New York Giants Hold Third OTA Practice

New York Giants Hold Third OTA Practice: The Giants held their third Organized Team Activity (OTA) practice yesterday at the Timex Performance Center. They will hold another today and another on Friday. For the complete OTA schedule, see the Important Dates section of the website.

Players not present at yesterday’s voluntary OTA included DE Osi Umenyiora, DT Shaun Rogers, DT Martin Parker, CB Corey Webster, TE Adrien Robinson, and OC Chris White

For an overview of yesterday’s practice, see the following reports:

• The Star-Ledger (Practice Report)
• The Daily News (Practice Report)

Injury Update: LT Will Beatty has been sitting out of OTA workouts due to a back issue.

WR Hakeem Nicks (foot), TE Jake Ballard (knee), TE Travis Beckum (knee), DT Chris Canty (knee), CB Prince Amukamara (foot), and CB Antwaun Molden (hamstring) did not practice at yesterday’s OTA workout.

Canty, who has offseason surgery on the knee, said his goal is to be able to return by training camp.

HB Ahmad Bradshaw (foot), WR Dan DePalma (hip), TE Martellus Bennett (hamstring), DE Justin Tuck (shoulder), DT Linval Joseph (ankle), LB Clint Sintim (knee), CB Terrell Thomas (knee), S Kenny Phillips (knee), and S Chris Horton (hamstring) were limited.

Coaches’ Media Q&As: Transcripts and video of yesterday’s media sessions with the following coaches are available at Giants.com:

• Head Coach Tom Coughlin (Video)
• Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride (Video)
• Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell (Video)
• Running Backs Coach Jerald Ingram (Video)
• Tight Ends Coach Mike Pope (Video)

Player Media Q&A’s: Transcripts and video of yesterday’s media Q&A sessions with the following players are available at Giants.com:

• QB Eli Manning (Video)
• WR Victor Cruz (Video)
• WR Domenik Hixon (Video)
• WR Ramses Barden (Video)
• DE Justin Tuck (Video)

Giants.com Q&A With CB Prince Amukamara: The video of a Giants.com Q&A with CB Prince Amukamara is available at Giants.com.

Giants and Umenyiora’s Agent Talking: According to ESPN, the Giants and the agent for DE Osi Umenyiora have been holding discussions on a new contract for Umenyiora. However, ESPN is reporting that the two sides remain far apart on a possible new deal.

Umenyiora has been a no-show at the Giants’ voluntary Organized Team Activity (OTA) workouts.

“(Umenyiora’) situation…he has been under contract in a bad deal for years now and anybody who looks at the situation would say, ‘Well, this should have been taken care of a long time ago,'” said LB Mathias Kiwanuka. “For whatever reason, it hasn’t. So I understand his frustration.”

Umenyiora clearly appreciates the support.

“What I’ve heard from Kiwi, and (Justin) Tuck and JPP (Jason Pierre-Paul), I’ll never forget as long as I live,” Umenyiora told The Bergen Record. “That’s exactly why we are champions. Because we have each other’s back. These days you hardly see that kind of loyalty from anybody. I appreciate it, and honestly it makes things that much harder for me. Because those are the people I need to be around.”

Article on the Giants’ Wide Receiving Corps: Nicks’ Injury Yields More Opportunity by Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com

Article on WR Victor Cruz: Giants’ Kevin Gilbride Says Victor Cruz ‘Hasn’t Missed a Beat’ This Offseason by Mike Garafolo of The Star-Ledger

Article on WR Ramses Barden: WR Barden Looks to Make Impact in 2012 by Michael Eisen of Giants.com

Article on DE Justin Tuck: For Giants’ Tuck, a Push for Reading Starts at Home by Sam Borden of The New York Times

Article on DE Justin Trattou: DE Justin Trattou Ready to Seize Opportunity by Giants.com

Notes and Quotes: Domenik Hixon was starting yesterday in place of the injured Hakeem Nicks. “Same ole’ Domenik,” said Head Coach Tom Coughlin. “Makes plays; makes plays, makes plays. Very, very steady; very consistent. He never makes a mistake. He is always in the right place; lots of good things. It makes me very anxious to make sure that he gets through the spring and feels real good about himself. He is a tough guy, now. He doesn’t back down from anything. And, again, he is a great example.”

With Will Beatty (back) sitting out, James Brewer started at left tackle yesterday. “We need (Brewer) to develop,” said Coughlin. “We need him to come along. We need him to improve. He has got to, again, understand the work ethic that those guys with lunch buckets come to the office with every day. And he has a little bit of ways to go there but he has made progress. And I think, for him, there will be another little step right here. But come fall we are going to need him to be as intense as he can possibly be and to understand what has to happen at this level for us to succeed and for him to be a part of it.”

Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell on Adrian Tracy: “We felt that he’s more of a defensive end. After looking at him for the past year or so, we feel that’s his strength and we can make some progress with him playing defensive end for us. He’s really strong at the point of attack. If you talk to (Defensive Line Coach) Robert Nunn, and if you watch him on tape and that type thing, you’d be surprised at how Tracy is strong at the point of attack – much stronger than he physically looks. But I think he’ll do well there.”

The first-team linebackers currently are Michael Boley, Chase Blackburn, and Mathias Kiwanuka. The second-team linebackers are Jacquian Williams, Mark Herzlich, and Keith Rivers. “Mark Herzlich had a great play out there today,” said Fewell. “He had a clinic play out there today. He’s done some nice things. When you see that, you want to expand him a little bit more. You want him to grow some more.”

Fewell on linebackers Greg Jones and Jake Muasau: “We’re going to try (Jones) on the outside. We like the young kid that we have, Jake (Muasau), playing middle backer. We’ll probably split the time with Greg a little bit there. If we try to expand Greg more, we think we can get a little more out of him in what he can do, so it’s a little bit of an experiment with us now. We’ll play him on the outside, and then probably later on in camp move him on the inside…(Muasau) looks like a natural Mike, even though he’s not played it, than some of the guys we have. (Linebackers Coach Jim Herrmann) has really done a nice job with him. Mentally, he has a visual picture of what we want and how we like to fit. I’ll be very interested in how he performs when we get to training camp and when we get to preseason because he’s just doing what we ask him to do. Sometimes that’s just the best thing: just go out and play.”

Fewell on S Will Hill: “I’m very impressed with Will Hill. He’s 30 minutes early for the meetings. When I go into the meeting room, he’s always in there studying. He’s a very athletic young man. This is his second chance, so to speak. He is being the ultimate pro by the way he is preparing for his opportunity. Will made a play last Thursday, phenomenal, in our OTA practice. Absolutely phenomenal. If he can continue at this pace, and if he continues to learn and grow, he’s another guy when we get to the preseason games I hope that we’re talking good things about him because he is preparing to make this football team.”

The Giants have moved Janzen Jackson from safety to corner.