Aug 072014
 
Charles James, New York Giants (August 24, 2013)

Charles James had his fifth interception of the offseason in Thursday’s practice – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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AUGUST 7, 2014 NEW YORK GIANTS TRAINING CAMP REPORT…
As the Giants took the practice field for the final time before Saturday’s game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, it was just more of the same.

The defense intercepts three-to-four passes. The defense returns three-to-four interceptions for touchdowns. The Giants quarterbacks go back to the huddle and try to figure out what went wrong.

At first, a lot of praise was given to the cornerbacks and the traditional logic of ‘the defense is ahead of the offense’ fit. But this is three weeks into camp. It’s not even Prince Amukamara, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie or Walter Thurmond III hauling these down. It’s Charles James, Zack Bowman and Chandler Fenner.

Seriously, the Giants’ offense is making Chandler Fenner and Zack Bowman look like Deion Sanders and Darrell Revis.

On to the report.

Odell Beckham (13) and Zack Bowman (31), New York Giants (June 18, 2014)

Odell Beckham is getting closer – © USA TODAY Sports Images

THE WALKING WOUNDED…
Bennett Jackson returned to the field for his second day of work. Odell Beckham Jr. continues to work on the side of the field with trainers. Peyton Hillis, Daniel Fells,Mike Patterson, and Trindon Holliday all took turns riding bikes. Geoff Schwartz worked in-and-out with the offense. Peyton Hillis and Kelcy Quarles are both still out with ankle injuries. Will Beatty just did work individually. No alarm, he won’t play Saturday so Charles Brown got all first team reps. Jerrel Jernigan also returned.

SPECIAL TEAMS…
It was tough really to gauge too much of practice because the team was in just shells. No contact, essentially two-hand touch. There were some observations to be made though.

  • The following players saw punt return looks: Preston Parker, Jerrel Jernigan, Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz, Rueben Randle and Charles James II. James and Parker got the majority of the reps.
  • With Bennett Jackson still not 100 percent, it was Marcus Harris getting reps as the lead gunner opposite Zack Bowman.
  • It was Brandon McManus’ day to kick. He went 3-of-4. The one miss was ugly on a complete shank wide left. That brings his camp misses to three. Josh Brown has missed two.

INDIVIDUAL…
There were a few pretty interesting drills run by the Giants’ offense today. Some different ones that we haven’t seen before.

Adrien Robinson, New York Giants (July 27, 2013)

Adrien Robinson – © USA TODAY Sports Images

  • Just to throw this one out there early: Odell Beckham Jr. was working off in the distance running routes at about 3/4 speed with a coach throwing him passes. He seems to be progressing nicely. My take? He gets on practice field Monday.
  • Cool drill being run with the tight ends. One player would run in place with another right behind him. As Kevin Gilbride Jr. threw the pass, the “defender” would smack the “offensive” player’s arms. Pretty interesting way to work on catching in traffic.
  • Andre Williams caught two passes, by my count, with just his hands. Got a video of the one. It still doesn’t look natural, but it’s coming along.

ELEVEN ON ELEVEN…
With today being a lighter practice, the Giants ran a few different variations. Saw some eleven on eleven, then primarily cards. Practice concluded with a two-minute drill. Here’s the highlights from 11-on-11.

  • Henry Hynoski was featured a bit more today in the pass game than usual. Saw the fullback catch two or three about 5-8 yards down the field.
  • Geoff Schwartz worked in at out at left guard. When he wasn’t in, Weston Richburg took his place.
  • It seems as if Charles Brown is having a very, very tough time guarding Jason Pierre-Paul. By my count, I had two sacks and one pressure for JPP coming off the edge. It could have easily been more.
  • The defense intercepted three passes, could have been five. Seriously. Five. First miss came when Charles James II undercut a pass from Ryan Nassib to Jerrel Jernigan. James missed it by an inch and the pass fell incomplete.
  • Near interception No. 2: Eli Manning went down the seam to Larry Donnell who was guarded well by Jameel McClain. Stevie Brown came over top and Manning’s pass sailed a little high. Brown didn’t watch it in, though, as the pass fell through his hands.
Henry Hynoski, New York Giants (December 30, 2012)

Henry Hynoski – © USA TODAY Sports Images

THE CARDS…
I described this a bit last week and it will be a trend the final practice before each game. The offensive coach holds up a card with a play on it and the defensive coaches do the same. Then, the play is run.

  • Another Henry Hynoski sighting in the pass game. This time he beat Jacquian Williams.
  • I saw this a bit last week, Giants didn’t go to it in the game but it’s there. The read option with Ryan Nassib seems to be something in Ben McAdoo’s back pocket.
  • Marcus “Soup” Harris continues to catch just about everything that is thrown in his zip code. He beat Prince Amukamara on an out, then got deep on a shallow post.
  • Chandler Fenner has had a nice showing the last two days of practice. He fought a ball away from Corey Washington on a deep in.
  • First interception of practice comes from Zack Bowman. He picked off Ryan Nassib. I had my head down so I missed the exact play. Either way, he returned it for a touchdown.
  • Second interception (and fifth of camp) came from Charles James II. The second-year pro undercut an Eli Manning pass intended for I believe Victor Cruz. James II then returned it for a touchdown.

THE RED ZONE…
Following some special teams work, the Giants lined up and worked through a red zone drill. It wasn’t pretty for the offense as the defense continued to have all the success.

  • Ryan Nassib threw a terrible interception to Zack Bowman (his second of the day). On a play-action roll out, Nassib threw it, well, directly to him. Ben McAdoo gave him a few words of ‘encouragement’ after that.
  • Nice pass defense from Prince Amukamara as Manning looked for Rueben Randle in the back of the endzone. Prince had it guarded perfectly and knocked it away.
  • Something happened between Jameel McClain and Adrien Robinson. Didn’t see too much, but McClain got up yelling about “having maturity.”

TWO-MINUTE DRILL…
Yesterday, the Giants concluded practice by running the two-minute drill with Ryan Nassib under center. Today, it was Curtis Painter’s turn. The drive didn’t last very long. On a fourth-and-two from midfield, Painter went deep for Corey Washington. Washington got past Chandler Fenner for the ‘game-winning’ touchdown. Really pretty pass from Painter, dropped it right into Washington’s hands.

 

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Connor Hughes/BBI

Connor Hughes has been working in both the broadcasting and journalism fields for the last seven years. His work has been heard on WMCX, WBZC and Lenape District Television, while read on the pages of The Star-Ledger and The Burlington County Times. Connor can be reached via email ([email protected]) or on twitter (@Connor_J_Hughes)

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