August 20, 2014 New York Giants Practice Report

Curtis Painter, Ben McAdoo, and Eli Manning – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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AUGUST 20, 2014 NEW YORK GIANTS PRACTICE REPORT…
With the Giants getting set to play the New York Jets on Friday, Wednesday’s practice – the final before the game – was a ‘shell’ light practice. Players wore gym shorts and jerseys with little-to-no contact between them.

It’s normally pretty tough to take anything of relevance out of these light practices, especially now that the Giants have ‘game planned’ for the Jets. A decent portion of practice was dedicated to the ‘cards’ which included Ryan Nassib lining up at wide receiver in the Jets “Wild Cat” formation.

Odell Beckham – © USA TODAY Sports Images

THE WALKING WOUNDED…
The uninjured Odell Beckham Jr. (hamstring) remains out. He caught balls form a jugs machine, jogged a little and spent time on the bikes. Prince Amukamara (groin), Jayron Hosley (foot), Xavier Grimble (hamstring), Trindon Holliday (hamstring), James Brewer (back), Charles Brown (shoulder), Peyton Hillis (ankle/foot), and Jon Beason (foot) were all out, too.

SPECIAL TEAMS…
The Giants did a different variation of their special teams drills, running through all the teams back-to-back-to-back. First, the punt team would punt, then the whistle would blow and kickoff would run on, then the whistle would blow and another team would come on. It was interesting because the first team and second team rotated as well.

• The Giants ran a neat play that they successfully did in a game a couple years back. The offense started onto the field, then Coughlin yelled go and the field goal unit had to run on the field and kick the ball before time ran out. This drill was executed successfully.

• Zack Bowman and Charles James II were again your starting gunners.

• With the injuries, Jerrel Jernigan is getting some work as a kick returner behind Preston Parker and Quintin Demps.

• Punt return rotation was as follows: Rueben Randle – Preston Parker – Marcus Harris.

WHATS UP WITH THE INJURED PLAYERS?…
Just a note on what some of the injured players were doing. Peyton Hillis seems pretty close to returning. He was running and moving on the back field pretty aggressively. Beckham Jr. was not. He caught passes for the jugs machine, lightly jogged and spent some time on the bike.

Corey Washington – © USA TODAY Sports Images

SEVEN-ON-SEVEN…
The majority of this drill featured the ‘cards’ again. What this means is – on rotation – either the offense or defense is the ‘Jets’ offense or defense. They hold up a card, run the play and the opposite team has to try to beat it.

• Could be something, could be nothing, but there was a little change to the starting receiving group when Eli Manning led the team to the line for the first time.  There was Rueben Randle outside and Victor Cruz in the slot, but Marcus Harris was on the opposite side of the field..not Jerrel Jernigan.

• The Giants went with a goal line, four receiver look. Corey Washington checked into the game split wide and caught a fade-route touchdown from Eli Manning. Washington got a few reps with the first team today.

• It looks as if Adrien Robinson is starting to work his way up the depth chart as he also got some work with the starters. Speaking after practice, Tom Coughlin said he “certainly” has done things to instill more faith in the coaches.

HURRY-UP DRILL…
As is the case every practice, the Giants first team-related drill features the offense going after the defense in a hurry-up formation. Teams rotate in and out, but the ones get some good work.

• We had a good Marcus Harris sighting as the receiver caught two passes in front of Walter Thurmond III. He hasn’t been talked about as much as in the beginning of camp, but his play hasn’t dropped off. The second-year pro still catches everything in his zip code.

• Ryan Nassib has gotten a lot of flak this offseason, and while his accuracy has suffered at times, he puts some impressive zip on the ball. He really can wing it. The issue is he tries to wing it too much.

• The Andre Williams catching experiment continues to be a work in progress. He dropped an easy one in the flat today. He is at least trying to catch everything with his hands.

• If want to know how Eli Manning’s camp has gone, the following play sums it up perfectly. After bringing his team into the red zone, Eli Manning threw an interception against the second-team defense. Jay Bromley jumped up at the line and picked off Manning’s pass. The 310-pound rookie began running the ball back before Perry Fewell told him to stop.

THE CARDS…
You really can’t take much of anything out of this drill, but here are a few highlights.

• Curtis Painter (playing Geno Smith) threw an interception to Nat Berhe. By my count, that’s the second interception for Berhe this camp. He’s now working with the second unit in Cooper Taylor’s absence.

• It was not the best practice for Eli Manning. Going against the scout team defense, he had to throw away a pass when no one was open and was then intercepted by Zack Bowman on a very ugly throw.

• As noted above, Adrien Robinson has been making some plays lately. He made a nice catch down the seam from Ryan Nassib.

Ryan Nassib – © USA TODAY Sports Images

TWO-MINUTE DRILL…
The Giants ended practice again today with a two-minute drill to simulate the end of the game. Essentially, the Giants offense needs to march down the field and score. Today, it was second-team offense versus the second-team defense with 1:12 put on the clock.

1st and 10 (1:12)
Ryan Nassib goes to Corey Washington on a deep in, pass is dropped.

2nd and 10 (1:07)
Ryan Nassib throws a deep in to Julian Talley, completion for a first down.

1st and 10 (:48)
Ryan Nassib goes to Corey Washington, pass is dropped.

2nd and 10 (:45)
Ryan Nassib steps up in the pocket and finds Preston Parker on the sideline (looked like comeback route) who then steps out of bounds. This play earned praise from Tom Coughlin.

1st and 10 (:27)
Ryan Nassib goes deep to Preston Parker, but over shoots him.

2nd and 10 (:20)
Ryan Nassib goes deep to Corey Washington but the pass is over his head. Nassib jumped in the air after this one because Washington was open and behind the defense. Coulda/shoulda been a touchdown.

3rd and 10 (:16)
Ryan Nassib completes a pass to Corey Washington on a curl route. Timeout.

4th and 2 (:10)
Josh Brown misses a 45-yard field goal as time expires.

Tom Coughlin took the Giants to visit the 9/11 Memorial in New York City following practice. The team will not practice tomorrow and will play the Jets Friday evening.