Aug 022008
 
August 1, 2008 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Evening Report)

by BigBlueInteractive.com Contributor Marty in Albany

On this evening, BBI business trumped the Giants practice. Immediately after practice, Montreal Man on behalf of BBI, and in front of about 40 happy BBIers including Eric from BBI, HopeJ, rnargi, and the rest of the usual suspects, presented Plaxico Burress with his BBI MVP trophy.

The trophy is handsome and unique. It is a transparent full-size glass football inscribed with the BigBlueInteractive.com logo. The football rests on a simulated kicking tee supported by four silver columns that bring the total height of the trophy to about two feet. At the base of the trophy is a glass plaque etched with Plax’s name and number.

Plaxico was delighted to receive the trophy and he was gracious in his words of acceptance. He thanked BBI and said that the success of the Giants was the result of the efforts of 22 men on both offense and defense, not just his efforts alone. The trophy was placed on a table from which hung a large BBI logo banner. Plax carefully lifted the two piece trophy and held it up while we all snapped pictures. Plaxico then autographed Giants memorabilia for us. We also snapped pictures of BBIers and family standing with Plaxico and the trophy. The ceremony lasted about 15 minutes.

Just prior to the presentation ceremony, Pat Hanlon lent us his Super Bowl XLII ring to pass around. It is a huge and handsome ring made of white gold and studded with diamonds. Everyone got a chance to put it on and have their picture taken with it. When I put it on, I insisted that everone kneel down and kiss it! If the ring turns up missing, I want to go on record that I gave it back to HopeJ.

The Practice:

The Giants were in full pads on this sunny afternoon. They were at the far end of the field and the lucky BBIers for whom HopeJ got VIP seats were about 75 yards closer to the action than I was. They were in a far better position to observe the goings on.

From where I sat, the most significant item of practice was that WR Plaxico Burress, WR Amani Toomer, WR Steve Smith, WR Mario Manningham, and WR David Tyree were not dressed. Since it is widely agreed that Plax, Amani, Smith, and Manningham are assured of making the team, there remain only two spots on the roster with six receivers competing for them. With the receiving stars out of action, today would have been a good day for younger receivers to step up and be noticed. Unfortunately, nobody really impressed. WR Brandon London had an easy pass from Easy Eli bounce off his chest. WR Sinorice Moss continues to make his catches look difficult unless he is standing still when the ball arrives.

WR D.J. Hall layed out full length to snare a QB Anthony Wright pass, but Hall does not have many catches to his credit so far in practice.

Perhaps part of the problem is that the defense seems to be dominating the offense, or perhaps the offense is just not executing well. QB Eli Manning lofted an excellent touch pass to HB Brandon Jacobs for what would have been a TD, but Manning was also intercepted by DE Justin Tuck in, I guess, the practice equivalent of a zone blitz. It was a very impressive demonstration of Tuck’s smarts and talent.

CB Kevin Dockery jumped on a lateral pass from QB David Carr for what would have been an easy TD and CB Darren Barnett made an excellent interception on a bad pass by Carr in the 7 on 7 drills.

Carr has not been very accurate lately. So far, he has not demonstrated that he is an improvement over QB Anthony Wright. In Carr’s defense, it is likely that his brain is overloaded trying to learn the Giants offensive scheme and the idiosyncracies of the various receivers. Most jobs take more than a week to learn. That is also probably true for quarterbacking in the NFL. I’m in no rush to make a decision on Carr.

PK Lawrence Tynes kicked what looked like six field goals. I think they were all good. As I had an end zone view I can only guess that they ranged between 25 and 40 yards with some of them from the right and left hash marks. So far as I could tell, DT Jay Alford’s snaps were good and the kicks were all good strong kicks, not squeakers.

The competition between HB Reuben Droughns and HB Danny Ware continues. Both had a fine run and a reception. The best run was a cutback run by HB Ahmad Bradshaw, but we already know what Bradshaw can do. We also have an idea of what WR Domenik Hixon can do and today it included a very well executed TD reception from Eli Manning in the red zone drill.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

BBI Guest Contributor

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.