July 31, 2007 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Evening Practice)

July 31, 2007 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Evening Practice)

by BigBlueInteractive.com Contributor Will Allen/Peterson

Positional Workouts:

Fielding punts were R.W. McQuarters, Sinorice Moss, Michael Jennings, Aaron Ross and Ahmad Bradshaw. Aaron Ross looked very smooth on a short punt with a lot of hang time, charging up to camp under it and field it with ease. Moss appeared much more comfortable than last season, catching the ball in perfect position to immediately burst upfield. Bradshaw muffed a Feagles punt that was right to him; he barely had to move and still dropped it. It appeared to be nothing more than a lack of concentration, as he fielded the next one nicely. Jennings appears to have improved his technique and catching consistency from the previous two camps.

In a drill involving the back 7, they were practicing having a defender intercept a pass from one of the coaches and immediately the rest of them would charge upfield looking to make a block. Will Demps dropped an easy INT on a floater that went right through his hands. Aaron Ross made a very athletic deflection of a pass, twisting his body in midair to get a hand on a ball that was too far overthrown to make an interception. E.J. Underwood caught his attempt easily, looking quite smooth playing the ball before turning upfield. They did this drill with the LB’s as well, with Pierce and Kiwanuka scoring INT’s.

In a running back checkdown drill, Brandon Jacobs flashed his hands with natural pass-catching ability. He is going to be nothing short of lethal on screens and checkdowns where he is given space to operate in the open field with a head of steam. The WR’s all showed impressive hands in a receiving drill, practicing timing receptions including hooks and other intermediate routes. Sinorice Moss was the star of the practice, he had an exceptional evening and this drill was just the beginning for him. Not once did he wait for the ball to come into his chest and use his body to bring it in, he attacked the ball with his hands every time and not once did it touch the ground the entire practice. Amani Toomer made an effortless one handed catch at the sideline and the fact that it was such a lackadaisical attempt made it even more impressive.

Brandon London displayed a nice burst upfield immediately after making a reception. Kevin McMahan struggled early on in the receiver drills, being the only one with consistency issues in catching the ball. He made some nice plays later on in the session showing his talent but it’s going to be near impossible for him to make the team with the guys that are in front of him. Moss looked terrific in this drill, with his great hands on display. His ability to instantaneously burst upfield after making the catch is really something else. Steve Smith was equally impressive, his route running and hands were really on display tonight. Eli made a very nice throw to Plaxico Burress in stride on a deep post with a perfect spiral.

On one of the last throws of this portion of the practice, Jared Lorenzen tossed a beautiful strike on a 20-yard out to Michael Jennings. He threw it on a rope with preciseness to the exact spot it needed to be and Jennings made a nice catch while tiptoeing his feet.

WR’s vs. CB’s:

Sinorice Moss torched Aaron Ross, who had an otherwise impressive evening, with a beautiful route. He quickly faked to the outside off the line of scrimmage before juking inside on a deep post that gained him about five yards of separation. To top it all off, he made a terrific catch on a ball that almost led him too far, showing great closing speed. Steve Smith gained a good amount of separation against Travonti Johnson on a hitch fake before reeling in an impressive over the shoulder reception on the go. Corey Webster made a nice play on a hitch route against David Tyree with air tight man coverage. Kevin McMahan had a bit of a hard time fighting through R.W. McQuarters’ press coverage, but eventually broke free to make a nice catch on a short post. Brandon London made a spectacular adjustment on an underthrown fly route to make the catch over the defender, which drew a big ovation. Drawing an even louder ovation from the fans in attendance was Amani Toomer on the very next play, where he caught a perfectly thrown deep ball from Jared Lorenzen on a go route. Kevin Boss finished off the drill by showing off his athleticism and hands on a 10-yard out route.

Positional Drills (cont.):

In a 7-on-7 drill with the QB, OL and RB going up against the defense’s front 7, Brandon Jacobs showed good vision and exploded through the hole with great quickness to break off a long run. In a WR vs. DB technique drill, one of the coaches screamed out at Steve Smith, “Great job with your hands, Steve!” after the 2nd rounder broke free from Aaron Ross’ press coverage. The defense was practicing various blitzes, with the most intriguing one having Mathias Kiwanuka stunting in behind Antonio Pierce from his OLB position right up the A gap at the last moment pre-snap.

11-on-11:

Brandon Jacobs is a monster in the open field. He made cutbacks that someone of his size and strength should not be able to do. Derrick Ward showed nice RAC ability on a screen pass where he used his blockers nicely before breaking free. Tim Hasselbeck made an awful throw behind Anthony Mix on a fade route that was well behind him to the wrong shoulder. Travonti Johnson made a nice play on a fade route, deflecting a pass intended for London by putting his hand in between the receiver’s with his back to the ball. Jacobs made an unbelievable run thanks to a terrific cutback across the field after breaking through the first wave of defenders. He then bounced outside and then cut inside in between two defenders in the open field, running right past them to a huge ovation.

7-on-7 (Back Seven):

Eli Manning made a nice throw to Jeremy Shockey on an 8 yard out route against Kawika Mitchell, hitting him right in between the numbers. Though a couple of his throws were a bit off, overall he looked pretty good tonight. Twice in this drill he hit Plaxico Burress in stride on a five yard underneath slant. He threw an incompletion on a fade route that was slightly underthrown to Amani Toomer as Sam Madison had blanket coverage downfield. Ward made a nice reception on a ball thrown low and behind him by Lorenzen, who otherwise had a great night of practice. Lorenzen and Darcy Johnson both had perfect timing on a five yard hitch, executed to perfection. Anthony Wright hit Steve Smith on an 8-yard out route despite tight coverage by Ross, but on the next play overthrew a wide open Marco Thomas on a deep fade after he gained separation on Travonti Johnson. Moss continued to shine, hooking up with Manning on a beautiful connection with a deep post. Manning made a perfect throw and Moss reached up above his head and snatched the ball out of the air effortlessly in stride before bursting upfield. The final play of this drill was an incompletion thanks to very tight coverage by Ross on a deep out intended for Toomer.

11-on-11:

Jacobs showed a nice burst off tackle, bouncing off a defender without breaking stride before bursting upfield. On the next play, Antonio Pierce disrupted an attempted screen to Jacobs by reading it all the way and greeting him as soon as he caught the ball. On a perfectly executed play fake, Lorenzen connected with Jennings in stride on a deep post after Jennings got behind Webster. Lorenzen made another great throw on the next play, hitting Steve Smith 20 yards downfield at the sideline after Smith showed his ability to find the open space against zone coverage with a terrific route. Ahmad Bradshaw made a nice run on a draw play out of the shotgun formation, breaking free and showing impressive speed. Manning showed some escapability in the pocket by sidestepping the rush and firing a strike to Jennings on a hitch route. Webster made an excellent break on the ball, breaking up a hitch attempt to David Tyree by swatting the ball away on a dive. Bradshaw showed his upside as a potential scatback for this team, flashing smooth hands and fluid receiving ability on a circle route out of the backfield.

11-on-11 (2-Minute Drill):

The Giants closed the session with a two minute drill, featuring the first team offense and defense. The first two plays resulted in 5-10 yard checkdowns to Jacobs after Manning went threw his progressions downfield and saw nothing there. The third play was a draw to Jacobs that didn’t gain much yardage. Moss made a very nice catch under duress, with Webster all over him downfield on a hitch route. After a spike to stop the clock, on the final play, Manning rolled out of the pocket and threw up a prayer to the opposite end of the field, which was intercepted by James Butler.

The MVP of the night was Sinorice Moss, who didn’t let a ball touch the ground, ran precise routes and was just overall terrific. I hope you all enjoyed my report and I will be returning to camp soon.