April 24, 2018 New York Giants Mini-Camp Report

Ereck Flowers – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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APRIL 24, 2018 NEW YORK GIANTS MINI-CAMP REPORT…
The first day of the New York Giants 3-day “voluntary” mini-camp was held on Tuesday at Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The only players under contract who appeared to be missing were offensive tackle Ereck Flowers, defensive tackle Damon Harrison, and safety Landon Collins (who had surgery on Monday). The mini-camp will continue with practices on Wednesday and Thursday.

“Well, I think the big thing for us is our game is very simple – it’s about the ball, it’s about negotiating the ground and it’s really about man whipping man,” said Head Coach Pat Shurmur. “Now this time of year there is not any contact so to speak, so that third part you can’t work on very much. But, we can work on throwing and catching; the defense can work on defending and trying to strip. We can work on the coordination of running plays and defending plays and the kicking and the punting and all of that. So those are the things we are trying to do. We’ve given the guys two weeks of meetings and we’ve put together a mini-camp, there’s not a whole lot of scheme, but there is enough here to challenge them mentally and then hopefully by the end of these three days we’ll walk away and know a lot more about our players as we move forward.”

INJURY REPORT…
Not practicing on Tuesday were wide receiver Odell Beckham (recovering from ankle surgery), safety Landon Collins (recovering from arm surgery), running back Paul Perkins (arm in a sling), and linebacker/defensive end Avery Moss (unknown).

PRACTICE NOTES…
Some snippets from various media sources:

• Olivier Vernon, Romeo Okwara, Kareem Martin, and Jordan Williams were working at linebacker during individual drills.
• The starting offensive line from left to right was Nate Solder, Patrick Omameh, Brett Jones, Jon Halapio, and Chad Wheeler.
• John Jerry was with the second unit at guard.
• Eli Manning and Brett Jones botched one center exchange as did Davis Webb and Ethan Cooper.
• Davis Webb badly overthrew wide receiver Keeon Johnson on one play, but then connected with tight end Jerell Adams, who made a nice, leaping catch over the middle.
• Jonathan Stewart was the starting running back.
• Defensive end Josh Mauro tried his hand at long-snapping and did not do well.

REPORT – GIANTS TRYING TO TRADE ERECK FLOWERS…
The NFL Network is reporting that the New York Giants “have had trade discussions centered around” offensive lineman Ereck Flowers. According to media reports, Flowers has not participated in any of the voluntary workouts that began on April 9th. He was also a no-show on the first day of the current 3-day “voluntary” mini-camp.

“He’s not here, so there’s not really much to say,” said Head Coach Pat Shurmur. “He’s not here. We understand that this is a program that is voluntary. I tend to believe it is very necessary, but he’s not here. So, when he is here, we will start to talk about him.”

Flowers improved his play at left tackle in 2017, but he still remains a far too inconsistent player at the position with sloppy technique. Flowers was drafted in the 1st round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Giants. In his first three seasons, he has started 46 games. After a rough start in 2017, Flowers went through an extended stretch where he did not allow a sack, but then struggled somewhat again towards the end of the season.

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:

• WR Sterling Shepard (Video)
• LT Nate Solder (Video)
• DE Olivier Vernon (Video)
• CB Janoris Jenkins (Video)