Aug 132019
 
John Mara, New York Giants (July 25, 2019)

John Mara – © USA TODAY Sports

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AUGUST 13, 2019 NEW YORK GIANTS TRAINING CAMP REPORT…
The New York Giants held their fourteenth full-team summer training camp practice on Tuesday at Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The complete public training camp schedule is available at Giants.com.

NFL UPHOLDS 4-GAME SUSPENSION FOR GOLDEN TATE…
The NFL has ruled against the appeal of New York Giants wide receiver Golden Tate on his 4-game suspension for violating the League’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. Tate can continue to practice and play with the team during the preseason, but he cannot practice or play during the first month of the season.

INJURY REPORT – AMBA ETTA-TAWO TEARS ACHILLES…
Running back Wayne Gallman (foot), wide receiver Amba Etta-Tawo (Achilles’ tendon), tight end Isaiah Searight (hip), offensive tackle George Asafo-Adjei (concussion), offensive tackle Brian Mihalik (burner), linebacker Alec Ogletree (calf), cornerback Deandre Baker (knee), and cornerback Sam Beal (hamstring) did not practice on Tuesday.

Etta-Tawo tore his Achilles’ tendon in practice on Monday and is done for the year.

“(Gallman) has just a little bit of a sore foot,” said Head Coach Pat Shurmur. “He’s fine. He just needed a day.”

“(Asafo-Adjei is) in the concussion protocol, and so he’s working through that behind the scenes,” said Shurmur. “As he works through that protocol, there are stages. You can do work, the meeting room, then eventually progress to the field. He just hasn’t quite got there yet.”

Wide receiver Sterling Shepard (thumb) participated with a non-contact jersey.

RG Kevin Zeitler, RT Mike Remmers, and FS Antoine Bethea were given the day off (“maintenance day”).

TRAINING CAMP OBSERVATIONS FROM GIDIEFOR…
It was a gray day with occasional sprinkles of rain today. Practice was in full gear before the public and press were let in. The players were in shells today. The offense was in blue jerseys; the defense in white; and the QBs in Red. The public portion of practice was held on the near field between the stands and the indoor training center.

I have written before that there is not much to make of practice in shells, because there is no hitting. Notwithstanding that I am going to report on my observations for the day.

The most exciting news for me was WR Darius Slayton, the Giants’ 6’1,” 194 lb, 5th-round draft pick from Auburn was on the field and very active today. He took reps with the 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-teams and special teams, caught a few passes, blocked, acted as a decoy, caught a punt, and did not look overwhelmed with anything at all. He looked pretty damn good to me. I think the Giants are going to be hard pressed to let someone with all that going for him go. He has star potential in every sense of the word.

The second thing I want to note is the TE group. There are six TEs on the roster. It really looks as if Evan Engram (6’3” 240 lbs) is the 1, Rhett Ellison (6’5” 255 lbs) is the 2, Scott Simonson (6’5” 261 lbs) is the 3, Garrett Dickerson (6’3” 252 lbs) is the 4, C.J. Conrad (6’4” 247 lbs) is the 5, and then Isaiah Searight (6’4” 250 lbs), who was not practicing and is not doing himself any favors. This is a very deep group and as much good stuff as Conrad has been doing, he’s the smallest of the lot and it’s hard to see him beating out any of the 4 guys in front of him. Dickerson is looking pretty good and so is Simonson. Ellison is “Mr. Reliable” and Engram’s speed and catching ability make them clear favorites as the 1 and 2.

Looking at the WR group 87 Sterling Shepard (5’10” 196 lbs), 15 Golden Tate (5’11” 191 lbs), 18 Bennie Fowler III (6’1” 218 lbs), 2 T.J. Jones (6’ 190 lbs), 5 Da’Mari Scott (6’ 205 lbs), 12 Cody Latimer (6’3” 222 lbs), 13 Reggie White, Jr. (6’2” 212 lbs), 80 Alex Wesley (6’, 191 lbs), 81 Russell Shepard (6’ 194 lbs), 83 Brittan Golden (6’ 196 lbs), 84 Alonzo Russell (6’4” 218 lbs), and 86 Darius Slayton, (6’1,” 194 lbs) are all making noise out there. Of the 12 of them, every single one of them had catches today. However, Russell Shepard, Darius Slayton, T.J. Jones, Cody Latimer, Golden Tate, and Sterling Shepard all take reps catching on special teams so one would think that this gives them an edge.

Looking at the RB group (who practiced having the ball punched at, and stepping and hitting drills, right in front of us today), we have 26 Saquon Barkley (5’11” 233), 22 Wayne Gallman (6’ 210 lbs), 28 Paul Perkins (5’11” 213), 45 Rod Smith (6’3” 235), 39 Ellijah Penny (6’2” 234 lbs), and 23 Jonathan Hilliman (5’11 216 lbs). Gallman didn’t practice today, but it does seem clear that Barkley and Gallman (barring injury) are the 1 and the 2. Penny is the FB and plays special teams. Rod Smith is playing on special teams also. Smith, Perkins and Hilliman were getting their looks on 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-teams today. Is it possible that they keep Penny, Perkins, and Smith with Hilliman being the odd man out?

There was some sideline discussion about the value of keeping QB Kyle Lauletta over QB Alex Tanney today. Ironically, Tanney didn’t have a very good day today, and Lauletta was crisper. The core of this argument was that if you thought Kyle Lauletta had value as a backup, that keeping him on the roster to be Jones’ backup down the road made more sense than keeping Alex Tanney, who is a WYSIWYG player with little upside. I thought this was probably worth batting around as a discussion.

Another discussion was held regarding whether or not QB Eli Manning had it in him be named comeback player of the year this year.

I took a lot of play notes today, but there was no real hitting, except at the end of practice when someone ripped off T Chad Wheeler’s helmet and he struck back at who we couldn’t tell.

Notes:

  • RG Kevin Zeitler, RT Mike Remmers, and FS Antoine Bethea were given the day off.
  • WR Sterling Shepard practiced without any bandages on his hand and wore the yellow jacket for the scrimmage portions of practice.
  • All plays were being run with cards.
  • RB Saquon Barkley made a nonchalant one-hand grab.
  • WR Bennie Fowler made a beautiful catch down the right side from QB Eli Manning.
  • Eli Manning had more reps than the rest of the QBs today.
  • WR Brittan Golden made a good grab.
  • CB Ronald Zamort made a good play against WR Bennie Fowler on a QB Danel Jones pass break up.
  • TE Garrett Dickerson made a beautiful grab up the seam from QB Daniel Jones.
  • TE C.J. Conrad made a nice grab from QB Alex Tanney, who missed on a bunch of throws today
  • Both punters had a spell punting today. I thought 17 Ryan Anderson punted much better than 9 Riley Dixon. He seemed to have better control of the ball and more kicks with a tighter spiral. Dixon had more shots go out-of-bounds today too.
  • WR Golden Tate crash-landed on a sideline pass and caused some concern, but he got up and shook it off and kept playing.
  • QB Eli Manning made a nice throw that WR Cody Latimer reeled in on the right side.
  • WR Alonzo Russell and WR Russell Shepard each made a nice play on comebacks throws by QB Daniel Jones.
  • QB Kyle Lauletta made a crisp throw to WR Da’Mari Scott up the middle.
  • TE T.J. Conrad dropped a QB Daniel jones pass.
  • QB Daniel Jones was intercepted on a pass to the right side.
  • LB Ryan Connelly made a nice break up against QB Daniel Jones.
  • WR Alonzo Russell made a nice grab on the left side from QB Kyle Lauletta.

MEDIA PRACTICE NOTES…
Some snippets from various media sources:

  • Nick Gates was the first-team right guard and Chad Slade the first-team right tackle.
  • The second-team tackles were Chad Wheeler at right tackle and Paul Adams at left tackle.
  • Julian Love started at free safety with Antonio Hamilton starting at cornerback along with Janoris Jenkins.
  • LB Ryan Connelly received first-team reps.
  • QB Eli Manning connected with WR Bennie Fowler on a deep post pattern.
  • The kick returners were WR Cody Latimer, WR Brittan Golden, and WR Darius Slayton.
  • QB Eli Manning hit both WR Cody Latimer and WR Golden Tate on passes down the field, but neither could come down with the ball.
  • QB Eli Manning connected with TE Evan Engram on a 20-yard gain.
  • WR Darius Slayton made a nice catch on a high pass from QB Alex Tanney.
  • DL B.J. Hill beat RT Chad Wheeler to the inside for a “sack.”
  • CB Grant Haley “sacked” the quarterback on a blitz.
  • LB Tae Davis got to the quarterback untouched on back-to-back “sacks.”
  • QB Kyle Lauletta missed on a deep out to WR Reggie White, Jr., but then connected with WR Darius Slayton over the middle.
  • QB Kyle Lauletta connected on a 60-yard touchdown pass to WR Reggie White, Jr. over CB Henre’ Tolliver.
  • WR Sterling Shepard was active catching the football despite his thumb injury.
  • WR Golden Tate, WR Darius Slayton, and WR T.J. Jones returned punts.
  • QB Kyle Lauletta connected on 20-yard pass to WR Alonzo Russell.
  • LB Oshane Ximines “sacked” QB Daniel Jones.
  • S Jabrill Peppers picked off a pass from QB Kyle Lauletta intended for WR Alonzo Russell.
  • LB Nate Stupar intercepted a pass from QB Daniel Jones that was deflected.
  • CB Janoris Jenkins knocked away a QB Eli Manning deep pass to WR Cody Latimer.
  • QB Daniel Jones connected down the field with TE Garrett Dickerson.

GIANTS CO-OWNER JOHN MARA…
The transcript of John Mara’s press conference on Tuesday is available in The Corner Forum while the video is available at Giants.com.

HEAD COACH PAT SHURMUR…
The transcript of Pat Shurmur’s press conference on Tuesday is available in The Corner Forum while the video is available at Giants.com.

THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
Transcripts and video clips of the media sessions with the following players are available in The Corner Forum and at Giants.com:

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Eric Kennedy

Eric Kennedy is Editor-in-Chief of BigBlueInteractive.com, a publication of Big Blue Interactive, LLC. Follow @BigBlueInteract on Twitter.

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