July 30, 2008 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Morning Practice)

by BigBlueInteractive.com Contributor JohnF

It’s a sunny, wonderful morning at SUNY Albany, hardly any wind and what should be a nice fast field. To my delight, it’s one of the fields on the University side (the one to my left), so we’ll have a clear view and a nice seat on the hill.

SUNY Albany Cares #1: Remember all those nice buses in previous years that would take you to the practice field from the Dutch Quad parking lot? Well, SUNY is proving it loves the planet, since they aren’t there any more…you get to walk, save gas, and get fit! Disregard all the grumbling about SUNY saving money on gas and bus rentals, this is ALL about the environment!

After the usual stretching, it’s on to Punt Block and return drills for the Defense. Yes, the usual suspects are back there to catch the ball, but this was more of trying to block the punt, or setting up for a punt return. If you’re curious, back there getting the ball from the machine were Hixon, Jennings, and R.W. McQuarters. They all looked ok.

One thing of note…when you’re this close, you get to hear the calls from the up back behind the line but in front of Feagles. In this case, it was either London or D.J. Hall. It was interesting hearing them change calls when the D moved around.

Horn sounds, and everyone moves back to the back fields (Western Ave). It was for the usual drills…it was so exciting that the camera guy on the tower sat down for a while.

Camp Note #1: All the really important stuff will be on film, so stay near the camera towers!

The QB’s and RB’s/TE’s were doing their usual pitch and catch stuff; way in the back, it looked like the Guards were practicing pulling. That was interesting, since the Giants have a couple of what looks like tables without the tops; the guards practice pulling thru those boxes, with the emphasis of keeping low. I also saw QB Coach Palmer’s “Throw the ball to a wall that has 3 holes and basketball nets” device being carted around.

The DB’s were closer, so I was watching them. They had that drill were the DB’s pedal back, then both cut right or left and try to catch a ball. If you want to drool over Philips any more, here’s something I saw…this guy has excellent technique catching the ball, he catches the ball with arms out and brings it in. He seemed very comfortable catching it, to me; no Shawn Williams/Will Allen hands of stone here, this guy is going to pick off a few, if this drill was any indication.

The LB’s were practicing cover drills, trying to deflect passes while covering (and not holding).

The Tackles were doing blocking drills. One guy would hold a square foam shield, while the guy blocking would try to knock the shield guy back.

In case you like cap fashion, there are Blue, Red, Green and Yellow caps the players wear over their helmets.

Here’s a breakdown of how the players looked (from the 7-7’s and 9-7 drills):

Jacobs: BJ is fine. Nobody wants to tackle this guy unless they have pads on.

Kay-Jay Harris: Good work, has a nice second gear. I like this guy, I hope we can keep him on the PS.

Hixon:  Had a great practice, along with London. He made a huge catch across the middle diving for a pass with the defender all over him. Also had a nice 15 yd pass on a flag route in the end zone on a defensive breakdown. Eli really looks confident throwing to him. Made all the catches he should have made, and looks good on the first team.

Darcy Johnson, Boss, Matthews,Eric Butler: All looked good catching the ball. Boss and Eli look very comfortable; Matthews looks 100% better catching the ball in camp this year as opposed to last, including a VERY nice reach back on one of Eli’s few errant passes over the middle. Butler also made a very nice catch with arms extended of an Eli pass and took it up the sidelines

C. Thorpe: As I’ve been saying, this guy is no joke. He again looked fine today, caught everything near him, got off the line fine, and made a really nice catch on the sidelines using his body to shield Barnett (41). Very athletic, nice technique. He’s got good speed…if he can block, and play specials, he’ll be in the NFL somewhere.

Bradshaw: Bradshaw will be fine. He’s getting a lot of pass work, and doing well holding on to the ball. If he gets in space…look out!

London: Star of the practice. Real intensity getting off the line, sharp cuts, made all the catches he should have and almost some spectacular ones he shouldn’t have. Made a spectacular diving catch for a TD. He’s got that “look” about him now; I’ll bet he gets a ton of write-ups on this day’s performance.

Ward: Good running the ball, did well catching the ball, including a nice green zone catch for a TD.

Amani: Didn’t show any ill effects from yesterday. Had a great deep Slant pass catch and run where he turned the jets on and took it all the way. Made a diving TD catch flag route in the Green zone. Amani is fine.

D.J. Hall: Had a nice catch down the middle from Carr.

Eli: Threw a couple away when he saw double coverage. For the most part, he’s throwing very well. Putting the ball in the right place (with a couple of exceptions) where the WR can do damage. More natural than I’ve seen him in previous camps.

Wright: Did ok, bird dogs too much, he needs to look off the D. He made it harder than necessary for his WR’s.

Carr: Very rusty; was bird dogging worst than Wright (we could point out exactly who he was throwing once he got the ball). Did handle a lot of bad snaps well. He’s smaller than I thought…smaller physically than the other guys. Has real problems when the pocket shrinks, he’s still bailing out too fast.

Woodson: Had some overthrows, but overall had a good practice. Really has nice ball skills, he follows through on his fakes, might have the best skills in that area of all the QB’s.

Moss: Well, I left this for last. Time to rant again. He had some nice catches later in practice…but had a horrible start. Ran a lazy, LOUSY curl pattern for his first route, which nearly got the ball picked off. Then, on a reverse, tried a triple move to juke the defender on a sweep, and fell down after the juke. Did have a nice catch later on a snakeburner from Eli.

Somebody needs to get to this guy’s head. Right now, he couldn’t make the Philadelphia Soul with this garbage. Triple Juke? For a third year player? Let’s look at Bradshaw, who is also short. Bradshaw throws one juke at you, and then blasts past you. He knows that when you do this double/triple juke nonsense YOUR FEET STOP MOVING FORWARD!!!! Apparently, Moss can’t grasp this concept, even though he has great forward speed (I’ve seen it). He should know how hard it is to tackle him when he’s moving; not moving forward does NOT work in the NFL!!!!

In Arena League, this player is called a 50/50…50% of the time he’s an all star, 50 % of the time he’s invisible. The competition is WAY too good in this camp. He’d better be spectacular in the next few weeks or in the pre-season games, because right now, I don’t see any reason to keep him.

Anyway, here’s hoping the next practice is rain free (we’re expecting rain late tonight!

July 29, 2008 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Afternoon Practice)

by BigBlueInteractive.com Contributor Marty in Albany

It was hot and sunny. The Giants were in full pads and up until the very end of practice, which was cut short by 20 minutes, the Giants offense sputtered. None of the quarterbacks were playing at the level they were at yesterday evening. For instance, Ely threw a ball three feet over the head of a wide open TE Kevin Boss, who was perhaps 12 yards from him. QB Anthony Wright found out that Kevin Boss can’t catch passes aimed at his knees. S Sammy Knight jumped a pass route to pick off a QB David Carr pass in the 11 on 11s. There were sloppy plays mixed in with good plays throughout the practice. I guess this is why you need training camp.

WR Amani Toomer was not dressed, nor was WR Steve Smith. I think I saw Smith take a hard shot/fall yesterday. S Terrance Stringer was not dressed and did not practice. Midway through the practice he walked off the field with a trainer and he grasped his hamstring.

WR Mario Manningham was dressed and he made an impressive catch on an under-thrown pass to the sidelines. He came back for it and then smartly advanced down the field. TE Kevin Boss caught a pass that I hope will be duplicated over and over this season. He was in the middle of the field about twenty yards from Ely. He ran laterally to the right left, got one step on his defender and Ely hit him perfectly in stride. Boss would have been gone.

All the TEs did well today. Eric Butler caught at least two passes and showed good hands and agility. TE Darcy Johnson made at least three catches taking them without the awkwardness reminiscent of former TE Visanthe Shaincoe. Even BBI’s current whipping boy, TE Michael Matthews had his moments. Of course on one reception, LB Mathias Kiwanuka was right there ready to pounce on him.

CB Corey Webster continues to have a good camp. On one play a ball bounced off WR Domenik Hixon’s chest and into the arms of CB Darren Barnett. The play was over, but Hixon ran after Barnett. Webster who was not involved in the play stepped in front of Hixon. Hixon bounced off Webster. QB David Carr and QB André Woodson did not have good days throwing the ball and QB Anthony Wright continues to hold onto the ball too long.

About 20 minutes before the beginning of the practice Tom Coughlin walked onto the field. The fans who were there all cheered and clapped as he passed. He smiled and held up his hand in acknowledgment, for the entire walk of 100 yards or more. What a difference from last year’s camp. When Coughlin got on the field he chatted for about 5 minutes with PK Lawrence Tynes. I could not hear what was said, but it might have been, “Lawrence, you did good yesterday. Now I’d like to see 8 field goals from the 50.”

Tynes kicked off to Hixon twice and to HB Ahmad Bradshaw and WR Michael Jennings once, each. They each ran up behind the wall of lead blockers and sprinted off from there. That part of the practice, at least, looked well executed.

The Defensive backs to an interesting drill where they run backwards for 10 yards, turn around and continue to run in that direction and catch a ball thrown to them. That is unlikely to happen in a game (actually it’s impossible). It seems to me that a more realistic drill would be for them to run backwards, turn as before and then look back over their shoulder in the direction that they originally came from to catch the simulated pass.

A more interesting drill was one all the receivers were each lined up against a defensive back. They stood toe to toe hitting at each other’s hands and chests. They did not make fists exactly and it wasn’t paddycake either. I’m guessing it has to do with how receivers can deal with defensive backs when they are trying to get off the line of scrimmage. In any case, it appears that all the players were enjoying the drill.

There was one running play of note. It looked like a tricky surprise handoff to FB Madison Hedgecock. He danced up field cutting and twisting before the defense knew he had the ball. He then spiked it. Sort of a sop to Cerberus.

The final drill was an 11 on 11 red zone running drill. All of a sudden, the intensity level went way up. You could hear the pads as bodies collided with abandon. There were large piles of player on the ground after each running play. The defense had had enough waving at running backs. This time the offense was not going anywhere if the defense could help it. After four or five similar plays the practice was ended. On the final play, OT Guy Whimper who was under a pile of bodies may or may not have gotten nicked up.

July 28, 2008 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Evening Practice)

by BigBlueInteractive.com Contributor Marty in Albany

Ten minutes of light rain followed by ten minutes of heavier rain, during the middle of the practice, did not dampen the enthusiasm of about 2,500 fans who showed up for autograph night. There were easily five times more people than at the morning practice. A substantial number of them never actually saw the practice. They just waited patiently along autograph alley for the practice to end so that they could get players’ autographs. What they missed was the Giants in full pads and the first real passing by QB David Carr.

All in all, Carr had a pretty good first outing. He has a strong arm and, for the most part, he got rid of the ball in about two seconds with impressive accuracy on his short and intermediate passes. I don’t think that this surprised anybody. Carr’s real test will come in 10 days in Detroit when he won’t be wearing a red shirt and he will have the pressure of competing against QB Anthony Wright for a back-up QB job. More importantly, he will have to maintain his composure under the pressure of a pass rush. It is fairly certain that the Lions will want to have a good showing against the Giants and are probably thinking, “Let’s go all out to blitz Carr, shake him up, and see what happens.” I would not be surprised if every team the Giants play this year thinks the same way.

The practice ended with QB Eli Manning running the two minute drill. He succeeded. It took him about a minute and ten seconds to go about 80 yards. The last 25-30 yards was a textbook pass and catch by WR Amani Toomer, who made the reception look easy. The prior 35-40 yards was an excellent reception by WR Domenik Hixon, who had an excellent evening practice.

WR Plaxico Burress and WR Mario Manningham were not dressed. If the Giants had to play Detroit tomorrow without help from Burress or Manningham, it appears that Eli would be relying on Hixon to stretch the field. Hixon just might be up to the task.

There were punt returns. LB Zak DeOssie and OC Grey Ruegamer long snapped tolerably well and P Jeff Feagles punted a series of beauties. Feagles is pure gold. Hixon, CB R.W. McQuarters, HB Ahmad Bradshaw, CB Aaron Ross and WR Sinorice Moss were running under the punts. In the still summer air, all the punts were fielded without error. Also without error were the 8 or 10 field goals that PK Lawrence Tynes kicked from distances ranging from about 25 to 40 yards. Apparently, the DT Jay Alford snaps and Feagles holds were also up to the task. The crowd absolutely loved having the kicks go over the fence and into their midst.

During the warm-up drills Jeff Feagles was kicking his punts high and deep. During one punt there were perhaps five or six small birds flying high over the field. Feagles’ punt came within a yard or two of hitting one of those birds and it certainly disrupted their formation. It was worth coming down to training camp just to see that kick.

I probably did not see all of the passing action by David Carr because two fields away, there was a one-on-one lineman drill. I only got a partial view of that as well. DE Renaldo Wynn got by OT Adam Koets. OC Grey Ruegamer was able to hold out DT Rodney Leisle. OT Na’Shan Goddard held out DT Ogemdi Nwagbuo. Actually, he took him down and landed on top of him. OT Kareem McKenzie stalemated DE Justin Tuck. I’m told he did it twice.

I mentioned that WR Domenik Hixon had a good practice. Pretty much all of the receivers made at least one impressive catch and most of the defensive backs also had an opportunity to shine. However, it seemed to me that WR Brandon London had the best practice of the receivers. He made three or four deep catches that required him to adjust to the flight of the ball. He showed agility and grace and it looked like he could have made some decent yards after the catch. I think he really helped himself this evening. He is such a big young guy, he could be a real weapon if he is good enough to make the squad.