The Giants were back at it again Sunday after having Saturday off. Sunday was the first day in pads and full contact drills for the team. New York is now one week away from their first pre-season game of the new season, when they they play Buffalo next Sunday in the NFL Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. The fans were all out Sunday afternoon as the team practiced another day under the hot July sun. With many questions still not answered as far as the team’s sake, one thing is clear, football is back! Everything felt right again. Between the clashing of the shoulder pads and the fans chanting CR-UUU-ZZ every time Victor Cruz touched the ball, the season is finally around the corner.
As far as camp has gone so far the offense shows some flashes of greatness, but other times a lot of negatives. Today Eli Manning was inconsistent yet again hitting his marks deep in one on ones and then sending a ball way out of bounds on another play. The offense continues to consist of a lot of short passes while still looking for the home run ball deep. A pleasant surprise on the offensive side of the ball was WR Marcus Harris who showed good hands in tight situations, including a nice sideline grab on Walter Thurmond III. Another player who I thought had a good day was RB Rashad Jennings who had a touchdown run in team drills and showed some nice moves to stay in bounds down the sideline later on in the day. On the offensive line John Jerry saw a good amount of time at RG but is still a little inconsistent at times. He is definitely a big guy out there and if he can continue to improve he could provide some much needed help on the Giants O-line. WR Odell Beckham Jr was receiving some punts and had in on some special teams work, but still hasn’t been put in with the offense yet.
When Coach Coughlin was asked about the 1st round pick out of LSU he stated that he was frustrated with the injury and hopes it isn’t a long time before he can fully practice. When he was asked if it was disappointing he responded by saying “It’s more than that,” Coughlin said after Sunday’s practice. “We’re trying to put a team together. We saw too much of that in the spring.”
With Beckham in pads today and seeing some special teams work Coughlin said “He actually looks pretty good out there moving around,” he continued, “We just hope it’s a real short period of time.”
The Giants and Coughlin can only hope and wait now to truly see what they have with the young kid. “We’re not going to let him go if he’s in danger of hurting himself, that’s all there is to it,” Coughlin said. “I can stand here and fight all I want, it’s not going to matter.”
Bobby O’Hara: PureSportsNY