August 19, 2009 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Evening Practice)

August 19, 2009 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Evening Practice)

by BigBlueInteractive.com Contributor Marty in Albany

Miraculously, this afternoon’s heavy rains gave way to sun and allowed the Giants to play on a dry field. It was cooler and less humid than this morning and this might have invigorated the team which was playing at a much crisper pace. The Giants were in “uppers” and they did some good things on the field. The bad news is that the injury bug bit S Kenny Phillips and LB Antonio Pierce, who did not play.

This evening there were punts with WRs Sinorice Moss, Domenik Hixon, Shaun Bodiford, and Mario Manningham doing the catching. Later on, K Lawrence Tynes kicked 4 or 5 medium length field goals with LB Zak DeOssie doing the long snapping rather than DT Jay Alford. I believe that all the FG tries were successful. Speaking of snapping, Adam Koets continues to be the second team center and his center snaps and shotgun snaps went completely unnoticed by me this evening. Congratulations Adam. You persevered and for the moment, at least, you have triumphed!

There was a 7 on 7 drill and the notable plays included a nice pass defense by CB Stoney Woodson on a throw to WR David Tyree; a pass defense by CB Terrell Thomas against WR Shaun Bodiford where Terrell ripped the ball out of Shaun’s hands, and a pass defense by S Vince Anderson, against the much taller TE Kevin Boss. Kevin also made a one-handed catch of a ball thrown behind him. I did not see it, but I heard roars from this evening’s very large crowd. They don’t cheer much, so it must have been pretty good.

In the first 11 on 11 series, WR Steve Smith showed his lack of playing time by running the wrong route for QB Eli Manning. Later in the series, Eli hit WR Sinorice Moss on a very deep slant beating S Michael Johnson, despite having to wait for the ball to arrive. When QB Andre’ Woodson got his turn, he threw a deep fly pattern to WR Ramses Barden, who beat CB DeAndre Wright and CB Stoney Woodson. Andre’ has a strong and accurate arm and Ramses did not have to wait for the ball.

When QB Eli Manning got back in the 11 on 11’s he hit TE Darcy Johnson, on the sideline. Darcy was going like a freight train and CB Corey Webster had the good sense to step off the tracks before Darcy thundered by. Next, WR Domenik Hixon caught a pass in rhythm on the sideline and then another, over the middle. Finally, Eli made a much prettier completion to WR Sinorice Moss, who was covered by CB Terrell Thomas. This pass went about 25-30 yards in the air. It had a much lower trajectory than his first completion to Moss, and it was right on target.

HB Allen Patrick continued to get a lot of carries and passes. Surprisingly, so did FB Dwayne Wright. I don’t know what is going on, but this year all of our running backs are catching passes.

Of course, not all the passes were completed. QB Rhett Bomar bounced a pass off a receiver’s hands (15 or 19, I couldn’t tell) and into the waiting mitts of CB Kevin Dockery and CB Bruce Johnson intercepted a QB David Carr pass intended for WR Hakeem Nicks. Two plays later and Kevin Dockery knocked away another pass intended for Nicks.

Here is my first mention of DE Robert Henderson. He got good penetration in the 11 on 11’s and would have smothered the QB.

WR Mario Manningham ran what appeared to be a timing route and he timed it wrong. This resulted in a desperate diving incompletion followed by a lengthy and animated chat with an unhappy Kevin Gilbride. Mario made up for it a little latter with a deep over the shoulder sideline catch of an Eli Manning throw.

David Carr does not like to give up on a play. On one play, when he could not find an open receiver, he started to run around trying to find one. Naturally, since he is wearing a red shirt, the defense let him run around to his heart’s content and to the consternation of the offense, which was thrown into mass confusion. When the play was finally ended by Carr tossing the ball into the crowd of fans on the sideline, WR Sinorice Moss walked past us and loudly wondered, “What the hell was that?”