August 7, 2006 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Afternoon Practice)

August 7, 2006 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Afternoon Practice)

by BigBlueInteractive.com Contributor WeatherMan

This one will be brief – I only caught the last half and didn’t have my notebook on hand to do the play by play. So, some more general observations…

Quarterbacks: It was a bad day all around for the quarterbacks – Eli Manning was alright. Tim Hasselbeck was frequently off-target. The only thing Jared Lorenzen did well was hand the ball off and Rob Johnson doesn’t look like he could throw more than 20 yards with anything resembling zip on the ball.

Halfbacks: Brandon Jacobs was in pads and participating fully, looking no worse for the wear after his heartbeat irregularity over the weekend. James Sims got plenty of reps and looked strong, as did Tiki Barber. I didn’t see any running back reps for Chad Morton, and Little John Flowers was average – made one good sideline run (with superb blocking) but was otherwise unimpressive.

Wide Recievers: Plaxico Burress was on the field and going 100%. He made several nice catches and one drop that he should have held onto. Amani Toomer was as good as ever. WR Tim Carter had a down day – less time with the first unit with Burress out there, and added some drops (on Hasselbeck passes) as well. Triandos Luke got at least a one day promotion, was frequently in action with the second team and even had a couple first team snaps out of the slot. Sinorice Moss was in pads but sidelined. David Tyree took a few reps but was largely unnoticed. Willie Ponder made a couple catches, but missed as many as he made. Michael Jennings was loud as usual, and flashed speed on a few plays. Anthony Mix made a catch – the first I’ve seen from him this year – but that was it. As an aside, when the first unit went 3-wide, it was Burress alone on one side, with Toomer and Carter on the other and Toomer in the slot.

RG Chris Snee did not practice. Rich Seubert ran with the first team in his place with no noticeable dropoff. Any breakdownss the first-team offensive line took were at tackle, with DE Michael Strahan breaking through a few times, as well as LB Reggie Torbor once on a LaVar Arrington-designed blitz. OT Bob Whitfield was clearly enjoying himself – he demolished a few second team defensive line players and let them know it.

Defensive Line: The defensive line as a whole was shaken up a bit, with William Joseph not practicing. Barry Cofield got reps with the first team at defensive tackle (next to Fred Robbins), as did Justin Tuck. With Tuck splitting time between defensive tackle and defensive end today, Mathias Kiwanuka also saw some first-team reps outside. Jonas Seawright made a few good rushes with the second team, but also got knocked flat on his ass once when the play was going to the opposite side of him.

Linebackers: Arrington was another of the non-practicing players, but was in uniform, walking without a limp, and had no visible bandaging on the knees. Carlos Emmons was sidelined as well, leaving the starting LB corps as Torbor – MLB Antonio Pierce – WLB Brandon Short. Torbor made a few nice plays and Pierce was flying to the ball in the 11-on-11 drills. MLB Chase Blackburn made the play-of-the-day – a great interception off Hasselbeck when he was in coverage against none other than Jeremy Shockey.

Defensive Backs: The secondary looked much, much better today as a whole than in prior practices. Burress did beat SS Gibril Wilson once for a touchdown, but the rest of the day belonged to the defensive backs. Cornerbacks Corey Webster and Sam Madison each had multiple pass breakups, largely preventing Eli from getting into a rhythm offensively while FS Will Demps and Wilson were in position and making an impact as well.

Injury Report: WR Sinorice Moss, Joseph, Arrington, Emmons, HB Derrick Ward, and Snee did not practice.

Best and Worst: Brandon Jacobs was back going 100% – that alone was a highlight for me. Strahan had some great rushes, and the improved secondary play as a whole was exactly what I needed to see. On the bad side, Rob Johnson looks just plain awful out there – his arm is clearly not back to full strength, and if that doesn’t change there is no way he’ll make the team.