August 2, 2019 BBI New York Giants Training Camp Report

James Bettcher – © USA TODAY Sports

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AUGUST 2, 2019 NEW YORK GIANTS TRAINING CAMP REPORT…
The New York Giants held their eighth full-team summer training camp practice on Friday at Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The complete public training camp schedule is available at Giants.com.

INJURY REPORT…
Wide receiver Darius Slayton (hamstring), wide receiver Brittan Golden (groin), offensive tackle George Asafo-Adjei (concussion), offensive tackle Chad Wheeler (unknown), defensive end Alex Jenkins (unknown), linebacker B.J. Goodson (hamstring), linebacker Markus Golden (load management), linebacker Oshane Ximines (unkown), linebacker Mark McLaurin (foot), cornerback Grant Haley (shoulder), cornerback Sam Beal (hamstring), and cornerback Henre’ Toliver (ankle) did not practice on Friday.

“(Haley) dove for a ball yesterday and fell on his shoulder,” said Head Coach Pat Shurmur. “He’s going to be fine.”

Wide receiver Sterling Shepard (thumb) practiced on a limited basis.

TRAINING CAMP OBSERVATIONS FROM GIDIEFOR…
It was a very warm day today. Temperatures hovered around ninety degrees. The air was dry, but the sky was overcast with dark clouds on the horizon. There was no lightening siren today, however. The entire team was out there in position groups with their coaches doing drills as we waited to get on the field. The four quarterbacks in their red shirts were to the right practicing in unison different combinations with drop backs, stepping up in the pocket then releasing passes to different sides, and tossing. The offensive tackles were one at a time taking their pre-snap position, taking their first steps after the snap, then punching pads their coach was holding, left tackles stepping and punching to the left, right tackles to the right. The offensive guards were crouching and springing forward hitting the man in front of them. The defensive players were far to the right field and I couldn’t see clearly what they were doing.

We were let onto the practice area and escorted to the far right field. The format was similar to Tuesday in that first the whole team stretched, then there were position drills, then began 4 practice sets of 11-on-11’s interspersed with special teams, installs, and position drills and then the finish was a 7-on-7 period. Each set consisted of 4 plays for each of the first, second and third teams.

I hung out where the defensive backs were practicing today. The defensive back corps have one thing in common, they all appear to have very good hands. They did a drill today where they were spotting a receiver and incoming pass and flying in and up to intercept the pass right before the receiver’s out-stretched hands. They also did a tipped ball drill. They were things of beauty to watch as each of them flew in and up and sucked in the ball, except for Jake Carlock who didn’t look graceful at this at all. They switched with the linebackers and they aren’t as smooth as the DBs but each of them sucked in the ball.

None of the cornerbacks is taller than 6’ but Corey Ballentine and Antonio Hamilton are the tallest of the lot and have the most imposing physiques of the CBs. To my eyes, Ballentine has been more of a presence than the other two rookies Deandre Baker and Julian Love who both made plays today, and also gave up as many plays as they made. Jabrill Peppers is the most solidly built of the safeties, and Sean Chandler is the guy who stands out in that group on the field when at play. Even so, I have to keep reminding myself that this is still the second week of training camp, and that the actual play out there is not with real hitting yet. The first real hitting will come when they play their first preseason game with the Jets, so I am discounting all performances until the hitting really starts.

Notes:

• TE C.J. Conrad, even with the disclaimer above, stood out to me today. He stood out with his blocking, and he made a spectacular sideline grab that was called out-of-bounds by the referee across the field. I was looking down the line as he came down with the grab and it looked like a good catch to me, albeit close to the line.
• WR Bennie Fowler made another outstanding catch today.
• I keep rooting for WR Alonzo Russell. He is a big man. The biggest of the WRs. He made a clunker out of the first ball that came to him today, but after that he caught two that were pretty solid.
• RB Saquon Barkley made another outstanding physical run right up the middle on the first play of the first set which got a roar out of the crowd.
• TE Rhett Ellison made a really good play out of an QB Eli Manning pass for a touchdown during the two-minute drill.
• TE Evan Engram made a nice grab in the first set of plays.
• WR Reggie White, Jr. looked awful on a ball that thrown to him.
• Linebackers Alec Ogletree and Kareem Martin stood out to me today – they were both very active and disruptive out there.
• S Sean Chandler made a number of plays out there including a big hit on RB Jonathan Hilliman.
• WR Amba Etta-Tawo made a nice grab.
• CB Deandre Baker stuck to Russell and batted the first ball thrown at him away.
• LB Kareem Martin is an animal on special teams – they were doing box out drills and he has an unfair advantage size wise on most of the other special teamers.
• FB Eli Penny made an outstanding block on a running play. It looked real and it had impact.
• WR Sterling Shepard made another one-handed grab today and he is looking fast out there.
• WR Golden Tate also made a tough catch up the middle.
• WR Cody Latimer had a bad day missing on a big play.

MEDIA PRACTICE NOTES…
Some snippets from various media sources:

• Brian Mihalik and Victor Salako were the second-team offensive tackles on Friday.
• RB Saquon Barkley burst through the line on the first play of the 11-on-11 drills.
• Initially, the starting inside linebackers were Alec Ogletree and Ryan Connelly. Then Tae Davis subbed for Ogletree.
• Julian Love practiced with the first team at nickel corner and second team at safety.
• Chad Slade received reps at right tackle with the first, second, and third teams.
• QB Eli Manning threw a touchdown pass to TE Rhett Ellison from about 15 yards out.
• CB/S Julian Love knocked down a QB Daniel Jones deep pass into the end zone.
• QB Kyle Lauletta threw a long touchdown pass to WR Reggie White, Jr.
• LB Jake Carlock had a nice edge rush during 11-on-11 drills and may have “sacked” the quarterback.
• CB Janoris Jenkins knocked away an inside pass from QB Eli Manning.
• QB Kyle Lauletta threw two more touchdown passes, this time to TE C.J. Conrad and TE Scott Simonson.
• TE C.J. Conrad received some first-team reps.
• Most of the passing game was short- to intermediate-level. QB Eli Manning was 10-of-12; QB Daniel Jones was 6-of-11.
• TE Evan Engram was active catching the football.

THE COACHES SPEAK…
Transcripts and video clips of the media sessions with the following coaches are available in The Corner Forum and at Giants.com:

• Head Coach Pat Shurmur (Video)
• Offensive Coordinator Mike Shula (Video)
• Defensive Coordinator James Bettcher (Video)
• Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McGaughey (Video)

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:

• RB Saquon Barkley (Video)