Patriots Claim Jake Ballard Off of Waivers; Day 1 of Mini-Camp

Patriots Claim Jake Ballard Off of Waivers: TE Jake Ballard, who was waived/injured on Monday, was claimed off of waivers by the New England Patriots yesterday. The Giants had hoped to place him on the Physically-Unable-to-Perform (PUP) List and eventually Injured Reserve after he cleared waivers. Ballard himself tweeted on Monday that he expected to be back with the Giants.

“While this was very sudden and I am still experiencing a great deal of differing emotions, I wanted to take a moment to say Thank You and place some closure on a wonderful chapter in my life,” Ballard said in a statement. “I will greatly miss my teammates, the fans, the organization, and albeit short-lived, I will forever cherish all the great memories that we created during my time in a Giant uniform. Simultaneously, I am humbled by the opportunity that the Patriots have afforded me and as I have always done, I will bring nothing but hard work, professionalism, and integrity to what is already a world class organization.”

Though he will likely not play in 2012, Ballard will be an Exclusive Rights Free Agent in 2013 if the Patriots tender him, meaning he can only re-sign with New England.

Day 1 of Mini-Camp: The Giants completed the first day of their 3-day, full-squad mini-camp yesterday. There will be another practice today and one more tomorrow.

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

• The Star-Ledger (Practice Report)

A “sights and sounds” video of yesterday’s practice is available at Giants.com.

June 12, 2012 New York Giants Injury Report: TE Travis Beckum (knee) did not practice but he did run for the first time since he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus in his right knee in the Super Bowl. “I’ve done everything except running,” said Beckum. “Been in the pool a lot, been sprinting in the pool, a lot of trying to make my glutes strong, my hamstrings, my quads, so all that stuff has a factor in how my knee will hold up.”

“If you look at it, you’ve always gotta be cautious about what you do,” said Beckum. “Especially me having the meniscus (injury too), obviously the pounding on it is going to make it a little more fired up as opposed to a regular ACL (injury). We’ll take it week by week, and hopefully see the best results.”

“If my knee says,’Travis, relax,’ I’m going to back off,” said Beckum. “I just had an ACL surgery. I expect pain. But as far as where it’s at, if it (the pain) is more in the front, then I’m going to need to back off a little bit.”

Also not practicing yesterday were WR Hakeem Nicks (foot), DT Chris Canty (knee), DE Osi Umenyiora (pacing himself), DT Shaun Rogers (elbow), LB Clint Sintim (knee), CB Corey Webster (hamstring), and S Tyler Sash (hamstring).

“We’ll be worried when the season gets here and I’m not prepared to go then,” said Rogers. “Then I’d think it would be more of a concern than mid-(June)…I would think a little missed time in June won’t kill anybody. I have a pretty good knowledge of the game and what’s expected, so I don’t think it’s going to be a detriment.”

LT Will Beatty (back), DT Linval Joseph (ankle), CB Terrell Thomas (knee), and S Kenny Phillips (knee) were limited to individual drills.

Beatty apparently hurt his back lifting weights (power cleans) earlier in the offseason. “Once you have a history of back injuries, you want to stay away from certain drills,” said Beatty. “I learned the hard way, but I did learn…I had so much time off I was actually trying to get myself in shape and doing more than I should’ve done. Last year, (my back) was really bothering me but it never took me out of anything. I was having tightness and things like that. But this is the first time I missed OTAs because of the back.”

“It is a little setback not to be able to do OTA’s but I am still here during meetings and I am always mentally learning so I haven’t stopped just because you all haven’t seen me out there on the field,” Beatty said. “I am still here each day. I am looking forward to training camp because it has been a while since I have suited up…(I am) very confident (about being ready for training camp). By that time, my back will be completely healed no question…We are playing it safe but I am going to do a little bit more (this week).”

Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s Tuesday Press Conference: The transcript and video of yesterday’s press conference with Head Coach Tom Coughlin are available at Giants.com.

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

• QB Eli Manning (Video)
• WR Victor Cruz (Video)
• OT David Diehl (Video)
• DE Jason Pierre-Paul (Video)
• DE Osi Umenyiora (Video – ESPN)
• DT Chris Canty (Video)

Article on OT David Diehl: Giants’ David Diehl Vows to Make Amends, Restore His Character After DWI Arrest by Mike Garafolo of The Star-Ledger

Article on the Giants’ Defensive Line: D-Line Lifts G-Men to A-Plus Offseason by Johnette Howard of ESPNNewYork.com

Article on DE Jason Pierre-Paul: Jason Pierre-Paul’s Quick Rise to Fame by Michael Eisen of Giants.com

Article on LB Keith Rivers: Rivers Eager to Show He’s a Steal by Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com

Notes and Quotes: TE Adrien Robinson was allowed to join his teammates for the first time since the rookie mini-camp immediately after the Draft. NFL rules prohibit players from participating in other offseason workouts or even having the team’s playbook until they are finished with their classes. The University of Cincinnati school year ended last week.

“I’m real excited, I’m just happy to be here and finally get back,” said Robinson. “I feel like I missed so much. So my head is spinning a little bit trying to understand everything and terms and all that. But I think now that I’m here, I think I’ll be able to pick it up pretty quick…It’s not really frustrating. You just have to roll with it. It’s a rule. There’s nothing I can do about it so I made the best of it…It’s going to be just a lot of individual study. I’m studying on my own and watching film with (Tight Ends) Coach (Mike) Pope and learning from all the other tight ends that are here – following them and being their shadow, basically. This is my first day. Coming in, to me, everyone has been telling me what to do and helping me out. They’re all leaders to me.”

LB Keith Rivers on himself: “I was the ninth pick in the draft. Anywhere near that (level of play for the Giants) and it’s beyond a steal. It’s armed robbery…For me it’s more about proving to myself that I am who I was and nothing has changed…It’s a situation where when you’ve been hurt, you always want to show people what they’ve been missing. I’m excited to get out there and prove a lot of things to myself. Whenever you get hurt, there’s always a little bit of ‘Will I come back the same way?’ And you work hard to make sure that you do.”

German-born DT Markus Kuhn is still not practicing as he has yet to receive a work visa.