to go for the ceremony to honor Bill, be there for him as Giant to Giant, and then we’ll travel back,” Coughlin said of his itinerary.
It’s been 18 years since Coughlin has been in Canton, the last time, of course, being in 1995 when as head coach of the then expansion Jacksonville Jaguars, his team fell to the league’s other expansion franchise, the Carolina Panthers, 20-14.
But this trip is about being there for Parcells, and for Coughlin, who said it will be his first time ever attending an enshrinement ceremony. He is looking forward to being there to support his friend and mentor with whom he shared so many fond memories that it was impossible for him to pick one that stood out the most when he was asked to do so.
“There’s a lot of moments and big games and exceptional players making great plays and the great enjoyment of being a part of it” Coughlin said. “There were many of those examples.”
This weekend, Coughlin will be able to add another fond memory to his collection as he honors his friend and former boss.
ROSTER TRANSACTION
Unfortunately when a young undrafted prospect suffers an injury in training camp, that pretty much signals the end of his stay with the team. And that’s exactly what happened to receiver Jeremy Horne, who near the conclusion of Tuesday’s practice, suffered an undisclosed foot injury that necessitated him being carted off the field.
Horne, out of Massachusetts, was subsequently waived/injured. Taking his spot on the roster was another UMass alumnus, receiver Julian Talley, who was with the Giants in camp last year.
INJURY REPORT
Receiver Hakeem Nicks (groin) has gone from being limited to being inactive as he sat out all of today’s indoor practice.
“He’s being treated for a groin; it’s a day-to-day type of thing,” Coughlin said.
When asked if the injury was something to be concerned with, Coughlin shook his head. “I don’t think so. They just want to quiet it down and make sure it heals before he goes back out and continues to maybe make it worse.”
It’s also status quo for the five guys on PUP, cornerback Terrell Thomas (knee), defensive tackle Markus Kuhn (knee), fullback Henry Hynoski (knee), guard Chris Snee (hip) and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (back).
Interestingly, when Coughlin was asked if any of the PUP guys were close to being activated, he started to offer some information, but then stopped himself, saying he preferred to wait and see in the event anything changed.
LINEUPS
Defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins was excused from today’s practice due to a death in the family. In his absence, the defensive interior consisted of Linval Joseph and Shaun Rogers. Rogers had been previously working with the second-string team.
Rookie first rounder Justin Pugh was given a few snaps with the starters today at right tackle in place of David Diehl. I’ll have more on that, as well as on an interesting formation in which tight end Bear Pascoe was split out wide for one play, in the practice highlights.
For the first time in this camp, the coaches started mixing up the lineups, meaning that you might see the first team offensive backfield playing behind the second team offensive line, who was working against the starting defensive line. It make sense as you never know when the backups will be needed to go into a game, so why not find out what they can do against the starters?
PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS
* Cornerback Prince Amukamara continues to have a fine camp, this time coming up with the very first interception of the day in 11-on-11 drills and this one coming on an Eli Manning pass intended for Victor Cruz. I don’t think I’ve seen Amukamara get beat deep once this camp and with each play he makes, his confidence level jumps up yet another notch.
Later on, Webster picked off Manning’s pass intended for Cruz. It was hard to say for sure, but I think in both cases, the picks were on Cruz, who looked like he turned for the ball just a split second too late, something that receivers coach Kevin M. Gilbride spoke about earlier today when he was asked what exactly Coughlin meant when he spoke about Cruz needing to knock the rust off.
* We had a chance to see running back David Wilson pass block and it wasn’t pretty. The good news is that Wilson picked up the correct man. The bad news is that he didn’t set his base and was bent backwards, just barely holding up his man (who didn’t look like he was charging at full speed anyway). If that play had been full speed, I guarantee you that Wilson would have been knocked on his rear end and the quarterback would have been hit.
* Defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins made a nice stop on a run headed up the gut. He was quick off the snap and his blocker barely got a hand on him.
* I said it in an earlier report, but I need to say it again. Tight end Adrien Robinson is having a very, very strong camp. I don’t think I’ve seen him drop a single pass and he uses his big body exceptionally well to shield himself and the ball against defenders. He had a nice reception against linebacker Aaron Curry, who trailed him in coverage by a step or two, and Robinson managed to separate once he turned up field.
Robinson also came all the way across the field to come up with a gorgeous catch on a ball thrown slightly in front of him. He kept his balance and turned up field for some additional yardage.
Today we also got a chance to see him do a little blocking and he put forth a very encouraging showing as far as exploding into his man and sealing off the edge for a Da’Rel Scott outside run.
Coughlin has obviously noticed Robinson as well. “He keeps making steady progress. Today I thought he practiced well, made some plays. More importantly, it looked like from an assignment standpoint, he did well. We look forward to having him continue that way.”
* Safety Tyler Sash nearly had another interception today when quarterback Curtis Painter overshot receiver Brandon Collins deep. However, Sash himself was a little too deep in coverage, and by the time he started to adjust to where the ball was going, the pigskin had landed.
* Running back Ryan Torain showed a nice little burst of quickness when after taking the handoff, he quickly saw the crease had closed up. So he cut things back against the grain and made something out of nothing.
* Nice job by guard Brandon Mosley to hold back blitzing linebacker Jake Muasau who tried to shoot a gap. Also a nice job by Mosley to pick up a blitzing Jayron Hosley on a corner blitz. Not so nice of a job by Mosley, though, against defensive end Justin Trattou, who knifed inside of him and “sacked” Ryan Nassib. And a poor job by Mosley when he resorted to holding to stop defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins from wreaking havoc.
* Running back Michael Cox spotted a hole in between the tackles and quickly hit it, picking up some nice yardage in the process. Thus far in this camp, Cox hasn’t really done well between the tackles, so this was encouraging to see.
* Cox and Trattou did mix it up just a little later on in the practice. Trattou, by the way, wears number 69, which was noted training camp brawler Rich Seubert’s jersey number. The magic apparently lives on, I guess.
* I mentioned that the officials were at practice today for the first time. Well, that wasn’t a good thing for safety Cooper Taylor on punt coverage drills because twice, Taylor was caught being pushed out of bounds. The rookie needs to hold his ground a little better and be aware of where the sideline is moving forward.
* After looking unsure in seven-on-seven drills – there were at least three coverage sacks in this sequence because he held the ball too long, Nassib began thrown some real pretty deep passes. I’ll even go so far as to say that I thought this was his best practice of camp so far, as he just seemed to settle down, go through his reads and connect with his receivers.
* I mentioned earlier that tight end Bear Pascoe was split out wide and that he made the reception against Prince Amukamara, of all people. Pascoe also had nice day blocking from the tight end spot, particularly when he threw a textbook seal block to spring David Wilson around the edge.
* Wilson also benefits from a good block by Justin Pugh, who was given some first-team snaps at right tackle in place of David Diehl. Pugh squared up his man, safety Antrel Rolle, beautifully and Wilson took advantage of the distraction to squirt through the line for a decent gain.
* Matt McCants has been taking snaps at center in this cap and he had a botched exchange with Curtis Painter. I couldn’t see who was at fault, but I did see the ball on the ground and I did hear the coaches yelling about it.
* It looked like defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka got the better of right tackle David Diehl, who pushed Kiwi down. On the other side of the line on that same play, it was a rare whiff by left tackle Will Beatty, who was by Justin Tuck.
* The Giants ended practice with some red zone drills and thanks to the line of players blocking our view, I couldn’t’ see all of what was happening. I did, however, see 5-9 cornerback Laron Scott pick off a pass intended for 6-6 receiver Ramses Barden.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
I truly feel for the fans that get just a single month all year to watch the Giants in training camp practice. There are people who the pilgrimage from hundreds of miles away, a trip that often time requires advance scheduling of time off from work and orchestrating the kids for the long ride, only to be at the mercy of the weather when the big day comes.
That’s unfortunately what happened today as due to rain, the Giants practice was moved inside to the field house, which is not set up to receive the general public.
I’m sure there were more than a few folks who intended to come to practice today, only to be discouraged by the weather which forced the Giants to make a “game-time” decision whether to move practice inside.
I also know it’s probably no consolation to those who used to enjoy the fields and access to the players at Albany, but the sad fact is that under the current CBA, if a practice is lost due to inclement weather, it can’t be made up.
Since there are so few precious practices allowed by the CBA, isn’t it better that the team find a way to take advantage of the time afford to it under the CBA for practice than to risk having even a single practice wiped out due to inclement weather?
I know it stinks, but hopefully if the Giants are in the post season in January, the disappointment felt by anyone who hoped to come to practice on a day it was forced inside due to the weather will be replaced by euphoria.
* * *
I put this story up on Yahoo! Sports’ page, but I want to make sure I mention it here because it’s definitely worth the read. It’s about linebacker Mark Herzlich’s aspirations to make a difference in the lives of others. If you want to see a whole other side of the third-year linebacker, be sure to check this story out.
SAY WHAT?
How many times have we heard veteran players who miss time for whatever the reason shrug it off as though it’s no big deal, say that they can get caught up because they have been in the system for a while and know what they’re doing so they can get back on track quickly.
Too many, as I recall, most recently Hakeem Nicks, who wasn’t worried about missing practice time when he last spoke to the media in the spring (Nicks has been ducking us so far in training camp, so we’ll try again tomorrow to see what he has to say.)
Anyway, receivers coach Kevin M. Gilbride thinks that’s a misguided opinion to have.
“He needs to practice and he knows it,” Gilbride said. “He and I talk about it all the time. In order for you to be ready for the season, you need to have done it, and done it over and over, and done it wrong and made the adjustment and have to become part of what you do, the correct way to do it.
“He’s not there yet. He needs to continue to improve and he knows that. In order for him to produce the way that he wants to produce, and the way we need him to produce, he needs to get ready for that.”
UP NEXT
The Giants are planning to be in full pads on Friday, with practice scheduled for 1:30 p.m. The preliminary weather report, as I write this, promises to be more favorable that today’s rainy conditions.
Head coach Tom Coughlin is not one to miss a minute of training camp for an optional event. that’s scheduled to take place hundreds of miles away from where his team is training.
But this weekend is going to be a little different, as Coughlin and a group from the team’s front office will board a private jet to Canton, Ohio, the site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which on Saturday, will opens its doors to one of the Giants’ very own.
That would be Bill Parcells, the Giants head coach from 1983 to 1990, who led the team to its first two Super Bowl victories in franchise history, and Coughlin’s boss and mentor from 1988 to 1990.
“I’ll leave after practice, the coaches will take over the evening meetings and then we’re going to go for the ceremony to honor Bill, be there for him as Giant to Giant, and then we’ll travel back,” Coughlin said of his itinerary.
It’s been 18 years since Coughlin has been in Canton, the last time, of course, being in 1995 when as head coach of the then expansion Jacksonville Jaguars, his team fell to the league’s other expansion franchise, the Carolina Panthers, 20-14.
But this trip is about being there for Parcells, and for Coughlin, who said it will be his first time ever attending an enshrinement ceremony. He is looking forward to being there to support his friend and mentor with whom he shared so many fond memories that it was impossible for him to pick one that stood out the most when he was asked to do so.
“There’s a lot of moments and big games and exceptional players making great plays and the great enjoyment of being a part of it” Coughlin said. “There were many of those examples.”
This weekend, Coughlin will be able to add another fond memory to his collection as he honors his friend and former boss.
ROSTER TRANSACTION
Unfortunately when a young undrafted prospect suffers an injury in training camp, that pretty much signals the end of his stay with the team. And that’s exactly what happened to receiver Jeremy Horne, who near the conclusion of Tuesday’s practice, suffered an undisclosed foot injury that necessitated him being carted off the field.
Horne, out of Massachusetts, was subsequently waived/injured. Taking his spot on the roster was another UMass alumnus, receiver Julian Talley, who was with the Giants in camp last year.
INJURY REPORT
Receiver Hakeem Nicks (groin) has gone from being limited to being inactive as he sat out all of today’s indoor practice.
“He’s being treated for a groin; it’s a day-to-day type of thing,” Coughlin said.
When asked if the injury was something to be concerned with, Coughlin shook his head. “I don’t think so. They just want to quiet it down and make sure it heals before he goes back out and continues to maybe make it worse.”
It’s also status quo for the five guys on PUP, cornerback Terrell Thomas (knee), defensive tackle Markus Kuhn (knee), fullback Henry Hynoski (knee), guard Chris Snee (hip) and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (back).
Interestingly, when Coughlin was asked if any of the PUP guys were close to being activated, he started to offer some information, but then stopped himself, saying he preferred to wait and see in the event anything changed.
LINEUPS
Defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins was excused from today’s practice due to a death in the family. In his absence, the defensive interior consisted of Linval Joseph and Shaun Rogers. Rogers had been previously working with the second-string team.
Rookie first rounder Justin Pugh was given a few snaps with the starters today at right tackle in place of David Diehl. I’ll have more on that, as well as on an interesting formation in which tight end Bear Pascoe was split out wide for one play, in the practice highlights.
For the first time in this camp, the coaches started mixing up the lineups, meaning that you might see the first team offensive backfield playing behind the second team offensive line, who was working against the starting defensive line. It make sense as you never know when the backups will be needed to go into a game, so why not find out what they can do against the starters?
PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS
* Cornerback Prince Amukamara continues to have a fine camp, this time coming up with the very first interception of the day in 11-on-11 drills and this one coming on an Eli Manning pass intended for Victor Cruz. I don’t think I’ve seen Amukamara get beat deep once this camp and with each play he makes, his confidence level jumps up yet another notch.
Later on, Webster picked off Manning’s pass intended for Cruz. It was hard to say for sure, but I think in both cases, the picks were on Cruz, who looked like he turned for the ball just a split second too late, something that receivers coach Kevin M. Gilbride spoke about earlier today when he was asked what exactly Coughlin meant when he spoke about Cruz needing to knock the rust off.
* We had a chance to see running back David Wilson pass block and it wasn’t pretty. The good news is that Wilson picked up the correct man. The bad news is that he didn’t set his base and was bent backwards, just barely holding up his man (who didn’t look like he was charging at full speed anyway). If that play had been full speed, I guarantee you that Wilson would have been knocked on his rear end and the quarterback would have been hit.
* Defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins made a nice stop on a run headed up the gut. He was quick off the snap and his blocker barely got a hand on him.
* I said it in an earlier report, but I need to say it again. Tight end Adrien Robinson is having a very, very strong camp. I don’t think I’ve seen him drop a single pass and he uses his big body exceptionally well to shield himself and the ball against defenders. He had a nice reception against linebacker Aaron Curry, who trailed him in coverage by a step or two, and Robinson managed to separate once he turned up field.
Robinson also came all the way across the field to come up with a gorgeous catch on a ball thrown slightly in front of him. He kept his balance and turned up field for some additional yardage.
Today we also got a chance to see him do a little blocking and he put forth a very encouraging showing as far as exploding into his man and sealing off the edge for a Da’Rel Scott outside run.
Coughlin has obviously noticed Robinson as well. “He keeps making steady progress. Today I thought he practiced well, made some plays. More importantly, it looked like from an assignment standpoint, he did well. We look forward to having him continue that way.”
* Safety Tyler Sash nearly had another interception today when quarterback Curtis Painter overshot receiver Brandon Collins deep. However, Sash himself was a little too deep in coverage, and by the time he started to adjust to where the ball was going, the pigskin had landed.
* Running back Ryan Torain showed a nice little burst of quickness when after taking the handoff, he quickly saw the crease had closed up. So he cut things back against the grain and made something out of nothing.
* Nice job by guard Brandon Mosley to hold back blitzing linebacker Jake Muasau who tried to shoot a gap. Also a nice job by Mosley to pick up a blitzing Jayron Hosley on a corner blitz. Not so nice of a job by Mosley, though, against defensive end Justin Trattou, who knifed inside of him and “sacked” Ryan Nassib. And a poor job by Mosley when he resorted to holding to stop defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins from wreaking havoc.
* Running back Michael Cox spotted a hole in between the tackles and quickly hit it, picking up some nice yardage in the process. Thus far in this camp, Cox hasn’t really done well between the tackles, so this was encouraging to see.
* Cox and Trattou did mix it up just a little later on in the practice. Trattou, by the way, wears number 69, which was noted training camp brawler Rich Seubert’s jersey number. The magic apparently lives on, I guess.
* I mentioned that the officials were at practice today for the first time. Well, that wasn’t a good thing for safety Cooper Taylor on punt coverage drills because twice, Taylor was caught being pushed out of bounds. The rookie needs to hold his ground a little better and be aware of where the sideline is moving forward.
* After looking unsure in seven-on-seven drills – there were at least three coverage sacks in this sequence because he held the ball too long, Nassib began thrown some real pretty deep passes. I’ll even go so far as to say that I thought this was his best practice of camp so far, as he just seemed to settle down, go through his reads and connect with his receivers.
* I mentioned earlier that tight end Bear Pascoe was split out wide and that he made the reception against Prince Amukamara, of all people. Pascoe also had nice day blocking from the tight end spot, particularly when he threw a textbook seal block to spring David Wilson around the edge.
* Wilson also benefits from a good block by Justin Pugh, who was given some first-team snaps at right tackle in place of David Diehl. Pugh squared up his man, safety Antrel Rolle, beautifully and Wilson took advantage of the distraction to squirt through the line for a decent gain.
* Matt McCants has been taking snaps at center in this cap and he had a botched exchange with Curtis Painter. I couldn’t see who was at fault, but I did see the ball on the ground and I did hear the coaches yelling about it.
* It looked like defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka got the better of right tackle David Diehl, who pushed Kiwi down. On the other side of the line on that same play, it was a rare whiff by left tackle Will Beatty, who was by Justin Tuck.
* The Giants ended practice with some red zone drills and thanks to the line of players blocking our view, I couldn’t’ see all of what was happening. I did, however, see 5-9 cornerback Laron Scott pick off a pass intended for 6-6 receiver Ramses Barden.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
I truly feel for the fans that get just a single month all year to watch the Giants in training camp practice. There are people who the pilgrimage from hundreds of miles away, a trip that often time requires advance scheduling of time off from work and orchestrating the kids for the long ride, only to be at the mercy of the weather when the big day comes.
That’s unfortunately what happened today as due to rain, the Giants practice was moved inside to the field house, which is not set up to receive the general public.
I’m sure there were more than a few folks who intended to come to practice today, only to be discouraged by the weather which forced the Giants to make a “game-time” decision whether to move practice inside.
I also know it’s probably no consolation to those who used to enjoy the fields and access to the players at Albany, but the sad fact is that under the current CBA, if a practice is lost due to inclement weather, it can’t be made up.
Since there are so few precious practices allowed by the CBA, isn’t it better that the team find a way to take advantage of the time afford to it under the CBA for practice than to risk having even a single practice wiped out due to inclement weather?
I know it stinks, but hopefully if the Giants are in the post season in January, the disappointment felt by anyone who hoped to come to practice on a day it was forced inside due to the weather will be replaced by euphoria.
* * *
I put this story up on Yahoo! Sports’ page, but I want to make sure I mention it here because it’s definitely worth the read. It’s about linebacker Mark Herzlich’s aspirations to make a difference in the lives of others. If you want to see a whole other side of the third-year linebacker, be sure to check this story out.
SAY WHAT?
How many times have we heard veteran players who miss time for whatever the reason shrug it off as though it’s no big deal, say that they can get caught up because they have been in the system for a while and know what they’re doing so they can get back on track quickly.
Too many, as I recall, most recently Hakeem Nicks, who wasn’t worried about missing practice time when he last spoke to the media in the spring (Nicks has been ducking us so far in training camp, so we’ll try again tomorrow to see what he has to say.)
Anyway, receivers coach Kevin M. Gilbride thinks that’s a misguided opinion to have.
“He needs to practice and he knows it,” Gilbride said. “He and I talk about it all the time. In order for you to be ready for the season, you need to have done it, and done it over and over, and done it wrong and made the adjustment and have to become part of what you do, the correct way to do it.
“He’s not there yet. He needs to continue to improve and he knows that. In order for him to produce the way that he wants to produce, and the way we need him to produce, he needs to get ready for that.”
UP NEXT
The Giants are planning to be in full pads on Friday, with practice scheduled for 1:30 p.m. The preliminary weather report, as I write this, promises to be more favorable that today’s rainy conditions.
IN my quest to work on my rookie cheatsheets I come across these type of things. Is it a good add
FOXBOROUGH -- The Patriots returned to the field on Thursday for a full-contact practice after having Wednesday off, and the story of the day was injuries. Most importantly, wide receiver Julian Edelman passed his physical and returned to practice for the first time since injuring his foot in early December. Offensive lineman Marcus Cannon was surprisingly missing, and cornerback Ras-I Dowling spent the second half of practice on the sideline: .
We'll get into full injury and roster news below, plus our observations from the sixth practice of training camp:
ATTENDANCE, PLEASE
Physically unable to perform: TE Rob Gronkowski (back); WR Mark Harrison (foot); DE Armond Armstead (non-football illness).
Red jersey: S Devin McCourty.
Missing: Cannon, who appears to be leading the battle to win the right guard job, was nowhere to be found, and was replaced by Tyronne Green. It was the first practice Cannon has missed this camp. RB Brandon Bolden was in uniform, but sat out his third straight practice with an undisclosed injury.
New injuries: CB Ras-I Dowling suffered an undisclosed leg injury at some point and spent most of the practice on the sideline or on the exercise bike.
Returning from injury: WR Aaron Dobson was back returned to practice after sitting out Tuesday's session with a minor foot injury. Edelman returned to practice for the first time this season, as did DL Cory Grissom.
DRESS CODE
Full pads.
TOP PLAYS
• Rookie WR Kenbrell Thompkins blew past three defenders -- Kyle Arrington, Aqib Talib, and Steve Gregory -- on a deep bomb over the middle that would have gone for a 70-yard touchdown.
• Dowling made a really nice breakup of a slant pass intended for Quintin Sims before injuring himself.
• QB Tim Tebow showed really nice touch on a lob to Dobson for a touchdown, over DB Justin Green.
• QB Tom Brady also displayed beautiful touch on a deep corner pass, dropping it right into Josh Boyce's arms to beat the Cover-2 defense.
• LB Steve Beauharnais intercepted Tom Brady in the back of the end zone in goal line drills.
THREE UP
CB Marquice Cole: Took a lot of snaps with the first unit today with Dowling injured and Alfonzo Dennard on the sideline.
OL Green: Took reps at right guard for the second straight day and could be first in line for one of the backup interior line spots.
WR Boyce: The rookie fourth-rounder got a lot more opportunities with the first team and is catching most passes thrown his way.
THREE DOWN
WR Kamar Aiken: After starting camp with the first unit, appears to have fallen behind Boyce, Edelman, and Thompkins.
Dowling: Hard to make the club when you're always nicked up, and Dowling needs to get back on the field soon to ward off Cole and others.
LT Nate Solder: Didn't look great in one-on-one 1-on-1 drills, whiffing badly against Chandler Jones and then getting beaten by Jake Bequette.
TEBOW TIME
Tebow is never going to have a perfect practice, but his accuracy was much better Thursday. In goal line seven-on-seven 7-on-7 drills, he hit Danny Amendola on a quick out for a touchdown, threw a square-in to Aiken in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, and also had a nice lob to Amendola in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. Tebow ran a few read-option plays -- it could have just been to help the defense prepare for it down the road -- and once again ran the scout team in the two-minute 2-minute drill.
After practice, Tebow threw passes with a teenage kid wearing his jersey for 15 minutes, then obliged the small throng of fans who patiently waited 40 minutes for his autograph and a few pictures.
ODDS AND ENDS
•Watched the OL/DL one-on-one 1-on-1 drills. today. Here's a recap:
Sebastian Vollmer vs. Rob Ninkovich: Ninkovich jumped offside, forced to run a lap.
Tyronne Green vs. Tommy Kelly: Kelly with the decisive win.
Ryan Wendell vs. Marcus Forston: Wendell held his own.
Logan Mankins vs. Vince Wilfork: Wilfork dominated.
Solder vs. Chandler Jones: Solder completely whiffed.
OT Kevin Haslam vs. DL Jason Vega: Vega jumped offside, forced to run a lap.
Haslam vs. Marcus Benard: Benard with the decisive victory.
OL Markus Zusevics vs. Kelly: Kelly jumped offside, forced to run a lap.
Zusevics vs. DL Joe Vellano: Zusevics held him off.
OL Josh Kline vs. DT Anthony White: Draw.
OL Chris McDonald vs. Forston: Draw.
Will Svitek vs. Justin Francis: Francis won, and was dragged down from behind.
OL R.J. Mattes vs. DL Michael Buchanan: Mattes held him off.
Wendell vs. Vellano: Wendell stoned him.
Mankins vs. Forston: Forston jumped offside, forced to run a lap.
Solder vs. Jake Bequette: Bequette beat beats him around the edge.
Zusevics vs. Kelly: Zusevics with the win.
McDonald vs. Benard: Benard destroyed him with a swim move.
Svitek vs. Jones: Svitek with a nice win.
• The Patriots focused a lot on inside run drills, goal-line offense, and two-minute drill. on Monday.
• Edelman took reps with both the first and second unit. on Thursday. A common pairing was Amendola, Thompkins, and Boyce, although Dobson got plenty of work as well.
• Ryan Mallett had a few reps with the ones, while Brady took a few with the twos. Tebow played almost exclusively with the threes, except for during a goal-line drill.
• Amendola, Edelman, and Leon Washington returned punts. Washington also got some work with the two-minute offense.
• Rookie CB Logan Ryan broke up a pass when he wasn't even looking. He was running stride for stride with his receiver, and Mallett's pass bounced right off his arm.
• James Develin appears to be leading the fullback competition, although TE Michael Hoomanawanui often lines up in the backfield.
FOXBOROUGH -- The Patriots returned to the field on Thursday for a full-contact practice after having Wednesday off, and the story of the day was injuries. Most importantly, wide receiver Julian Edelman passed his physical and returned to practice for the first time since injuring his foot in early December. Offensive lineman Marcus Cannon was surprisingly missing, and cornerback Ras-I Dowling spent the second half of practice on the sideline: .
We'll get into full injury and roster news below, plus our observations from the sixth practice of training camp:
ATTENDANCE, PLEASE
Physically unable to perform: TE Rob Gronkowski (back); WR Mark Harrison (foot); DE Armond Armstead (non-football illness).
Red jersey: S Devin McCourty.
Missing: Cannon, who appears to be leading the battle to win the right guard job, was nowhere to be found, and was replaced by Tyronne Green. It was the first practice Cannon has missed this camp. RB Brandon Bolden was in uniform, but sat out his third straight practice with an undisclosed injury.
New injuries: CB Ras-I Dowling suffered an undisclosed leg injury at some point and spent most of the practice on the sideline or on the exercise bike.
Returning from injury: WR Aaron Dobson was back returned to practice after sitting out Tuesday's session with a minor foot injury. Edelman returned to practice for the first time this season, as did DL Cory Grissom.
DRESS CODE
Full pads.
TOP PLAYS
• Rookie WR Kenbrell Thompkins blew past three defenders -- Kyle Arrington, Aqib Talib, and Steve Gregory -- on a deep bomb over the middle that would have gone for a 70-yard touchdown.
• Dowling made a really nice breakup of a slant pass intended for Quintin Sims before injuring himself.
• QB Tim Tebow showed really nice touch on a lob to Dobson for a touchdown, over DB Justin Green.
• QB Tom Brady also displayed beautiful touch on a deep corner pass, dropping it right into Josh Boyce's arms to beat the Cover-2 defense.
• LB Steve Beauharnais intercepted Tom Brady in the back of the end zone in goal line drills.
THREE UP
CB Marquice Cole: Took a lot of snaps with the first unit today with Dowling injured and Alfonzo Dennard on the sideline.
OL Green: Took reps at right guard for the second straight day and could be first in line for one of the backup interior line spots.
WR Boyce: The rookie fourth-rounder got a lot more opportunities with the first team and is catching most passes thrown his way.
THREE DOWN
WR Kamar Aiken: After starting camp with the first unit, appears to have fallen behind Boyce, Edelman, and Thompkins.
Dowling: Hard to make the club when you're always nicked up, and Dowling needs to get back on the field soon to ward off Cole and others.
LT Nate Solder: Didn't look great in one-on-one 1-on-1 drills, whiffing badly against Chandler Jones and then getting beaten by Jake Bequette.
TEBOW TIME
Tebow is never going to have a perfect practice, but his accuracy was much better Thursday. In goal line seven-on-seven 7-on-7 drills, he hit Danny Amendola on a quick out for a touchdown, threw a square-in to Aiken in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, and also had a nice lob to Amendola in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. Tebow ran a few read-option plays -- it could have just been to help the defense prepare for it down the road -- and once again ran the scout team in the two-minute 2-minute drill.
After practice, Tebow threw passes with a teenage kid wearing his jersey for 15 minutes, then obliged the small throng of fans who patiently waited 40 minutes for his autograph and a few pictures.
ODDS AND ENDS
•Watched the OL/DL one-on-one 1-on-1 drills. today. Here's a recap:
Sebastian Vollmer vs. Rob Ninkovich: Ninkovich jumped offside, forced to run a lap.
Tyronne Green vs. Tommy Kelly: Kelly with the decisive win.
Ryan Wendell vs. Marcus Forston: Wendell held his own.
Logan Mankins vs. Vince Wilfork: Wilfork dominated.
Solder vs. Chandler Jones: Solder completely whiffed.
OT Kevin Haslam vs. DL Jason Vega: Vega jumped offside, forced to run a lap.
Haslam vs. Marcus Benard: Benard with the decisive victory.
OL Markus Zusevics vs. Kelly: Kelly jumped offside, forced to run a lap.
Zusevics vs. DL Joe Vellano: Zusevics held him off.
OL Josh Kline vs. DT Anthony White: Draw.
OL Chris McDonald vs. Forston: Draw.
Will Svitek vs. Justin Francis: Francis won, and was dragged down from behind.
OL R.J. Mattes vs. DL Michael Buchanan: Mattes held him off.
Wendell vs. Vellano: Wendell stoned him.
Mankins vs. Forston: Forston jumped offside, forced to run a lap.
Solder vs. Jake Bequette: Bequette beat beats him around the edge.
Zusevics vs. Kelly: Zusevics with the win.
McDonald vs. Benard: Benard destroyed him with a swim move.
Svitek vs. Jones: Svitek with a nice win.
• The Patriots focused a lot on inside run drills, goal-line offense, and two-minute drill. on Monday.
• Edelman took reps with both the first and second unit. on Thursday. A common pairing was Amendola, Thompkins, and Boyce, although Dobson got plenty of work as well.
• Ryan Mallett had a few reps with the ones, while Brady took a few with the twos. Tebow played almost exclusively with the threes, except for during a goal-line drill.
• Amendola, Edelman, and Leon Washington returned punts. Washington also got some work with the two-minute offense.
• Rookie CB Logan Ryan broke up a pass when he wasn't even looking. He was running stride for stride with his receiver, and Mallett's pass bounced right off his arm.
• James Develin appears to be leading the fullback competition, although TE Michael Hoomanawanui often lines up in the backfield.
Faust
MVP
Crippler,
Very nice addition to this thread, thanks !!!
What we learned Thursday: Tough day for 49ers' D
By Dan Hanzus
Around the League Writer
Very nice addition to this thread, thanks !!!
What we learned Thursday: Tough day for 49ers' D
By Dan Hanzus
Around the League Writer
Last edited by a moderator:
Faust
MVP
Last edited by a moderator:
Faust
MVP
Last edited by a moderator:
Faust
MVP
Last edited by a moderator:
Bob Magaw
Footballguy
no link, but during nfl network's extensive training camp coverage, some one related a story told by CHI WR brandon marshall during an interview... he worked out with rams rookie WR tavon austin in the off-season, and said that austin was the fastest football player he has ever seen (may not be verbatim, but that was essentially the message)...
it is a cliche at this point that austin was the most explosive skill position player in the draft, but what marshall said resonated with something todd mcshay noted in the scouting process leading up to the draft... something to the effect that he was the quickest HUMAN he had ever scouted (no doubt to distinguish from the CHEETAH WRs he has scouted
)...
it is a cliche at this point that austin was the most explosive skill position player in the draft, but what marshall said resonated with something todd mcshay noted in the scouting process leading up to the draft... something to the effect that he was the quickest HUMAN he had ever scouted (no doubt to distinguish from the CHEETAH WRs he has scouted
)...
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netnalp
Footballguy
Transcript: Andre Brown Eric from BBI : 3:15 pm
RB Andre Brown
August 2, 2013
A: I mean last year, I had my highs and my lows. My low definitely being that injury that I had, but to get a couple starts in the season and to actually go out there and produce, I was very fortunate and blessed to be out there. Looking back at last year, it was highs and lows, and I’m looking forward to this year and really being able to showcase my talent.
Q: Are you perfectly healthy now?
A: Yes, I’m perfectly healthy. Leg’s good. I’m out here doing everything I can to possibly go out here and contribute to helping this team win championships.
Q: What about Bradshaw, with him being gone? Is there a different vibe in the room?
A: Yeah, it’s a different vibe. He was more of a vocal leader and me being around here for so long I kind of hang on … Him and Brandon being more vocal and me being a great listener and also me being able to go out there and kind of being the spark to letting the guys know that it’s time to play ball. I’m looking forward to that role, too. We got Dave. He’s grown a lot since last year and he’s been more vocal in the room too. We’re combining it up and we’re really looking forward to this year.
Q: The impression from watching you guys a little bit last year, he’s the explosive one with the breakaway speed. You’re the tough one that’s going to get the harder yards, is that a fair description or are you guys more than that?
A: I think I’m more explosive than Dave, but some might say different. I say that’s pretty accurate. I’ve been more of a downhill runner and he’s so explosive he can get outside and turn a five-yard gain into a sixty-yard homerun. We’re definitely looking forward to it and I’m just happy for the opportunity that we have.
Q: So you could bet that both of you are going to get significantly more carries than any of you have had before in the NFL? Preparing for that did you have to do anything different this offseason?
A: Definitely. We have to work on our conditioning and Coach Ingram made sure. He said that we were going to get a lot of carries, it’s a lot different. We have to increase our conditioning and make sure that we’re ready to go into the fifteen, twenty play drives where he doesn’t want to see us tapping out … and ready to come out. If the guy’s hot, he wants that. It’s going to keep the offense moving. Just making sure that we’re in shape and being able to carry the load.
Q: Has the GPS tracking device in the shoulder pads helped you at all?
A: That started competition and everybody’s out here making sure we have burst and our workloads increase and I think it also tells the miles-per-hour that you’re going. Dave’s a twenty-two, I’m like eighteen. Some of the guys like Louis is up there, twenty-three. Some of the guys are really moving, so we all look at the list and see how many bursts you have and who ran the fastest that day. It’s just competition to help us fly around more, that’s all.
Q: You guys haven’t been shy about your goals for the season. You’ve put some lofty numbers out there. You’re ok with that and people knowing?
A: I’m going to go back on that because somebody once told me don’t set personal goals because you don’t want to sell yourself short of them. I said that, I don’t know. Now, I’m just going to go out here and play ball and just let the numbers take care of themselves.
Q: It’s not that you don’t think you can get there? It’s just you don’t want people to know?
A: Yeah, you’re trying to get me so. I did say it, so that’s what it is. I’m just going to go out there and play ball.
Q: I mean, two guys who haven’t carried that kind of load and haven’t done it before the way Ahmad had done, there’s a little outside worry.
A: I understand that and it’s an opportunity. We’re looking forward to it. We worked hard this offseason and we’re excited about the opportunity we have and we’re ready to go out there and just show what we’ve got. Show that we’re effective backs and we can be efficient in this offense and they need productive backs in this offense. We’re just ready, we’re going to step up to the talent.
ack and he’s going to be ready to go.
RB Andre Brown
August 2, 2013
A: I mean last year, I had my highs and my lows. My low definitely being that injury that I had, but to get a couple starts in the season and to actually go out there and produce, I was very fortunate and blessed to be out there. Looking back at last year, it was highs and lows, and I’m looking forward to this year and really being able to showcase my talent.
Q: Are you perfectly healthy now?
A: Yes, I’m perfectly healthy. Leg’s good. I’m out here doing everything I can to possibly go out here and contribute to helping this team win championships.
Q: What about Bradshaw, with him being gone? Is there a different vibe in the room?
A: Yeah, it’s a different vibe. He was more of a vocal leader and me being around here for so long I kind of hang on … Him and Brandon being more vocal and me being a great listener and also me being able to go out there and kind of being the spark to letting the guys know that it’s time to play ball. I’m looking forward to that role, too. We got Dave. He’s grown a lot since last year and he’s been more vocal in the room too. We’re combining it up and we’re really looking forward to this year.
Q: The impression from watching you guys a little bit last year, he’s the explosive one with the breakaway speed. You’re the tough one that’s going to get the harder yards, is that a fair description or are you guys more than that?
A: I think I’m more explosive than Dave, but some might say different. I say that’s pretty accurate. I’ve been more of a downhill runner and he’s so explosive he can get outside and turn a five-yard gain into a sixty-yard homerun. We’re definitely looking forward to it and I’m just happy for the opportunity that we have.
Q: So you could bet that both of you are going to get significantly more carries than any of you have had before in the NFL? Preparing for that did you have to do anything different this offseason?
A: Definitely. We have to work on our conditioning and Coach Ingram made sure. He said that we were going to get a lot of carries, it’s a lot different. We have to increase our conditioning and make sure that we’re ready to go into the fifteen, twenty play drives where he doesn’t want to see us tapping out … and ready to come out. If the guy’s hot, he wants that. It’s going to keep the offense moving. Just making sure that we’re in shape and being able to carry the load.
Q: Has the GPS tracking device in the shoulder pads helped you at all?
A: That started competition and everybody’s out here making sure we have burst and our workloads increase and I think it also tells the miles-per-hour that you’re going. Dave’s a twenty-two, I’m like eighteen. Some of the guys like Louis is up there, twenty-three. Some of the guys are really moving, so we all look at the list and see how many bursts you have and who ran the fastest that day. It’s just competition to help us fly around more, that’s all.
Q: You guys haven’t been shy about your goals for the season. You’ve put some lofty numbers out there. You’re ok with that and people knowing?
A: I’m going to go back on that because somebody once told me don’t set personal goals because you don’t want to sell yourself short of them. I said that, I don’t know. Now, I’m just going to go out here and play ball and just let the numbers take care of themselves.
Q: It’s not that you don’t think you can get there? It’s just you don’t want people to know?
A: Yeah, you’re trying to get me so. I did say it, so that’s what it is. I’m just going to go out there and play ball.
Q: I mean, two guys who haven’t carried that kind of load and haven’t done it before the way Ahmad had done, there’s a little outside worry.
A: I understand that and it’s an opportunity. We’re looking forward to it. We worked hard this offseason and we’re excited about the opportunity we have and we’re ready to go out there and just show what we’ve got. Show that we’re effective backs and we can be efficient in this offense and they need productive backs in this offense. We’re just ready, we’re going to step up to the talent.
ack and he’s going to be ready to go.
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Bob Magaw
Footballguy
rams building a contender in the tough NFC West...
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000224930/article/st-louis-rams-are-building-a-contender-in-the-tough-nfc-west
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The football world is fixated out West, where the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks engaged in an arms race this summer to bolster their playoff-ready rosters. Then, both teams saw a key skill position player go down to injury, which drew even more attention.
Oh, and both teams have bright, young, promising quarterbacks who have become media darlings.
Meanwhile, the St. Louis Rams went 4-1-1 against the NFC West last season, feature a former No. 1 pick at quarterback, have one of the top defensive fronts in the league and possibly have the youngest roster. Let's not forget about St. Louis just yet, even if they crave this under-the-radar status. Here is what I heard spending the day with an enthusiastic Rams group:
1. Bradford the teacher: For the first time in his young football career, Sam Bradford has had the same offensive coordinator two years in a row. Heading into his fourth season, Bradford finally can spend training camp without the burden of learning an offense. That should pay off for the Rams, and not just because Brian Schottenheimer can be as creative as he'd like with Bradford and a versatile, fast group of skill players. As general manager Les Snead told me in his office, "Instead of learning the system himself, (Bradford) can actually help teach it. Last year, he couldn't help teach it. Like he tells me, 'I can actually go teach the rookie,'" Because of a variety of factors -- nagging injuries, a struggling offensive line -- Bradford hasn't been as consistent. That should change this year. Signing left tackle Jake Long bolstered Bradford's group of bodyguards, with coach Jeff Fisher telling me the offensive line is a strength this year.
2. Youth should catch on fast: Spend a little time around the Rams, and the youthful enthusiasm is contagious. No, not everyone is young. Fisher is 55, for instance. But it all feels young and relaxed and exciting. The Rams were one of the youngest teams in 2012, and they will be again this season. At receiver, Austin Pettis is considered a veteran and he's just 25. In the front seven, defensive linemen Chris Long and Kendall Langford are grizzled vets, entering their sixth seasons. Optimism abounds. Snead told me the rookies aren't playing young, they aren't slowing down physically to catch up mentally. That's one reason Tavon Austin has looked as quick as a Ram as he did as a Mountaineer. "That will allow these guys to start thinking less and playing to their college speed faster," Snead said. "There's always that for rookies, it's more complicated, there are more checks. They can be a little bogged down so they don't look quite like they did in college athletically, the central nervous system isn't catching up. That's the thing about this group. They're picking up football and what we do faster." Just one reason everyone is gushing about Austin, first-round linebacker Alex Ogletree and the rest of the rookies.
3. How uncomfortable can you feel? When the Rams first started rebuilding, they wanted to beef the team up one unit at a time. Stack one group, then move on to another. Like the Giants did with their defensive line. It appears St. Louis has done just that. When I mentioned to an opposing coach that I planned to visit the Rams, the response was, "Oooh, that front seven." Yeah. People know. The goal is to make quarterbacks uncomfortable, which should make them even better at covering on the back end. The Rams don't have all the answers on defense, but they don't have a ton of questions, either. Even at safety, rookie T.J. McDonald, for instance, is already opening eyes -- he was calling the defense a day ago. The goals are to have Top 10 units on offense and defense, and that is within reach.
4. The Rams could be around for a while: The youth of the Rams is one reality for the organization. "It's cool to have the youngest team," Snead told me. "I think we've upgraded talent. We're better. Now, we just gotta get experience, go on stage, and know our lines." The other side is, because of that youth and because of the financial health of the team, they'll be around for a while. They had two first-round picks in April thanks to the Robert Griffin III trade, and they have two more in 2014. Heading into next offseason, the only key free-agents to be are tackle Rodger Saffold and linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar. There aren't any for the following offseason, either. For two years, no one is going anywhere. And even Bradford, who has the final megadeal for rookie quarterbacks, will only cost the team $36 million over the next three years. It's not cheap like Andrew Luck's deal, but it's not crippling either. Their key parts should stick together. In other words, we might want to get used to hearing about the Rams.
5. Expect to hear a lot of names on offense: At receiver, there are at least five players in the mix for playing time, and Fisher told me, "We'll use them all. It's none of these, 'I want the ball things,' any of that stuff. They just want to play, get where they need to get to, so Sam can make a play." Austin is the hot name now, but Chris Givens has had a really strong offseason and camp. At tight end, free-agent signee Jared Cook began building his rapport with Bradford during sessions in the summer. They've already connected endlessly in camp, making one think he'll serve as Bradford's security blanket like Danny Amendola was in 2012. What the coaches also like is that when Bradford throws it, he catches it. "Jared has a giant receiving radius," Fisher said. "With Sam's accuracy, Sam can put the ball out of frame to complete it. And they work really well together." With Steven Jackson gone at running back, Fisher said the situation could be "playing two or three backs all the time. Which is good." As I said, get ready to hear a lot of names for the Rams offense.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000224930/article/st-louis-rams-are-building-a-contender-in-the-tough-nfc-west
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The football world is fixated out West, where the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks engaged in an arms race this summer to bolster their playoff-ready rosters. Then, both teams saw a key skill position player go down to injury, which drew even more attention.
Oh, and both teams have bright, young, promising quarterbacks who have become media darlings.
Meanwhile, the St. Louis Rams went 4-1-1 against the NFC West last season, feature a former No. 1 pick at quarterback, have one of the top defensive fronts in the league and possibly have the youngest roster. Let's not forget about St. Louis just yet, even if they crave this under-the-radar status. Here is what I heard spending the day with an enthusiastic Rams group:
1. Bradford the teacher: For the first time in his young football career, Sam Bradford has had the same offensive coordinator two years in a row. Heading into his fourth season, Bradford finally can spend training camp without the burden of learning an offense. That should pay off for the Rams, and not just because Brian Schottenheimer can be as creative as he'd like with Bradford and a versatile, fast group of skill players. As general manager Les Snead told me in his office, "Instead of learning the system himself, (Bradford) can actually help teach it. Last year, he couldn't help teach it. Like he tells me, 'I can actually go teach the rookie,'" Because of a variety of factors -- nagging injuries, a struggling offensive line -- Bradford hasn't been as consistent. That should change this year. Signing left tackle Jake Long bolstered Bradford's group of bodyguards, with coach Jeff Fisher telling me the offensive line is a strength this year.
2. Youth should catch on fast: Spend a little time around the Rams, and the youthful enthusiasm is contagious. No, not everyone is young. Fisher is 55, for instance. But it all feels young and relaxed and exciting. The Rams were one of the youngest teams in 2012, and they will be again this season. At receiver, Austin Pettis is considered a veteran and he's just 25. In the front seven, defensive linemen Chris Long and Kendall Langford are grizzled vets, entering their sixth seasons. Optimism abounds. Snead told me the rookies aren't playing young, they aren't slowing down physically to catch up mentally. That's one reason Tavon Austin has looked as quick as a Ram as he did as a Mountaineer. "That will allow these guys to start thinking less and playing to their college speed faster," Snead said. "There's always that for rookies, it's more complicated, there are more checks. They can be a little bogged down so they don't look quite like they did in college athletically, the central nervous system isn't catching up. That's the thing about this group. They're picking up football and what we do faster." Just one reason everyone is gushing about Austin, first-round linebacker Alex Ogletree and the rest of the rookies.
3. How uncomfortable can you feel? When the Rams first started rebuilding, they wanted to beef the team up one unit at a time. Stack one group, then move on to another. Like the Giants did with their defensive line. It appears St. Louis has done just that. When I mentioned to an opposing coach that I planned to visit the Rams, the response was, "Oooh, that front seven." Yeah. People know. The goal is to make quarterbacks uncomfortable, which should make them even better at covering on the back end. The Rams don't have all the answers on defense, but they don't have a ton of questions, either. Even at safety, rookie T.J. McDonald, for instance, is already opening eyes -- he was calling the defense a day ago. The goals are to have Top 10 units on offense and defense, and that is within reach.
4. The Rams could be around for a while: The youth of the Rams is one reality for the organization. "It's cool to have the youngest team," Snead told me. "I think we've upgraded talent. We're better. Now, we just gotta get experience, go on stage, and know our lines." The other side is, because of that youth and because of the financial health of the team, they'll be around for a while. They had two first-round picks in April thanks to the Robert Griffin III trade, and they have two more in 2014. Heading into next offseason, the only key free-agents to be are tackle Rodger Saffold and linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar. There aren't any for the following offseason, either. For two years, no one is going anywhere. And even Bradford, who has the final megadeal for rookie quarterbacks, will only cost the team $36 million over the next three years. It's not cheap like Andrew Luck's deal, but it's not crippling either. Their key parts should stick together. In other words, we might want to get used to hearing about the Rams.
5. Expect to hear a lot of names on offense: At receiver, there are at least five players in the mix for playing time, and Fisher told me, "We'll use them all. It's none of these, 'I want the ball things,' any of that stuff. They just want to play, get where they need to get to, so Sam can make a play." Austin is the hot name now, but Chris Givens has had a really strong offseason and camp. At tight end, free-agent signee Jared Cook began building his rapport with Bradford during sessions in the summer. They've already connected endlessly in camp, making one think he'll serve as Bradford's security blanket like Danny Amendola was in 2012. What the coaches also like is that when Bradford throws it, he catches it. "Jared has a giant receiving radius," Fisher said. "With Sam's accuracy, Sam can put the ball out of frame to complete it. And they work really well together." With Steven Jackson gone at running back, Fisher said the situation could be "playing two or three backs all the time. Which is good." As I said, get ready to hear a lot of names for the Rams offense.
netnalp
Footballguy
http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/giants/t-rock-s-take-on-the-giants-1.811990/practice-report-hankins-hammers-herman-pancakes-and-eli-shines-in-hurry-up-1.5819669 Practice report: Hankins hammers, Herman pancakes, and Eli shines in hurry-up4:56 PM By Tom Rock
The Giants were in full pads as promised today, and while they ran some 9-on-7 running plays that were close to live (no full tackling) and were doing some good hitting in 11-on-11s, the team did not engage in any goal-line plays. It’s usually the most exciting aspect of any camp, when the guys get down in the trenches and square off. But Tom Coughlin does not like to run those in training camp.
Why not?
“The last time we ran a goal-line I lost a linebacker and a running back on three plays,” Coughlin said. “We’ve been practicing. We’ve been short yardage and goal-line since the spring. But the live part of it we haven’t done as of yet. If we’re going to.”
So no one was hurt in goal-line plays this time, Coughlin made sure of that. But there are some injury issues that are affecting the team. Let’s get into them.
Corey Webster sat out practice with what Coughlin called a strained groin. You may remember yesterday that I mentioned he was grabbing at it and stretching it a bit on the sideline. “He says he feels pretty good,” Coughlin said. “They’re going to do what they have to do to not turn that into something difficult so he’s got some down time to rehab.” Also absent was rookie first-round pick Justin Pugh, who suffered a concussion in practice yesterday. He reported to work with a headache this morning, Coughlin said, and will have to go through the NFL protocols before returning to the field. Matt McCants took Pugh’s spot at right tackle with the second team.
The good news is that Coughlin said the doctors believe Hakeem Nicks will be ready to return to practice by Tuesday, which is following a day off on Monday. Nicks spoke today about being cautions with his groin.
The five guys on PUP remain there. No movement from them yet.
Ok, back to practice. It didn’t take long for the first big hit of the day to take place. In special teams drills in which players retreated to a spot and tried to block an oncoming opponent as they would on a kickoff return, one of the littlest Giants delivered the biggest crunch. While some players juked and tried to avoid the blocker, Jayron Hosley decided to run right over Laron Scott. Now, Hosley is 5-10 and 178 pounds. There aren’t many players on the field smaller than he is. But he found one in Scott (5-9, 184) and obviously decided to use his height advantage while he could. A few other big hits in that drill were Ryan Mundy and Tyler Sash banging into each other (maybe the winner gets to be the third safety?) and Matt Broha bowling over Jake Muasau in a bit of a mismatch between a DE and an LB.
A scary moment on the first snap of the 9-on-7 drill. David Wilson was on the ground and someone nearly fell on him. Normally that would not be an issue. But it was 350-pound Shaun Rogers who was the anvil to Wilson’s Wile E. Coyote. Luckily Wilson has more roadrunner in him that coyote and he was able to avoid the splat. Phew!
The best crunch of the 9-on-7 was on the first play when Mark Hezlich blitzed and was picked up by Bear Pascoe and the two met in the hole. It was a good pop from both players. Rogers, besides nearly squishing Wilson, beat Brandon Mosley to blow up a running play by Andre Brown. Michael Cox made a nice move on Frank Okam (he’s 6-5 and 350, so it obviously didn’t have to be all that quick), but on the same play we had the first pancake of the year from Eric Herman. He managed to push Muasau over for the pin. You may remember that when Herman was drafted this spring one of his big stats was the number of pancakes that were kept track of at the University of Ohio. Well, he’s up to one so far here in training camp. On the last play of the 9-on-7, Ryan Torain ran the ball and Michael Jasper was rolled up on and limped off with an ankle injury. I don’t believe he returned.
Here’s a bright spot for those looking for one: In 11-on-11s, Eli Manning completed a pass to Bear Pascoe with Justin Tuck in coverage. No, that’s not the good news. David Wilson seemed to do a decent job of picking up a blitzing Keith Rivers on the play! Now, that’s not enough to anoint Wilson as Eli Manning’s personal Kevin Costner-type bodyguard, but I thought it was a good play.
I liked what I saw from the two rookie defensive linemen. We always say “Wait until they get pads on” to see what they can do, and this may be why. Johnathan Hankins was pretty dominant. On one play he tackled Da’rel Scott to the ground without actually tackling him. He just knocked him down with a body bump. And he did it while an offensive player (it may have been Herman I think) was tugging at his jersey from behind, so much so that his number disappeared on the front of his shirt and swung around to the side. And Damontre Moore managed to blow up a running play by the same Da’rel Scott a few snaps earlier when he drove through fullback Ryan D’Imperio and drove him into the play. Two really nice flashes up front. Also in that series, Justin Trattou did a nice job of reaching around a blocker to grab Michael Cox in the backfield.
Here were your pairings on kickoff returns: David Wilson went first with Andre Brown as lead blocker. Then it was Rueben Randle with Da’rel Scott in front. Followed by Michael Cox with Ryan Torain blocking. And finally Jerrel Jernigan with Brown there again.
In 7-on-7s, Eli Manning aired it out early to his new favorite target, Rueben Randle, who jumped up and over Prince Amukamara to make a really nice catch. Too bad he was out of bounds, so it was just, as Corey Webster likes to say, a long foul ball.
Manning threw two incompletions in a row to Brandon Myers, which was a little concerning. The first was a miscommunication with Eli leading him too much on an inside route. The second was a seam route that Myers couldn’t turn his body towards because of the coverage by Spencer Paysinger. Myers nearly made a juggling catch, but it fell incomplete. Also in 7-on-7s, Jacquian Williams dove and had a nice PD on a short pass from David Carr, Carr missed Ramses Barden on a deep post, and Curtis Painter threw behind Kris Adams on a ball that was dropped. Barden came back and made a nice catch on a pass with Terrence Frederick on his back.
Then Ryan Nassib took his snaps in 7-on-7 and, well, things did not go well. He was 0-for-4 in the drill. Two of the passes were knocked away – Junior Merile stuck a hand in behind Keith Carlos to poke the ball away on one and Will Hill made it over to the sideline to break up a pass for Kevin Hardy – while another was nearly intercepted (Charles James dropped a pick that was right in his hands). After looking sharp yesterday, Nassib wasn’t so much today.
The team went back to 11-on-11s and Manning and Myers seemed to get back on the same page on the first pass. Then Eli went deep for Louis Murphy but Prince Amukamara was there to defend it and Stevie Brown was coming over anyway. Cullen Jenkins did a nice job stopping a run by Andre Brown. Eli and Murphy were off on a pass as the quarterback was expecting a break to the inside and threw it there while Murphy ran straight down the field. Not that it mattered since Brandon Mosley had jumped offsides on the play anyway. Carr hit Da’rel Scott on a screen but he wasn’t going anywhere as Frederick was in position to stop him for a loss. Hankins stuffed another run, again by Da’rel Scott. Tyler Sash did a nice job coming up to stop Ryan Torain on a handoff. Nassib continued to be off on a deep ball for Jerrel Jernigan that was broken up by Mertile and another incompletion intended for Hardy over the middle. But on the last snap of the series he found Julian Talley deep down the right sideline over Mertile for the long completion that ended his streak of seven straight incompletions.
Practice ended with a pair of two-minute drills. In ones vs. ones, Eli Manning completed four of five passes and the only incompletion was to spike the ball and stop the clock. He hit Bear Pascoe, Rueben Randle, Andre Brown, Ramses Barden and Victor Cruz to march the offense down the field against the defense (although the defense was in position to make a few plays that they didn’t make because they did not hit on every down). In the twos vs. the twos, it was the defense’s turn to win. David Carr threw an incomplete pass to Barden, who tried to stretch for the ball but couldn’t catch it. Carr completed short passes to Kris Adams, Jernigan and Barden, but then he was sacked (it was a coverage sack and whistled dead). A pass he threw to Keith Carlos was as close to a completion as you can get, right in Carlos’ hands, until Trumaine McBride knocked it out from behind. It was ruled an incomplete but I’d like to see a replay to know if he actually had possession and McBride forced a fumble. Anyway, on the last snap Carr hit Hardy but time expired before the offense could get another snap off.
Hey, don’t forget: If you plan on coming to practice tomorrow, it starts about 15 minutes earlier than originally scheduled. That’s 1:15 p.m. Also, it looks like it might rain, so check ahead before you make the schlep out to the complex. If it rains and the team has to practice indoors, the workout will be closed to the public.
Also, on a parallel note to that, Sunday’s practice is closed to the public. Fear not, I and my cohorts will be on hand to chronicle it as usual. Then the team is off on Monday and returns on Tuesday. They have three days of practice next week and then it’s off to Pittsburgh for the preseason opener!
The Giants were in full pads as promised today, and while they ran some 9-on-7 running plays that were close to live (no full tackling) and were doing some good hitting in 11-on-11s, the team did not engage in any goal-line plays. It’s usually the most exciting aspect of any camp, when the guys get down in the trenches and square off. But Tom Coughlin does not like to run those in training camp.
Why not?
“The last time we ran a goal-line I lost a linebacker and a running back on three plays,” Coughlin said. “We’ve been practicing. We’ve been short yardage and goal-line since the spring. But the live part of it we haven’t done as of yet. If we’re going to.”
So no one was hurt in goal-line plays this time, Coughlin made sure of that. But there are some injury issues that are affecting the team. Let’s get into them.
Corey Webster sat out practice with what Coughlin called a strained groin. You may remember yesterday that I mentioned he was grabbing at it and stretching it a bit on the sideline. “He says he feels pretty good,” Coughlin said. “They’re going to do what they have to do to not turn that into something difficult so he’s got some down time to rehab.” Also absent was rookie first-round pick Justin Pugh, who suffered a concussion in practice yesterday. He reported to work with a headache this morning, Coughlin said, and will have to go through the NFL protocols before returning to the field. Matt McCants took Pugh’s spot at right tackle with the second team.
The good news is that Coughlin said the doctors believe Hakeem Nicks will be ready to return to practice by Tuesday, which is following a day off on Monday. Nicks spoke today about being cautions with his groin.
The five guys on PUP remain there. No movement from them yet.
Ok, back to practice. It didn’t take long for the first big hit of the day to take place. In special teams drills in which players retreated to a spot and tried to block an oncoming opponent as they would on a kickoff return, one of the littlest Giants delivered the biggest crunch. While some players juked and tried to avoid the blocker, Jayron Hosley decided to run right over Laron Scott. Now, Hosley is 5-10 and 178 pounds. There aren’t many players on the field smaller than he is. But he found one in Scott (5-9, 184) and obviously decided to use his height advantage while he could. A few other big hits in that drill were Ryan Mundy and Tyler Sash banging into each other (maybe the winner gets to be the third safety?) and Matt Broha bowling over Jake Muasau in a bit of a mismatch between a DE and an LB.
A scary moment on the first snap of the 9-on-7 drill. David Wilson was on the ground and someone nearly fell on him. Normally that would not be an issue. But it was 350-pound Shaun Rogers who was the anvil to Wilson’s Wile E. Coyote. Luckily Wilson has more roadrunner in him that coyote and he was able to avoid the splat. Phew!
The best crunch of the 9-on-7 was on the first play when Mark Hezlich blitzed and was picked up by Bear Pascoe and the two met in the hole. It was a good pop from both players. Rogers, besides nearly squishing Wilson, beat Brandon Mosley to blow up a running play by Andre Brown. Michael Cox made a nice move on Frank Okam (he’s 6-5 and 350, so it obviously didn’t have to be all that quick), but on the same play we had the first pancake of the year from Eric Herman. He managed to push Muasau over for the pin. You may remember that when Herman was drafted this spring one of his big stats was the number of pancakes that were kept track of at the University of Ohio. Well, he’s up to one so far here in training camp. On the last play of the 9-on-7, Ryan Torain ran the ball and Michael Jasper was rolled up on and limped off with an ankle injury. I don’t believe he returned.
Here’s a bright spot for those looking for one: In 11-on-11s, Eli Manning completed a pass to Bear Pascoe with Justin Tuck in coverage. No, that’s not the good news. David Wilson seemed to do a decent job of picking up a blitzing Keith Rivers on the play! Now, that’s not enough to anoint Wilson as Eli Manning’s personal Kevin Costner-type bodyguard, but I thought it was a good play.
I liked what I saw from the two rookie defensive linemen. We always say “Wait until they get pads on” to see what they can do, and this may be why. Johnathan Hankins was pretty dominant. On one play he tackled Da’rel Scott to the ground without actually tackling him. He just knocked him down with a body bump. And he did it while an offensive player (it may have been Herman I think) was tugging at his jersey from behind, so much so that his number disappeared on the front of his shirt and swung around to the side. And Damontre Moore managed to blow up a running play by the same Da’rel Scott a few snaps earlier when he drove through fullback Ryan D’Imperio and drove him into the play. Two really nice flashes up front. Also in that series, Justin Trattou did a nice job of reaching around a blocker to grab Michael Cox in the backfield.
Here were your pairings on kickoff returns: David Wilson went first with Andre Brown as lead blocker. Then it was Rueben Randle with Da’rel Scott in front. Followed by Michael Cox with Ryan Torain blocking. And finally Jerrel Jernigan with Brown there again.
In 7-on-7s, Eli Manning aired it out early to his new favorite target, Rueben Randle, who jumped up and over Prince Amukamara to make a really nice catch. Too bad he was out of bounds, so it was just, as Corey Webster likes to say, a long foul ball.
Manning threw two incompletions in a row to Brandon Myers, which was a little concerning. The first was a miscommunication with Eli leading him too much on an inside route. The second was a seam route that Myers couldn’t turn his body towards because of the coverage by Spencer Paysinger. Myers nearly made a juggling catch, but it fell incomplete. Also in 7-on-7s, Jacquian Williams dove and had a nice PD on a short pass from David Carr, Carr missed Ramses Barden on a deep post, and Curtis Painter threw behind Kris Adams on a ball that was dropped. Barden came back and made a nice catch on a pass with Terrence Frederick on his back.
Then Ryan Nassib took his snaps in 7-on-7 and, well, things did not go well. He was 0-for-4 in the drill. Two of the passes were knocked away – Junior Merile stuck a hand in behind Keith Carlos to poke the ball away on one and Will Hill made it over to the sideline to break up a pass for Kevin Hardy – while another was nearly intercepted (Charles James dropped a pick that was right in his hands). After looking sharp yesterday, Nassib wasn’t so much today.
The team went back to 11-on-11s and Manning and Myers seemed to get back on the same page on the first pass. Then Eli went deep for Louis Murphy but Prince Amukamara was there to defend it and Stevie Brown was coming over anyway. Cullen Jenkins did a nice job stopping a run by Andre Brown. Eli and Murphy were off on a pass as the quarterback was expecting a break to the inside and threw it there while Murphy ran straight down the field. Not that it mattered since Brandon Mosley had jumped offsides on the play anyway. Carr hit Da’rel Scott on a screen but he wasn’t going anywhere as Frederick was in position to stop him for a loss. Hankins stuffed another run, again by Da’rel Scott. Tyler Sash did a nice job coming up to stop Ryan Torain on a handoff. Nassib continued to be off on a deep ball for Jerrel Jernigan that was broken up by Mertile and another incompletion intended for Hardy over the middle. But on the last snap of the series he found Julian Talley deep down the right sideline over Mertile for the long completion that ended his streak of seven straight incompletions.
Practice ended with a pair of two-minute drills. In ones vs. ones, Eli Manning completed four of five passes and the only incompletion was to spike the ball and stop the clock. He hit Bear Pascoe, Rueben Randle, Andre Brown, Ramses Barden and Victor Cruz to march the offense down the field against the defense (although the defense was in position to make a few plays that they didn’t make because they did not hit on every down). In the twos vs. the twos, it was the defense’s turn to win. David Carr threw an incomplete pass to Barden, who tried to stretch for the ball but couldn’t catch it. Carr completed short passes to Kris Adams, Jernigan and Barden, but then he was sacked (it was a coverage sack and whistled dead). A pass he threw to Keith Carlos was as close to a completion as you can get, right in Carlos’ hands, until Trumaine McBride knocked it out from behind. It was ruled an incomplete but I’d like to see a replay to know if he actually had possession and McBride forced a fumble. Anyway, on the last snap Carr hit Hardy but time expired before the offense could get another snap off.
Hey, don’t forget: If you plan on coming to practice tomorrow, it starts about 15 minutes earlier than originally scheduled. That’s 1:15 p.m. Also, it looks like it might rain, so check ahead before you make the schlep out to the complex. If it rains and the team has to practice indoors, the workout will be closed to the public.
Also, on a parallel note to that, Sunday’s practice is closed to the public. Fear not, I and my cohorts will be on hand to chronicle it as usual. Then the team is off on Monday and returns on Tuesday. They have three days of practice next week and then it’s off to Pittsburgh for the preseason opener!
netnalp
Footballguy
http://insidefootball.com/blog/2013/08/the-day-at-camp-august-2-2013/
The Day at Giants Camp: August 2, 2013If I may, I’d like to digress a bit from my usual football musings and speak form the heart.
Since I was named Editor of Inside Football back in 1997, I’ve had the pleasure of working with interns who have grown in this field and gone on to do bigger and better things.
Such is the case with Sean Folger, who starting next week, is moving on to CBS Sports. Sean has been invaluable all through the spring and summer and so with me needing to miss practice today to tend to some unexpected personal business, I handed Sean the keys to the car, so to speak, and asked him to write the PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS section of this report.
He did an outstanding job, showing that he’s going to be successful in whatever responsibilities he takes on with CBS Sports. So I want to thank Sean for all his hard work and wish him well in his new gig. I’m proud to have had a chance to work with such a fine young journalism student.
INJURY REPORT
If you missed it, receiver Hakeem Nicks (groin) finally came out to speak with the media today, and said that he figured he’s still a few days away from returning to the field, which would probably put him back at practice on Wednesday, when the team returns from a day off. You can read more about what Nicks had to say right here.
Joining Nicks on the sideline was cornerback Corey Webster, who seemed to tweak his groin in yesterday’s workout. Also rookie offensive lineman Justin Pugh wasn’t even out on the field today after suffering a concussion on Thursday. Pugh will be out until he can pass the concussion protocol tests.
Still nothing new for the five guys on PUP, cornerback Terrell Thomas (knee), defensive tackle Markus Kuhn (knee), fullback Henry Hynoski (knee), guard Chris Snee (hip) and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (back).
My gut feeling is there won’t be any movement on any of the PUP guys until after this weekend, so stay tuned.
In terms of other new injuries to come out of practice, reserve offensive lineman Michael Jasper got an ankle rolled up on during a 9-on-7 running drill. We’ll see if his is serious enough to knock him off the roster, as was the case with receiver Jeremy Horne, who earlier in the week was waived/injured after suffering a foot injury. (Horne was since added to the injured reserve list after clearing waivers).
LINEUPS
Although Corey Webster wasn’t on the practice field today, one thing that we were able to get out of our media session with the cornerbacks coach Peter Giunta and safeties coach David Merritt, is that this year, the Giants are no longer going to have a #1 and #2 cornerback, as has been the case in the past. Rather, they’re going to assign their defensive back personnel according to the receivers being faced.
That means that Prince Amukamara, wh0 despite his strong showing this year, is still considered the #2 cornerback on the team, could very well start seeing time against the opponent’s number one receiver. Further, Giunta said that they want their cornerbacks to be interchangeable based don the situation, much in the same way that the safeties are interchangeable.
I say it’s about time they started thinking that way. We all know what kind of season Webster had last year and while I do think he’ll rebound from that, with Amukamara being an up-and-comer, I think it’s about time that he be considered for duty against some of the league’s top receivers.
Speaking of the defensive backfield, I wrote this article about how safety Stevie Brown wants to do a lot more this year, be more of a complete safety. Well, according to safeties position coach David Merritt, Brown is going to get that opportunity.
“One of the things you guys will probably see is Stevie Brown in the box a bit more this year,” Merritt said. “So we’re excited to get him down and he’s starting to understand what I’m looking for as far as block protection and block destruction.”
Again, I’ll point you to my article in which Brown talked about picking Antrel Rolle’s brain about various techniques and approaches that have helped Rolle be successful down in the box.
PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS
This section was written by Sean Folger.
* The first day of pads started with some loud collisions in the special teams blocking drills. First, Tyler Sash exploded into Ryan Mundy, causing a stir from the crowd right away. Mundy was able to hold his block, but back a few feet by Sash at the point of contact. Then Jayron Hosley ran over LaRon Scott, sending Scott to the ground in a heap.
* In the offensive red zone drills, tight end Adrien Robinson has trouble with quarterback Eli Manning’s cadence. Without the defense on the field, Robinson committed a false start twice on Manning hard counts.
* Robinson was not the only offensive player to struggle with the snap counts today. Receiver Jerrel Jernigan committed two false starts on the same play during 11-11′s, and offensive lineman Brandon Mosley committed a false start during the 11-on-11′s. As a note, the referees do not stop play on the motion penalties, they just drop the flag, and everyone plays.
* Tight end Brandon Myers and Manning were unable to connect on several seam routes. On back-to-back plays, Manning looked for Myers and was unsuccessful. The first play was a miscommunication between the two. Manning threw a deep seam down the right hash, but Myers either cut his route off or stop running for some reason. Manning threw his arms up in disgust after the play.
* Linebacker Spencer Paysinger gets credit for the second play off the Manning-Myers failure. Myers again ran a deep seem, but this time Eli hit him right in the hands. Myers was able to gain possession, but was not able to bring his arms down over Paysinger, who was able to punch the ball out at the last second.
* With Webster out, Jayron Hosley was the starting cornerback outside opposite Prince Amukamara. Hosley had been practicing strictly behind Aaron Ross as the nickel, but it was Hosley, and not Ross, who got the call with Webster out.
The offense had only two exciting plays, and both of them most likely would not have counted in a real game. On the first play of 11-on-11s, Manning hit Rueben Randle streaking down the left sideline. Randle did come down with the ball in an ever-so-common battle with Amukamara, who was draped all over him. However, it appeared that Randle landed out of bounds.
The second big play came from an unexpected source, as Ryan Nassib threw a perfect deep ball to newly signed receiver Julian Talley for a touchdown. Talley gained a few steps of separation from defensive back Junior Mertile and Nassib dropped the ball in over his shoulder.
Unfortunately for the duo, Adewale Ojomo beat right tackle Matt McCants badly on the play, forcing McCants to drag him down in the backfield, drawing a would-be holding call.
* Johnathan Hankins had another disruptive day in the middle for the second team. He started by laying a big hit on Da’Rel Scott on a running play up the middle. Hankins tore into the ‘A’ gap and the impact of the collision sent Scott straight to the ground.
On several other plays, Hankins anchored down the middle of the line and, although he would not have gotten credit for any tackles, he disrupted the flow of a few running plays. He was also able to put a nice rip move on McCants one play, pressuring Manning and forcing him to dump the ball off to Adrien Robinson.
* Michael Cox continues to look extremely quick. He tends to cut back on too many plays a little too soon, but when he does it in non-tackle drills, it looks good.
With that said, Coach Coughlin praised the rookie’s versatility today. “Yeah, (Cox) has done a few things,” Coughlin said. “He’s done some nice things on special teams, he’s done some pretty good things on kick returns, and today in 9-on-7 he had a couple nice runs.”
Cox was also third in line today returning kicks, behind David Wilson and Rueben Randle.
* Damontre Moore abused each of the second team offensive tackles. He first tossed Chris DeGeare out of his way to may a run stop against Da’Rel Scott, then put a nasty swim move on DeGeare to get penetration on a pass play.
When Moore switched over to the left side, he used his speed to evade Matt McCants and get some pressure on Ryan Nassib.
* The defense dropped several easy interceptions, which has been rare so far in camp. Ryan Nassib threw a short pass directly to cornerback Charles James on the left side. James let it slip through his hands and immediately went to the ground and started the customary ten pushups that the cornerbacks do when they drop an interception.
* Jacquian Williams should have had an interception of a David Carr pass, but he dropped a throw that was more difficult to bring in than the one James dropped. Williams read Carr’s eyes and got in to position to make the interception, but he did not bring his hands up in time and was only able to knock it down.
After a nice practice yesterday inside the field house, Nassib struggled today. Along with the dropped interception, it took a great pass breakup by receiver Jernigan on an under thrown deep ball that safety Junior Mertile had gotten his hands on. Credit Jernigan’s ball skills on that one.
The rookie quarterback was erratic, over throwing Da’Rel Scott in the right flat and having several short passes broken by defenders who were blanketing their man. Though each of the quarterbacks struggled to some degree today, Nassib seemed to have the most trouble.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
Think head coach Tom Coughlin is a little superstitious? Despite having his team in full pads, the Giants didn’t run goal line drills today.
“Have you been watching us the last few years? Last time we ran a goal line, I lost a linebacker and a running back. We’ve been practicing short yardage and goal line, really since the spring. But the live part of it we haven’t done yet, if we’re going to,” he said.
At some point the Giants will work on their goal line package, though if you look back to last year, a big part of any success they had down at the goal line is currently sitting on PUP. That would be fullback Henry Hynoski, who last year helped spring running backs for 15 of the team’s 18 rushing touchdowns.
SAY WHAT?
“I think the jury is still out. For a young guy, he’s physically gifted, he’s very talented, he pays attention and he’s got that drive and that fire. You see him flying around on the field. For a young guy like that it’s about staying in tune with the material because he’s got all the physical gifts and he’s got to stay healthy, but the sky’s the limit for him.”
–Defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka on rookie defensive end Damontre Moore, who has been the toast of the young players so far this summer.
UP NEXT
The Giants are planning to be in full pads again on Saturday. However, note that there has been a slight change to the practice schedule. Practice will run from 1:15 p.m. until 3 PM. On Sunday, the practice is closed to the public and on Monday, the players are off. The team will resume training camp practices on Tuesday.
The Day at Giants Camp: August 2, 2013If I may, I’d like to digress a bit from my usual football musings and speak form the heart.
Since I was named Editor of Inside Football back in 1997, I’ve had the pleasure of working with interns who have grown in this field and gone on to do bigger and better things.
Such is the case with Sean Folger, who starting next week, is moving on to CBS Sports. Sean has been invaluable all through the spring and summer and so with me needing to miss practice today to tend to some unexpected personal business, I handed Sean the keys to the car, so to speak, and asked him to write the PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS section of this report.
He did an outstanding job, showing that he’s going to be successful in whatever responsibilities he takes on with CBS Sports. So I want to thank Sean for all his hard work and wish him well in his new gig. I’m proud to have had a chance to work with such a fine young journalism student.
INJURY REPORT
If you missed it, receiver Hakeem Nicks (groin) finally came out to speak with the media today, and said that he figured he’s still a few days away from returning to the field, which would probably put him back at practice on Wednesday, when the team returns from a day off. You can read more about what Nicks had to say right here.
Joining Nicks on the sideline was cornerback Corey Webster, who seemed to tweak his groin in yesterday’s workout. Also rookie offensive lineman Justin Pugh wasn’t even out on the field today after suffering a concussion on Thursday. Pugh will be out until he can pass the concussion protocol tests.
Still nothing new for the five guys on PUP, cornerback Terrell Thomas (knee), defensive tackle Markus Kuhn (knee), fullback Henry Hynoski (knee), guard Chris Snee (hip) and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (back).
My gut feeling is there won’t be any movement on any of the PUP guys until after this weekend, so stay tuned.
In terms of other new injuries to come out of practice, reserve offensive lineman Michael Jasper got an ankle rolled up on during a 9-on-7 running drill. We’ll see if his is serious enough to knock him off the roster, as was the case with receiver Jeremy Horne, who earlier in the week was waived/injured after suffering a foot injury. (Horne was since added to the injured reserve list after clearing waivers).
LINEUPS
Although Corey Webster wasn’t on the practice field today, one thing that we were able to get out of our media session with the cornerbacks coach Peter Giunta and safeties coach David Merritt, is that this year, the Giants are no longer going to have a #1 and #2 cornerback, as has been the case in the past. Rather, they’re going to assign their defensive back personnel according to the receivers being faced.
That means that Prince Amukamara, wh0 despite his strong showing this year, is still considered the #2 cornerback on the team, could very well start seeing time against the opponent’s number one receiver. Further, Giunta said that they want their cornerbacks to be interchangeable based don the situation, much in the same way that the safeties are interchangeable.
I say it’s about time they started thinking that way. We all know what kind of season Webster had last year and while I do think he’ll rebound from that, with Amukamara being an up-and-comer, I think it’s about time that he be considered for duty against some of the league’s top receivers.
Speaking of the defensive backfield, I wrote this article about how safety Stevie Brown wants to do a lot more this year, be more of a complete safety. Well, according to safeties position coach David Merritt, Brown is going to get that opportunity.
“One of the things you guys will probably see is Stevie Brown in the box a bit more this year,” Merritt said. “So we’re excited to get him down and he’s starting to understand what I’m looking for as far as block protection and block destruction.”
Again, I’ll point you to my article in which Brown talked about picking Antrel Rolle’s brain about various techniques and approaches that have helped Rolle be successful down in the box.
PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS
This section was written by Sean Folger.
* The first day of pads started with some loud collisions in the special teams blocking drills. First, Tyler Sash exploded into Ryan Mundy, causing a stir from the crowd right away. Mundy was able to hold his block, but back a few feet by Sash at the point of contact. Then Jayron Hosley ran over LaRon Scott, sending Scott to the ground in a heap.
* In the offensive red zone drills, tight end Adrien Robinson has trouble with quarterback Eli Manning’s cadence. Without the defense on the field, Robinson committed a false start twice on Manning hard counts.
* Robinson was not the only offensive player to struggle with the snap counts today. Receiver Jerrel Jernigan committed two false starts on the same play during 11-11′s, and offensive lineman Brandon Mosley committed a false start during the 11-on-11′s. As a note, the referees do not stop play on the motion penalties, they just drop the flag, and everyone plays.
* Tight end Brandon Myers and Manning were unable to connect on several seam routes. On back-to-back plays, Manning looked for Myers and was unsuccessful. The first play was a miscommunication between the two. Manning threw a deep seam down the right hash, but Myers either cut his route off or stop running for some reason. Manning threw his arms up in disgust after the play.
* Linebacker Spencer Paysinger gets credit for the second play off the Manning-Myers failure. Myers again ran a deep seem, but this time Eli hit him right in the hands. Myers was able to gain possession, but was not able to bring his arms down over Paysinger, who was able to punch the ball out at the last second.
* With Webster out, Jayron Hosley was the starting cornerback outside opposite Prince Amukamara. Hosley had been practicing strictly behind Aaron Ross as the nickel, but it was Hosley, and not Ross, who got the call with Webster out.
The offense had only two exciting plays, and both of them most likely would not have counted in a real game. On the first play of 11-on-11s, Manning hit Rueben Randle streaking down the left sideline. Randle did come down with the ball in an ever-so-common battle with Amukamara, who was draped all over him. However, it appeared that Randle landed out of bounds.
The second big play came from an unexpected source, as Ryan Nassib threw a perfect deep ball to newly signed receiver Julian Talley for a touchdown. Talley gained a few steps of separation from defensive back Junior Mertile and Nassib dropped the ball in over his shoulder.
Unfortunately for the duo, Adewale Ojomo beat right tackle Matt McCants badly on the play, forcing McCants to drag him down in the backfield, drawing a would-be holding call.
* Johnathan Hankins had another disruptive day in the middle for the second team. He started by laying a big hit on Da’Rel Scott on a running play up the middle. Hankins tore into the ‘A’ gap and the impact of the collision sent Scott straight to the ground.
On several other plays, Hankins anchored down the middle of the line and, although he would not have gotten credit for any tackles, he disrupted the flow of a few running plays. He was also able to put a nice rip move on McCants one play, pressuring Manning and forcing him to dump the ball off to Adrien Robinson.
* Michael Cox continues to look extremely quick. He tends to cut back on too many plays a little too soon, but when he does it in non-tackle drills, it looks good.
With that said, Coach Coughlin praised the rookie’s versatility today. “Yeah, (Cox) has done a few things,” Coughlin said. “He’s done some nice things on special teams, he’s done some pretty good things on kick returns, and today in 9-on-7 he had a couple nice runs.”
Cox was also third in line today returning kicks, behind David Wilson and Rueben Randle.
* Damontre Moore abused each of the second team offensive tackles. He first tossed Chris DeGeare out of his way to may a run stop against Da’Rel Scott, then put a nasty swim move on DeGeare to get penetration on a pass play.
When Moore switched over to the left side, he used his speed to evade Matt McCants and get some pressure on Ryan Nassib.
* The defense dropped several easy interceptions, which has been rare so far in camp. Ryan Nassib threw a short pass directly to cornerback Charles James on the left side. James let it slip through his hands and immediately went to the ground and started the customary ten pushups that the cornerbacks do when they drop an interception.
* Jacquian Williams should have had an interception of a David Carr pass, but he dropped a throw that was more difficult to bring in than the one James dropped. Williams read Carr’s eyes and got in to position to make the interception, but he did not bring his hands up in time and was only able to knock it down.
After a nice practice yesterday inside the field house, Nassib struggled today. Along with the dropped interception, it took a great pass breakup by receiver Jernigan on an under thrown deep ball that safety Junior Mertile had gotten his hands on. Credit Jernigan’s ball skills on that one.
The rookie quarterback was erratic, over throwing Da’Rel Scott in the right flat and having several short passes broken by defenders who were blanketing their man. Though each of the quarterbacks struggled to some degree today, Nassib seemed to have the most trouble.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
Think head coach Tom Coughlin is a little superstitious? Despite having his team in full pads, the Giants didn’t run goal line drills today.
“Have you been watching us the last few years? Last time we ran a goal line, I lost a linebacker and a running back. We’ve been practicing short yardage and goal line, really since the spring. But the live part of it we haven’t done yet, if we’re going to,” he said.
At some point the Giants will work on their goal line package, though if you look back to last year, a big part of any success they had down at the goal line is currently sitting on PUP. That would be fullback Henry Hynoski, who last year helped spring running backs for 15 of the team’s 18 rushing touchdowns.
SAY WHAT?
“I think the jury is still out. For a young guy, he’s physically gifted, he’s very talented, he pays attention and he’s got that drive and that fire. You see him flying around on the field. For a young guy like that it’s about staying in tune with the material because he’s got all the physical gifts and he’s got to stay healthy, but the sky’s the limit for him.”
–Defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka on rookie defensive end Damontre Moore, who has been the toast of the young players so far this summer.
UP NEXT
The Giants are planning to be in full pads again on Saturday. However, note that there has been a slight change to the practice schedule. Practice will run from 1:15 p.m. until 3 PM. On Sunday, the practice is closed to the public and on Monday, the players are off. The team will resume training camp practices on Tuesday.
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