August 6, 2021 New York Giants Training Camp Report

Joe Judge – © USA TODAY Sports

AUGUST 6, 2021 NEW YORK GIANTS TRAINING CAMP REPORT…
The New York Giants held their ninth full-team summer training camp practice on Friday at Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Practices are not open to the public this year.

“We’ll progress with our training camp back in pads today, moving around,” said Head Coach Joe Judge before practice. “It’ll be kind of an on and off the field type of day due to some of the numbers and availability to kind of work with some guys in some different situations. So we’ll be on the field today, progress on our install. We’ll start building a little bit more into team periods and kind of the flow of calling the plays from the sideline and get guys lined up and hearing the play in the huddle, break it and get going. We’re kind of getting away a little bit of the transition of drill to drill that you guys see in the first part of camp that we operate with. We’ve got to get in this next couple flow of weeks and just playing some football, getting out there and letting our guys operate.”

ZACH FULTON RETIRES…
New York Giants reserve guard Zach Fulton has retired from the NFL. He is the third Giant to retire this past week, joining linebacker Todd Davis and center/guard Joe Looney. The Giants signed Fulton in March 2021 after he was cut by the Houston Texans. The 6’5”, 321-pound Fulton was originally drafted in the 6th round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. He spent four seasons with the Chiefs before signing with the Texans in 2018. In all, Fulton has played in 107 regular-season games with 90 starts. Fulton started 44 games at right guard for the Texans, including all 16 games in 2020. He has also started games at center and left guard in his career.

“I had a good conversation with Zach last night,” said Head Coach Joe Judge. “He talked with me, (Offensive Line Coach) Rob (Sale), (Offensive Consultant Pat Flaherty), (Offensive Coordinator) Jason (Garrett), (General Manager) Dave Gettleman and a few other people in the organization. I would say specifically to Zach’s situation, look Zach was doing a good job for us. He’s a guy that I didn’t want to see go; however, I respect his decision. I’ll let him speak completely for himself. I would say that a lot of these older vets, they’re at a different point in their life with different things. Zach’s a guy that started a business in the offseason, he just had his son. His family is down in Texas. This is an opportunity for him to get back. We talked a lot about just the duration, a career and different things. Without going into everything, look, he indicated to us, hey listen, coming out of where he was last year, your body’s in a different point than when you’re younger. You get to the point to see do I think I have it for 16 games? And you have to respect when these guys look us in the eye and say, ‘listen, I really wanted to see if I could push through it, but I don’t think my body’s at that point,’ and you can leave this point in the game with your health.

“I’d say all three situations are different. Everyone has a different personal circumstance. I respect all three. We’ve left the door open for all three. These are three good guys who worked hard for us. Listen, I can’t tell you how much respect I have for the players who come in and work hard for us. I know this is a demanding place. I know this is a place that will want to work them, but we’re smart about how we work our players and we’re very calculated. But at the same time, we have to push our players and train them that when they go on the field, number one, they’re safe and, number two, they play effectively. It’s our job to help these players produce on the field and put them in position. It’s training camp. There’s different things that come up along with it, but I think in terms of these three vets, look, it’s not unique to the league. I know there’s been several vets that are retiring. It’s not unique to this year. One thing I’ll say that is a little different this year than previous years is there’s more people that you call that are on the street trying to get into camps calling, where the agents indicated that they’re done playing football. I’d say these are guys with varying ages, but mostly guys that I’d say have six years in the league. You call these guys this time of year normally and everyone’s training and waiting to get to training camp. This year’s just been a different year.”

INJURY REPORT…
WR Kenny Golladay (hamstring), WR Dante Pettis (unknown), TE Levine Toilolo (torn Achilles’ tendon), CB Adoree’ Jackson (unknown/possible maintenance day), LB Lorenzo Carter (calf), LB Elerson Smith (hamstring), LB Trent Harris (unknown), and WR Austin Mack (hamstring) did not practice on Friday.

DL Raymond Johnson left practice early, possibly due to a heat issue. OLB Ifeadi Odenigbo and RB Gary Brightwell also left practice early.

The following players remain on various PUP and reserve lists:

• Reserve/COVID-19 List: TE Rysen John
• Active/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) List: RB Saquon Barkley (knee), TE Kyle Rudolph (foot), LB Oshane Ximines (hamstring), and CB Aaron Robinson (core muscle)
• Reserve/Non-Football Injury (NFI) List: LB Ryan Anderson (back)
• Reserve/Injured: WR Derrick Dillon (unknown) and RB Mike Weber (hip flexor)

PRACTICE NOTES…
Some snippets from various media sources:

• WR Kadarius Toney participated in 11-on-11, full-team drills with the second-team unit.
• Brett Heggie was working at second-team right guard with the retirement of Zach Fulton. Kyle Murphy also saw increased reps. When Heggie and Murphy were flagged with false starts, they were replaced on the second unit by Nick Gates and Jake Burton.
• Niko Lalos received first-team reps at outside linebacker again. Azeez Ojulari was the other first-team outside linebacker.
• CB Rodarius Williams tipped a QB Daniel Jones pass intended for WR Sterling Shepard. S Jabrill Peppers intercepted the ball off of the deflection.
• CB Rodarius Williams, playing with the first-team defense, then undercut WR Alex Bachman to intercept another pass from QB Daniel Jones.
• CB Quincy Wilson intercepted an overthrown pass from QB Clayton Thorson intended for WR Alex Bachman, who was well covered by CB Darnay Holmes.
• LB Niko Lalos broke up a QB Daniel Jones pass at the line of scrimmage intended for WR Sterling Shepard.
• LB Cale Garrett broke up another pass.
• CB James Bradberry had excellent deep coverage on WR John Ross to break up a pass.
• S Josh Kalu intercepted a pass from QB Mike Glennon. Kalu also broke up another pass.
• RB Corey Clement had a few big runs.
• DLs Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence pressured the quarterback a number of times on Friday.
• OLs Andrew Thomas and Kenny Wiggins impressed in 1-on-1 drills.
• WR C.J. Board continues to make receptions in practice.
• TE Evan Engram had another big catch from QB Daniel Jones. Jones also had a big gain on a quarterback keeper.

HEAD COACH JOE JUDGE…
The transcript of Joe Judge’s press conference on Friday 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:

• OC Nick Gates (Video)
• CB Rodarius Williams (Video)
• PK Graham Gano (Video)

WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The New York Giants practice Saturday (10:45 AM-12:45 PM). Head Coach Joe Judge and select players will also address the media.