Aug 062014
 
Marcus Harris and Michael Strahan, New York Giants (August 3, 2014)

Marcus Harris and Michael Strahan – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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AUGUST 6, 2014 NEW YORK GIANTS TRAINING CAMP REPORT…
It was the Marcus ‘Soup’ Harris show at Giants’ training camp on Wednesday. The wide receiver caught pass, after pass after pass. He was roughly two receptions away from hearing ‘Soup’ bellow down from the crowd in attendance.

In all seriousness, though, the second-year pro is having a very nice camp. Below you will find the complete practice report from Aug. 6.

Mike Patterson (93) and Kelcy Quarles (97), New York Giants (June 5, 2014)

Mike Patterson (93) and Kelcy Quarles (97) – Photo by Connor Hughes

THE WALKING WOUNDED…
A couple new faces were added to the injury report and sat out today. Geoff Schwartz (knee) and Jerrel Jernigan (knee) did not practice. Trindon Holliday remains out with a hamstring, along with Odell Beckham Jr. and Xavier Grimble. Mike Patterson sat out with his shoulder injury, Robert Ayers Jr. returned. Peyton Hillis did not practice with his sprained ankle.

During practice, Kelcy Quarles was carted off the field with what the team later called a “sprained ankle.” He will get x-rays tomorrow. David Wilson took in practice from the sidelines.

SPECIAL TEAMS…
This section is going to be a little shorter than usual. When Quarles went down, the Giants practiced the majority of their kick return and field goal unit on the far side of the field and it was difficult to tell exactly what was happening.

  • With David Wilson and Trindon Holliday out, the following worked as kick returners: Quintin Demps, Michael Cox, Marcus Harris, Preston Parker. Cox got a lot of looks as a returner.
  • From what I gathered, the kicker who kicked went 4-for-4. Because McManus kicked yesterday, it was probably Josh Brown. Again, don’t quote me.

INDIVIDUAL/ONE-ON-ONE…
Not too much happened between the individual portion of practice and the one-on-one section, thus, we’re combining it into one. Aside from working through individuals, the Giants’ ran a 9-on-7 running drill (defensive line/linebackers vs offensive line/backs) as the quarterbacks, wide receivers and defensive backs did a one-on-one coverage drill.

  • Andre Williams, New York Giants (August 3, 2014)

    Andre Williams – © USA TODAY Sports Images

    It really is painful watching Andre Williams try to catch the ball. He’s attempting to use his hands more, but I guess instincts kicks in, and instead he does this half hands/half body grab. It’s ugly looking. He tried to go all hands on a swing route with no defense and the ball sailed right through. It’s a work in progress with the rookie.

  • Little trend that started here and continued throughout practice: Every single time the offense stepped on the field, it was Adrien Robinson at tight end and Andre Williams at running back. Also, with Geoff Schwartz and Jerrel Jernigan out, Weston Richburg and Marcus Harris stepped in.
  • In one-on-one’s, Rueben Randle beat Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on a come-back, back-shoulder throw about 10 yards down the field from Manning. Rodgers-Cromartie had good coverage, but it was a perfect pass from Manning. Good timing between the two.
  • Travis Harvey  made a really nice toe-tapping grab on the sideline. BBI’s instagram account got the video. Be sure to give it a follow, too

  • Right around the time when Kelcy Quarles went down (it was during the defenses portion of this practice) Jayron Hosley intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown. Didn’t see the quarterback, but it was Hosley’s first interception of camp.

QUARTERBACK NET DRILL…
The Giants used to do this drill with Kevin Gilbride all the time in Albany. The offensive coaches set up three bags laying on the ground and a giant net with three holes and three different colored circles set up above the holes. The quarterbacks then need to move in and out of the bags, the coach calls a color and the quarterback needs to throw the ball into the corresponding net hole color.

  • By my count, Curtis Painter won. Score read as follows: Painter– 3, Eli Manning– 2, Ryan Nassib-2.

TWO-MINUTE DRILL…
Giants first team-oriented drill was again the hurry-up, two-minute drill. This was the first time Marcus Harris really began to shine. While the offense started strong, things went south down pretty quick.

  • On four of the Giants first five plays, Marcus Harris hauled in three receptions. There was one on a corner route to the outside, one on a post and one toe-tapping grab on the sideline off a tipped ball. He continues to shine.
  • Ugly screen pass from Eli Manning. Threw it, bounced of Henry Hynoski’s butt and into the hands of Cullen Jenkins. Just as a foreshadowing, I had four interceptions tallied for the defense today.
  • Manning didn’t have his best practice. He overshot an open Victor Cruz on a play that could have been a touchdown. Then, near the goal line, Eli bounced one to Cruz. He did hit Rueben Randle for a touchdown later in practice. More on that below.
  • Chandler Fenner, who the Giants signed on Friday, had a pretty nice practice. He had perfect coverage on Rueben Randle on a fade route from Manning. Then, later in practice, he intercepted Curtis Painter.

SEVEN-ON-SEVEN…
I’m beginning to pick something up on Larry Donnell: Every time he catches the ball, he falls down. He’s perfected it in a sense, making it look graceful at times. But seriously, every time he catches…he falls. Here’s your highlights from seven-on-seven’s.

  • As I said above, Larry Donnell made a nice catch on a drag…then fell down. I had him with two falls today.
  • Really, really nice coverage by the Giants starting unit. When working in seven-on-seven, after a few seconds the quarterback almost always finds someone to at least check the ball down to. On this particular play, Manning had to throw it away.
  • There was a lot of praise thrown Corey Washington’s way after his 73-yard touchdown on Sunday. With that being said, he’s still on the roster bubble and can’t afford drops in camp. He got past Ross Weaver and Curtis Painter hit him perfectly in stride. The issue? Washington dropped the ball.

ELEVEN-ON-ELEVEN…
It’s still a little difficult to tell the difference between the 11-on-11 and two-minute drill the Giants go with first, partially because of the pace the offense is run at. From what I gather, 11-on-11 always starts with the starters versus the starters.

  • Mathias Kiwanuka continues to have a very nice training camp. On a run to Rashad Jennings, Kiwanuka beat Justin Pugh off the line and practically took the handoff.
  • While it wasn’t his best day, Eli Manning threw a beautiful deep touchdown pass to Rueben Randle down the right sideline. On a roll out, Manning threw it deep to Randle who had gained a few steps on Jayron Hosley.
  • The offense, by my count, had two “Delay of Game” penalties.
  • Henry Hynoski, New York Giants (July 28, 2013)

    Henry Hynoski – © USA TODAY Sports Images

    Devon Kennard came storming in from the linebacker position and got past Henry Hynoski to make the ‘tackle’ in the backfield. The miss by Hynoski caught the eye of Giants’ coach Tom Coughlin, who began yelling. A few plays later, Hynoski rocked Spencer Adkins. Coughlin again was yelling with a slightly different tone that time.

  • Will Beatty continues to be limited. He’ll play a few series, then get a few off. The first play I saw Charles Brown come in was the first time I saw Jason Pierre Paul get to the quarterback. Big burst off the line.
  • In training camp, whenever the running back gets a handoff, he normally runs to the endzone. After he gets past the safeties, the defense just lets him go. Kendal Gaskins, who took this route, was jogging to the end zone when Nat Berhe came running in from behind and punched the ball out.
  • Chandler Fenner picked off his first pass on one from Curtis Painter. He jumped the route. Nice day for Fenner at practice.
  • Prince Amukamara and John Conner got into a little bit of a yelling and shouting match. Didn’t escalate past that, though.

SECOND-TEAM HURRY UP DRILL…
The Giants’ ran a second-team versus second-team, two-minute drill with running clock to end practice. Nassib got his team down the field and into field goal range, but couldn’t get the final spike off in time as the clock expired. I guess that means the defense won practice. Oh, the last play the offense ran before the spike was a pass to Donnell. He fell down in bounds after grabbing it.

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Connor Hughes/BBI

Connor Hughes has been working in both the broadcasting and journalism fields for the last seven years. His work has been heard on WMCX, WBZC and Lenape District Television, while read on the pages of The Star-Ledger and The Burlington County Times. Connor can be reached via email ([email protected]) or on twitter (@Connor_J_Hughes)

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