Aug 042021
 
Levine Toilolo, New York Giants (September 14, 2020)

Levine Toilolo – © USA TODAY Sports

AUGUST 4, 2021 NEW YORK GIANTS TRAINING CAMP REPORT…
The New York Giants held their seventh full-team summer training camp practice on Wednesday at Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Practices are not open to the public this year.

JOE LOONEY RETIRES; GIANTS SIGN WR ANDY JONES AND TE TOMMY STEVENS…
A few days after signing with the Giants, center/guard Joe Looney has decided to retire. Looney is the second unrestricted free agent to retire from the Giants just days after signing with the team. The other was linebacker Todd Davis.

The Giants signed Looney as an unrestricted free agent from the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday. The 30-year old, 6’3”, 310-pound Looney was originally drafted in the 4th round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. He has spent time with the 49ers (2012-2014), Tennessee Titans (2015), and Dallas Cowboys (2016-2020). Looney has played in 104 regular-season games with 42 starts, including 12 starts for the Cowboys in 2020.

Meanwhile, the Giants have also signed wide receiver Andy Jones, who was waived by the San Francisco 49ers last week, and tight end Tommy Stevens, who was waived by the Carolina Panthers in early June.

The 27-year old, 6’1”, 217-pound Jones was originally signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted rookie free agent after the 2016 NFL Draft. Jones has spent time with the Cowboys (2016-2017), Houston Texans (2017), Detroit Lions (2017-2018), Miami Dolphins (2019-2020), and San Francisco 49ers (2021). Jones has only played in 11 regular-season games, catching 11 passes for 80 yards and one touchdown.

The 24-year old, 6’5”, 235-pound Stevens was originally drafted in the 7th round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. A college quarterback, the Saints converted him to tight end. The Carolina Panthers signed him in November 2020 after he was cut and shifted him back to quarterback. The Giants intend to convert him to tight end again.

INJURY REPORT – LEVINE TOILOLO TEARS ACHILLES’ TENDON…
WR Kenny Golladay (hamstring), LB Lorenzo Carter (unknown), LB Elerson Smith (unknown), and WR Austin Mack (hamstring) did not practice on Wednesday.

“(Golladay is) actually seeing a doctor this morning,” said Head Coach Joe Judge. “I would say, in terms of a worse-case scenario, I think we’ve kind of avoided that in terms of dealing with it, but we’ll see what the timetable looks like. And again, injuries are different for every player based on what they are, so we’ll have to see how his body responds and make sure we do right by him.”

LG Shane Lemieux (knee), LT Andrew Thomas (unknown), and WR Kadarius Toney (COVID) practiced on a limited basis.

TE Levine Toilolo tore his Achilles’ tendon working on the side near the start of practice. His season is most likely over. S Montre Hartage injured his shoulder and left practiced early.

The Giants also placed RB Mike Weber (hip flexor) on Injured Reserve.

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 Reggie Ragland (hamstring) and 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 received reps with the first-team offense.
  • With Shane Lemieux (knee) being eased back into practice, Kenny Wiggins received the bulk of starting reps at left guard.
  • With Andrew Thomas limited, Matt Peart received starting reps at left tackle with Nate Solder at right tackle.
  • QB Daniel Jones’ first pass of team drills was a well-thrown ball to WR Darius Slayton, who beat CB James Bradberry.
  • After missing on a couple of deep throws, QB Daniel Jones found TE Evan Engram down the seam between the corner and safety for a touchdown.
  • QB Daniel Jones finished 2-of-3 in 7-on-7 drills and 5-of-6 in team drills.
  • DL Leonard Williams was active.
  • CB Darnay Holmes has had trouble covering WR Sterling Shepard out of the slot. CB Julian Love received some first-team reps as the slot corner on Wednesday night.
  • CB Rodarius Williams continues to make plays in coverage.
  • RB Gary Brightwell has been receiving more touches and had a long run in practice. He also has looked sharp as a receiver.
  • Former Giants QB Phil Simms addressed the team after practice for about 10 minutes. He received applause when he finished.

https://twitter.com/Giants/status/1423084085325541378

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

WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The New York Giants practice Thursday afternoon (12:45-2:00 PM). The team’s coordinators, assistant coaches, and select players will also address the media.

Aug 022021
 
Sterling Shepard, New York Giants (July 29, 2021)

Sterling Shepard – © USA TODAY Sports

AUGUST 2, 2021 NEW YORK GIANTS TRAINING CAMP REPORT…
The New York Giants held their fifth full-team summer training camp practice on Monday at Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Practices are not open to the public this year.

Players are a little bit refreshed and getting back to work (after a day off on Sunday),” said Head Coach Joe Judge. “The progress this week will be shells today as we get back into the acclimation period. We’ll be in pads for tomorrow and Wednesday. We’ll ramp up the team a little bit more. The emphasis still remains on getting our football conditioning right away, improving on fundamentals and then we’re going to keep advancing with the install and the situations that come up. Today will be more focused on early downs, just a little bit of goal line walkthrough and then get a review on the red area almost on a daily basis, so we’ll have that today.”

GIANTS RE-SIGN RB ALFRED MORRIS…
The Giants have signed unrestricted free agent running back Alfred Morris. The Giants signed Morris to the Practice Squad in late September 2020 and the 53-man roster in November 2020. Morris ended up playing in nine games for the Giants with no starts, carrying the ball 55 times for 238 yards (4.3 yards per rush).

The 5’10”, 222-pound Morris was originally drafted in the 6th round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. He has spent time with the Redskins (2012-2015), Dallas Cowboys (2016-2017, 2019), San Francisco 49ers (2018), and Arizona Cardinals (2019). Morris has played in 114 regular-season games with 70 starts. Morris was second-team All-Pro in 2012 and was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2013 and 2014.

“This is just overall an opportunity to, number one, have depth to go ahead and practice the way we want to practice and also have the opportunity to bring a quality player back in,” said Head Coach Joe Judge. “Alfred, last year – look, I can’t tell you how much I feel on a personal level about Alfred and what he did for our team last year, about how he carries himself, about how he is as a teammate, how he is in the team meeting. Look, I walked by him when I was coming in the building and he was waiting outside for his clearance from his test, and we got to have a conversation sitting outside and it’s just refreshing seeing his face. He’s always smiling and good, great energy out there. Again, like anyone else, he has an opportunity to come in here and compete for a spot on this team. We had an opportunity to bring him back and he helps our competition within that spot.”

INJURY REPORT…
LG Shane Lemieux (knee), LB Blake Martinez (COVID), LB Lorenzo Carter (unknown), LB Elerson Smith (unknown), WR Kadarius Toney (COVID), WR Austin Mack (hamstring), WR Derrick Dillon (unknown), and RB Mike Weber (unknown) did not practice on Monday.

Regarding Toney, Head Coach Joe Judge said, “He’s still building up, but we will start seeing a little bit more of him day by day as the trainers keep allowing us to have him more. Look, these guys do a really good job as far as knowing our players and looking out for their health. We trust what they say, we trust our medical team, but the focus is to get this guy involved as much as we can with football and keep building him up through training camp. It’ll be limited for the time being., We’ll get him day by day a little more.”

On Smith, Judge said, “He’s day by day right now. He’s made a lot of progress the last few days. He had a small setback early in training camp. We don’t think it’s something that’s going to long-term limit him, but I don’t want to put a timetable on him in terms of when he’ll be back absolutely. We feel confident in the direction he’s moving, the trainers feel good about where he’s at right now and he’s working hard with the strength staff. So very similar to the other players. As soon as we can kind of get him back with the team, we will and it’ll be more of a ramp-up, gradual process when he gets back to practice.”

On Lemieux, Judge said, “Shane’s still day by day. I think if you asked Shane, like I said the other day, he’s going to always tells us what we want to hear. He’s with the medical team now and they’re continuing to do more and more with him each day. We’ll see where he is. Hopefully, we’ll get him as soon as possible, but I would say it’s more day by day than week by week.”

On Martinez, Judge said, “I would say, the good thing with Blake is he’s been engaged through all the meetings, so he’s heard the practice corrections and the install. So mentally, he’s gotten all of that. Now, there’s always an adjustment from hearing it in a meeting to actually doing it on the field. Physically, he hasn’t been with our team yet, so he’s got to ramp up and physically catch up to where the team is right now and that’s just how all these guys come off this COVID list.”

OC Jonotthan Harrison (hamstring) passed his physical and was activated off of the Active/Physically-Unable-to-Perform (PUP) List. He practiced on a limited basis, as did TE Levine Toilolo (unknown).

The following players remain on various PUP and reserve lists:

  • Reserve/COVID-19 List: S Joshua Kalu and 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 Reggie Ragland (hamstring) and LB Ryan Anderson (back)

ESPN is reporting that Robinson had core muscle surgery “late in the spring.”

On Barkley, Judge said, “You know what, he’s making a lot of strides for us and I don’t want to go ahead and make any predictions or anything on Saquon, but I will say that this guy’s showing progress, tangible progress every day with our medical staff, with our strength staff. He comes out here and works. Right now, we’ve really mirrored his rehab to what our players are doing on the field practice-wise to make sure that he’s building up that same volume, that same intensity. We can kind of go apples to apples with what he’s done on a daily basis compared to the players that are in practice to give us a better picture in terms of where he is physically.

I couldn’t give you an answer on (when he will return). That’s not being coy right there. Look, with this injury right here, we’re going to make sure we do the right thing by Saquon and what’s better for the team and we’ve got to take a long-term vision of this right here. The doctors know a lot more about the knee, about where he is medically. I know where his spirit is. I know where his work ethic is. I know he wants to be out there with the team. As I’ve said to him time and time again, when you’re ready, we’ll let you go. I know he wants to be out there, but we’ve got to make sure we help our players make the right decision. The goal is to get him out there and keep him out there. We know he can make a great impact for this team. We know what kind of player he can be, so we want to make sure we put him in the opportunity to go ahead and play full-speed, aggressive and confident when he gets out there.”

PRACTICE NOTES…
Some snippets from various media sources:

  • Zach Fulton received reps with the starting unit at left guard.
  • QB Daniel Jones had an inconsistent practice, overthrowing WR Kenny Golladay and WR Darius Slayton on a couple of deep passes.
  • QB Daniel Jones connected on deep slant pass to WR Kenny Golladay for good yardage against CB Sam Beal.
  • WR David Sills caught two touchdown passes from QB Mike Glennon, the second of which came on the final play of practice.
  • Head Coach Joe Judge had the entire defense and some of the defensive coaches running a punishment lap due to a substitution error.
  • TE Evan Engram made a nice catch in traffic and spun around into the end zone on a pass thrown from QB Daniel Jones.
  • Pass defenses by CB Adoree’ Jackson (in the end zone), LB Tae Crowder, and LB Cale Garrett.
  • Former Giants’ defensive linemen Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, and Mathias Kiwanuka attended practice.

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

WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The New York Giants practice Tuesday morning (9:30-11:30AM). Head Coach Joe Judge and select players will also address the media.

Jul 312021
 
Nick Gates and Will Hernandez, New York Giants (July 29, 2021)

Nick Gates and Will Hernandez – © USA TODAY Sports

JULY 31, 2021 NEW YORK GIANTS TRAINING CAMP REPORT…
The New York Giants held their fourth full-team summer training camp practice on Saturday evening at Eddie Moraes Stadium in Newark, New Jersey in front of local high school football players.

GIANTS SIGN LB TODD DAVIS, OL JOE LOONEY, WR DAMION WILLIS…
The Giants have signed unrestricted free agent inside linebacker Todd Davis (Minnesota Vikings); wide receiver Damion Willis, who was cut by the Denver Broncos on July 20; and unrestricted free agent center/guard Joe Looney (Dallas Cowboys).

The 29-year old, 6’1”, 230-pound Davis has spent time with the New Orleans Saints (2014), Denver Broncos (2014-2019), and Minnesota Vikings (2020). He has played in 96 regular-season games with 69 starts, accruing 479 tackles, three sacks, 15 pass defenses, one interception, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries.

“We’re really looking forward to getting (Davis) on the field,” said Head Coach Joe Judge. “We’re excited about that and he’ll come in and compete with the other linebackers at his position and work through his defensive responsibilities, as well as his role in the kicking game. Got to meet with him today, sit down face to face and have a good conversation, liked his energy. I’ve known him as a player in the league for some time but made a good first impression personality-wise and I’m excited to get him on the field.”

The 30-year old, 6’3”, 310-pound Looney was originally drafted in the 4th round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. He has spent time with the 49ers (2012-2014), Tennessee Titans (2015), and Dallas Cowboys (2016-2020). Looney has played in 104 regular-season games with 42 starts, including 12 starts for the Cowboys in 2020. He has experience at both center and guard.

The 24-year old, 6’3”, 204-pound Willis was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Cincinnati Bengals after the 2019 NFL Draft. The Bengals waived him in July 2020 and Willis then spent time with the Cleveland Browns (2020), Jacksonville Jaguars (2020), and Denver Broncos (2021). He played in 10 games, with two starts, for the Bengals in 2019 and caught nine passes for 82 yards.

INJURY REPORT…
LG Shane Lemieux (knee), LB Blake Martinez (COVID), LB Lorenzo Carter (unknown), LB Elerson Smith (unknown), WR Kadarius Toney (COVID), WR Austin Mack (hamstring), WR Derrick Dillon (unknown), RB Mike Weber (unknown), and TE Levine Toilolo (unknown) did not practice on Saturday.

The NFL Network is reporting that Lemieux will be out two weeks with his knee injury.

Regarding Carter, Head Coach Joe Judge said, “It’s not a reaggravation of anything (Carter has) done before. We’re just going to be careful with a few things right there. With anyone coming off an injury (ruptured Achilles’ tendon) like he was, we’re just making sure that we have a plan entering training camp and how to handle him throughout it. With him and several other guys coming off injury, there are going to be periods in this training camp that you’re going to see a little bit less of them at times and then you’re going to see a lot of them. Right now, he’s in one of those periods accompanied with something else that happened in practice.”

RT Matt Peart (back) has been activated off of the Active/Physically-Unable-to-Perform (PUP) List. He practiced on Saturday.

LB Blake Martinez has been activated off of the Reserve/COVID-19 List. However, like Toney, he will be brought along slowly before returning to practice. He did not practice on Saturday. “Blake is back with us in the building today, he’s his normal self, smiling ear to ear, happy to be with the team,” said Head Coach Joe Judge. “He’s always a lot of fun to have around, he’s always got a good comment, but definitely a guy who communicates a lot in the meetings…In terms of where he’ll be on the field with us, the plan right away is to get him with the trainers and continue his kind of ramp up and build him back physically. When we know he’s ready to go, we’ll get him back on the field.”

The following players remain on various PUP and reserve lists:

  • Reserve/COVID-19 List: S Joshua Kalu and TE Rysen John
  • Active/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) List: RB Saquon Barkley (knee), TE Kyle Rudolph (foot), OC Jonotthan Harrison (hamstring), LB Oshane Ximines (hamstring), and CB Aaron Robinson (core muscle)
  • Reserve/Non-Football Injury (NFI) List: LB Reggie Ragland (hamstring) and LB Ryan Anderson (back)

PRACTICE NOTES…
Some snippets from various media sources:

  • This evening’s session was a very light, walk-thru practice. Because of that, there was nothing noteworthy to report.
  • Kenny Wiggins continues to start at left guard with Shane Lemieux out.

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

WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The New York Giants are off Sunday and return to practice on Monday.