August 2, 2006 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Evening Practice)

August 2, 2006 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Evening Practice)

by BigBlueInteractive.com Contributor WeatherMan

Starting off with the injury report: DE Justin Tuck was on the field and going full strength; same for DE Eric Moore. LB Carlos Emmons and WR Plaxico Burress were in jerseys sans pads and did no more than stand and watch. WR Sinorice Moss was in pads, but not seen in action for any drills. TE Jeremy Shockey was not seen at all. I saw CB Curtis DeLoatch leaving the field as I arrived at 6:03, later returned to the field but to my knowledge did not participate in any drills.

Enough with that, on to the practice…

Punt Return Drill: HB Chad Morton, CB R.W. McQuarters, and WR Michael Jennings were fielding punts. Morton was far and away the best – crisp catches, strong cuts, and good burst. McQuarters took a few and looked solid, but was not being heavily worked here. The majority of the reps went to Jennings – after struggling with the first two (but holding on, despite jamming a finger on the second) he got better as the drill progressed, making better catches with his hands and a more fluid transition from catch to return.

Offensive Centers: During the punt drill the quarterbacks were on the side taking snaps. The four centers there were: Shaun O’Hara, Todd Londot, Rich Seubert, and Matt Lentz (Grey Ruegamer was long-snapping for the punt drill).

Running Back Drills: Depth charts by the unit they worked with… Fullback #2 is Tony Jackson, #3 is Greg Hanoian. RB’s #2 is Brandon Jacobs, #3 is Derrick Ward, #4 is James Sims, #5 is Little John Flowers. Sims bobbled a pass in early drills where the offenses were working on sweeps, counters, and short passes to the flat with the running backs.

Fade Route Drill to Corner of Endzone: QB Tim Hasselbeck was erratic, completing two passes to WR David Tyree – however, the first was low and would’ve been broken up/picked by a defender, and the second was very high – Tyree made a great effort to bring it in. QB Jared Lorenzen completed 2-of-4 to Michael Jennings – the two catches were well-placed, one miss was a drop by Jennings and the other an overthrow by Lorenzen. Eli Manning went 2-for-3, with David Tyree dropping a good pass. WR Amani Toomer and WR Tim Carter each reeled in their respective passes, with Toomer spiking his toes just inside the line nicely.

Early Offense versus Defense Drills: CB Sam Madison started it off with a great pass breakup, stepping in front of Tim Carter to knock down a pass from Eli. Eli had another ball dropped by David Tyree, although CB Corey Webster’s tight coverage likely had something to do with it. The first team also ran a screen to Brandon Jacobs, who got and turned the corner with good burst. Hasselbeck worked with the second team (Rob Johnson third, Jared Lorenzen fourth) and looked good in this drill. He completed 5-of-6 passes, with TE Visanthe Shiancoe having a drop for the incompletion (good pass, hit him in the hands). Toomer made a nice catch on the sideline, WR Willie Ponder snared one over the middle, TE Boo Williams got S Charlie Peprah turned and made a catch. Other completions were to WR Harry Williams over S Jason Shivers and Michael Jennings over CB/S Brandon Williams. Rob Johnson started off slowly, being picked off by FS Will Demps on a pass intended for TE Wade Fletcher. He ended up 2-for-4, overthrowing Fletcher later, but completing passes to Harry Williams and Willie Ponder. The one throw I saw by Lorenzen was nice, zipping it in to Boo Williams who beat SS Gibril Wilson on the play. LB Brandon Short worked with the first team with Emmons on the sideline. The starting defensive tackles continued to be William Joseph and Fred Robbins.

First Team Offense versus First Team Defense: On the first play the ball was batted down. I did not see who knocked it down (right side of defensive line, possibly Robbins). Tiki took a sweep left for three yards – it was well-defended by the linebackers. Manning’s next pass was broken up by R.W. McQuarters, intended for Amani Toomer. This was followed by a bad drop by Jim Finn in the flat, no defenders near him as he showed off hands of stone. Shiancoe caught a nice pass over the middle for a seven-yard gain, and Brandon Jacobs showed good power up the middle running noticeably lower than last year. Eli made a long completion to Amani on the next play, however, in real life he would’ve been eating turf – LB LaVar Arrington was on a stunt and burst through the line up the middle. DE Michael Strahan jumped offsides on the next play, with more motion being used between him and LaVar – Defensive Coordinator Tim Lewis is really going to have fun using these guys this year. Jacobs got another first team handoff and bulldozed into Gibril Wilson, the pop was audible to the crowd – Jacobs certainly looks like the real deal to me. Another run to Jacobs followed with LaVar again breaking through the line – LG David Diehl mugged him (two fistfuls of jersey and then some) to let Jacobs through.

Second and Third Team Defensive Lineups: 2nd Team: Eric Moore and Justin Tuck on the ends; Damane Duckett and Jonas Seawright inside; linebackers Gerris Wilkinson, Chase Blackburn and Reggie Torbor; corners Frank Walker and R.W. McQuarters; safeties Charlie Peprah and James Butler. 3rd Team: Defensive line of Mathias Kiwanuka, Marcus Green, Barry Cofield, and Adrian Awasom; linebackers Thomas Carroll, Tyson Smith and Gerris Wilkinson; secondary of E.J. Underwood, Quentin Harris, Jason Bell, and Gerrick McPhearson.

The Jay Feely Show: Went 8-for-8 on short- to mid-range field goals, basically playing target practice with the camera guy on the tower behind the field – almost hit with the first one. Made one kickoff that reached about the 13, was returned strongly to the endzone by Chad Morton (Jacobs leading the way) to cheers from the crowd.

11-on-11’s: On Eli’s first run through he completed 3-of-6 passes, two to Tiki and one to Tim Carter. Ponder dropped a pass, McQuarters broke up a pass intended for Toomer, and Antonio Pierce dropped a sure interception when he jumped a route. Hasselbeck completed four passes, one each to Tyree, Tony Jackson, Triandos Luke and Boo Williams – the latter of which was a dangerous pass over the middle. The one throw I saw from Johnson was low but catchable – Darcy Johnson dropped it for good measure. The first team then came back on the field. Jacobs made a strong showing on a counter pitch to the left. Eli completed a long touchdown to Tim Carter down the sideline over Gibril Wilson to “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd, but it wasn’t as good as it looked – Carter had to slow down and reach back for the ball, and Wilson fell down (though I’m not sure if he slipped on his own or from getting turned by Carter’s move). Eli also completed a nice pass to Shiancoe despite tight coverage from Sam Madison. With Burress and Moss on the sideline, the top 3 receivers were Toomer, Carter, and Tyree. Hasselbeck made two poor passes that were reeled in spectacular fashion by Ponder and then Tyree, beating Frank Walker and Jason Bell respectively. There was one minor fight between players on the second team lines – I didn’t get a good look, but the rumblings around me said that it was Rich Seubert beating on a defensive tackle. Carter dropped a late Hasselbeck pass, Brandon Williams was in his face on the coverage. Ponder reeled in a 25-yarder from Hasselbeck over Frank Walker, and they followed it with a 20-yarder to Luke over McPhearson, who had been beaten badly on the sideline. The second-team offensive line, from right to left, consisted of Guy Whimper, Matt Lentz, Grey Ruegamer, Rich Seubert, and Bob Whitfield. Damane Duckett broke through the line to break a play once, shutting down any options for Hasselbeck. Lorenzen got some reps with the third team at the end, missing Triandos Luke badly (pass went about 5 yards behind him). The Pillsbury Throwboy was seen running extra wind sprints at the end of practice, and he certainly needs them.

Hot/Cold Players: The player who caught my eye most today was LaVar – when the first team defense mixed up the rush packages he was bursting through the line and putting himself in position to make big plays. Tim Carter was better than I expected, but not spectacular. Brandon Jacobs consistently flashed speed and power all day, and has clearly moved to the #2 spot on the depth chart. On the bad side, Rob Johnson and Jared Lorenzen both looked downright awful, with an interception by Johnson and numerous bad passes from both.

Final Notes: The early defensive drills were on the far side of the field, so I have nothing on them. Ryan Kuehl and Jeff Feagles were taking it easy for the most part, but hell, they’ve earned that right. I don’t know what was wrong with DeLoatch, but the door is open for him if he can get on the field – Walker was far from secure at the fourth corner spot. Hope this was informative – more coming the next time I can down to practice!