August 5, 2008 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Evening Practice)

August 5, 2008 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Evening Practice)

by BigBlueInteractive.com Contributor Marty in Albany

The Giants were in shorts and shells this evening. OG Chris Snee was dressed and practiced with the first team and OG Kevin Boothe was back at RG with the second team. WR Amani Toomer was not dressed and I was told that he did not participate in this morning’s jog-through either.

The real surprise is WR Brandon London’s not practicing. He did not appear to be bandaged, or limping , or in any pain. The Detroit Lions game on Thursday night, so Mr. London picked a most inopportune time to get dinged up. It appears that London and Moss are fighting for the same roster spot and that the only way London will displace Moss is to excel in head to head competition. The Lions game would have been the perfect opportunity.

The only bright spot for Brandon is that there is no guarantee that any of our ailing receivers will be ready to play against the Browns either on August 18. If London is healthy, he should get a large number of reps in the Browns game. As would be expected under these circumstances, Sinorice Moss and WR Domenik Hixon were the starting receivers this evening.

Sinorice had an up and down practice. In the 11-on-11s, a hard pass from QB Eli Manning bounced off Moss’s stomach into the air, and into the arms of S James Butler for an interception. It should have been a catch. It did not appear that Butler did anything to defend against the pass, but he was right next to Moss when the ball arrived. A little later, the defense continued to dominate the offense and Manning had to throw the ball away. Safeties Coach, David Merritt seemed pleased with the play of the defense. He also complimented S Michael Johnson, twice, for good play.

Coach Merritt also complimented S Nehemiah Warrick who had good coverage on an Anthony Wright pass to TE Eric Butler. In a real game it is likely that Butler would have paid dearly for his catch if he could have held on at all.

In the 11 on 11s, Wright connected with WR D.J. Hall, who made a graceful catch and spin-move afterwards. Hall also had a Wright pass bounce off his chest. Wright also connected with Moss for a nice reception.

S Kenny Phillips was in the right place at the right time when he intercepted a pass in the 7 on 7s. I’m told that the ball was thrown directly to him.

PK Lawrence Tynes made 4 or 5 field goals mostly in the 35-40 yard range. Don’t worry about the distances, most of the kicks were on the rise when they cleared the cross bar.

Manning and TE Kevin Boss continue to hook up with passes and catches that are well executed on both sides. I anticipate that we will see this combination against Detroit.

In the on-going competition between Anthony Wright and David Carr, Wright seem to be pulling away. His arm looks strong and he has decent accuracy. The Detroit game should be a good indication of how the two quarterbacks are doing. In Carr’s defense, I will say that although learning the Giants play book is difficult, it is probably even more difficult to suppress one’s instinct for self-preservation.