NY Giants Training camp day by day notes.

[Reveryroadie]

The New York Giants first practice of 2012 training camp is in the books. More than anything head coach Tom Coughlin was just glad the team was able to get outdoors at UAlbany and get the practice in following a miserable\, rain-soaked morning.

"We got it in," said Coughlin. "I was worried this morning. But the weather did help, did cooperate with us this afternoon."

Here are a few firsts from the first workout.


First 'Cruuuuuz' chant. That came early in the first 11-on-11 when Victor Cruz had to dive to catch an Eli Manning pass in traffic.

First interception. That was thrown by Manning when Michael Boley stepped in front of an in-cut by Cruz. David Carr and Ryan Perrilloux also threw interceptions. Carr was picked by Prince Amukamara on a long ball for Reuben Randle. Perrilloux was picked by linebacker Jake Muasau on a pass tipped by wide receiver David Douglas.

First dropped pass. That was by running back Da'Rel Scott.

First player to unexpectedly sit out practice. That would be cornerback Terrell Thomas, who sat with a stiff back. Coughlin said the issue had nothing to do with Thomas' surgically repaired knee.

Other Notes

The Giants did 11-on-11 twice and, signficant or not, the first two plays in each session were runs. The Giants are determined to improve last season's league-worst rushing attack.

Giants' co-owner Steve Tisch gets today's 'who is that bum on the sidelines?' award. Tisch showed up unshaven, wearing a grungy 'NY' t-shirt and with sneakers on that did not even have laces. Not a good look.

Undrafted free agent running back Joe Martinek worked at both halfback and fullback.

Domenik Hixon lined up with the first team in place of Hakeem Nicks, who was on the sidelines as he recovers from his broken foot.

First-round draft pick David Wilson ran with the third unit during the first practice.

[mrtxstar]

Practice hard, plan well, you'll need it... the Cowboys are coming WK 1

[Reveryroadie]

Giants Camp Day 2

The New York Giants managed to dodge an impending rain storm for most of Saturday afternoon's practice at UAlbany, avoiding the bad weather until the last few minutes of practice.

Head coach Tom Coughlin called today "an extreme adjustment," but added "we got our practice in, got a lot of people a lot of work."

Here are a few quick notes from today's workout.

The Giants might have suffered their first significant injury of camp. Defensive end Justin Trattou, fighting Adrian Tracy for a roster spot, was carted off the field after suffering what seemed like a signfiicant left ankle injury. Coughlin said he is being sent for X-rays.
OTHER INJURY STUFF: Running back Da'Rel Scott sat out after turning his ankle during Friday's workout. ... Jason Pierre-Paul limped off during 11-on-11 drills, but returned moments later and seemed fine ... Terrell Thomas worked during individuals and 7-on-7, but skipped the 11-on-11 portions of practice.

Thomas 'T2' t-shirts, given out for free, were the smash hit of Autograph Day. It seemed like little kids all over the UAlbany campus had them, and Thomas was signing as many as he could in the rain.

The practice was held on the UAlbany lacrosse field, which is a field turf surface. In the years I have covered camp this is the first time the Giants have practiced there, and it is a great venue for fans -- easily the best of any of the UAlbany fields. Fans are closer, and this is the most energy I can remember from fans during any Giants practice in recent years.

Veteran Report

Justin Tuck pretty much had his way with David Diehl during the 11-on-11 drills.

Couple of nice catches by Ramses 'Mr. Training Camp' Barden. The caveat is none of those plays came against any of the regular cornerbacks.

Victor Cruz was greeted with Cruz chants, lots of cheers and at least one call for a salsa dance. He did not oblige.

Bear Pascoe had a few catches.

Young Players

Really nice day for Jerrel Jernigan. He absolutely blew past Corey Webster off the line of scrimmage to get deep on one play, hauling in a long ball from Eli Manning with a fingertip grab. Coughlin seemed impressed during a quick post-practice presser.

Mixed bag for undrafted free agent Joe Martinek. He seemed to have a tough time blocking and dropped one short pass. He did, however, make one nice run around left end.
Linebacker Jake Muasau, an undrafted free agent, made a run stop in the backfield.

Quarterback Ryan Perrilloux has had a rough couple of days. Lots of off-target throws and what appears to be indecision in the pocket. He has to get better if he wants to be back on the practice squad.

Defensive tackle Markus Kuhn, the seventh-round draft pick, batted down a Perrilloux pass during goal line drills.

[mrtxstar]

Sounds great, thanks for the update. Cowboys start TC on Monday. Looking forward to these two teams collision course week 1. I just thinks it's dumb to have them play on a Wednesday.

[Reveryroadie]

Giants Camp Day 3

On the third day of New York Giants training camp, the sun finally shone. After a dreary, drizzly morning the skies cleared and the Giants were able to work on the UAlbany grass fields for the first time since camp began on Friday.

"It's real grass. It smells like grass, I did see something that looked like blue," said Giants coach Tom Coughlin after practice. "It's nice to be outside. We got a little something done."

Here is a look at Sunday's practice

Injury Report

Linebackers Michael Boley and Keith Rivers sat out, and Coughlin said each has a "little hamstring" that may cost them a few days. Running back Da'Rel Scott sat out again with an ankle sprain. Defensive end Justin Trattou has a boot on his left ankle and is supposedly going for an MRI Sunday night.

The Veterans

Another good practice for Justin Tuck. He batted down a screen pass and made a couple of plays in the backfield. The Giants' defensive captain looks frisky.

Osi Umenyiora got a rise out of the crowd when he caught a pass while playing tight end during a simulation. He and Jason Pierre-Paul celebrated with a chest bump.

Lawrence Tynes went 5-for-5 in a field-goal drill, the longest from about 33 yards.

Martellus Bennett made a couple of plays, including a touchdown catch over Kenny Phillips from about 15 yards out in red zone drills.

The Youngsters

Another nice day for Jerrel Jernigan. He muffed a punt early in practice, but smoothly caught several others. Receiving, he beat Terrell Thomas deep down the sideline on one play and got the better of Corey Webster an in-cut later in practice. He also made two or three other catches.

David Douglas, an undrafted free agent, made a few catches today.

Ryan Perrilloux continued to show he has a cannon arm, but too often has no idea where the ball is going when he lets it go.

Prince Amukamara blanketed Jernigan on a couple of plays. Amukamara looks as though he has taken strides since last season.

Tyler Sash had a diving interception on a badly thrown ball by David Carr. The ball was well behind wide receiver Brandon Collins.

Other Stuff

The Giants will practice in full pads Monday, the first time they will have done so during this camp. ... Steve Weatherford was on the field after practice rolling around with his two young children.

[Reveryroadie]

Giants Camp Day 4

The injury news regarding cornerback Terrell Thomas overshadows pretty much everything that went on during Monday's practice at New York Giants training camp. There is no official word from the Giants yet on Thomas' MRI.

Let's take a look at what happened on the field during Monday's practice, the first one during which the Giants have worn full shoulder pads. I am going to try an expanded format today, so let's see how this goes.

Players Who Impressed

- Safety Will Hill, trying to make the as an undrafted free agent, had a nice day. He dove to knock a pass from David Carr away from Chris Hopkins on a short out during 11-on-11s. Hill closed really well on wide receiver David Douglas on another play, putting himself in position to deliver a big hit.

- Middle linebacker Mark Herzlich has shown surprising quickness in pass coverage. Today, he showed physicality with a couple of really nice run plays. Right now, he is out-performing veteran Chase Blackburn.

- Bear Pascoe and Martellus Bennett. The tight ends both had good days. During 7-on-7 drills Pascoe made three straight catches, and had a fourth catch later on a high throw from Ryan Perrilloux he had to stretch for. Bennett had a couple of nice catches, including an out route where Eli Manning slipped a beautiful ball in-between two defenders.

Players Who Struggled

- Tough day for veteran cornerback Antwuan Molden. A free-agent signee from the New England Patriots, Molden was beaten several times Monday. He has not distinguished himself yet in camp.

Team Drills

Now let's try summarizing some of the plays that took place during the live drills.

1-on-1

If you aren't familiar, this is simply cornerback vs. receiver with a quarterback trying to complete a pass.

- Jerrel Jernigan had another pretty nice day, but he dropped the first ball thrown his way. Matched with Prince Amukamara, Jernigan dropped a 50-50 ball deep down the left sideline.

-- Rames Barden caught a quick out in front of Justin Tryon.

-- Jayron Hosley dove to break up a quick out for Chris Hopkins. This is the play on which Hosley was cut, forcing him to leave practice.

- Wide receiver David Douglas made a beautiful inside fake and got behind Molden for a long reception down the left sideline.

- Amukamara batted away a short pass for Victor Cruz. As an aside, Amukamara probably belongs in the 'players who impressed' category. He had good coverage all day.

- Jernigan beat Bruce Johnson to haul in a quick slant.

- Ramses Barden got completely stuffed by Antrel Rolle at the line of scrimmage, and Ryan Perrilloux never even got to throw the ball. This has been an issue for Barden. With 'off' coverage he seems able to use his body to make short catches. With 'press' coverage he seems to struggle to get into his route.

7-on-7

In this drill there are no offensive or defensive linemen.

-- Pascoe began this drill by catching the first three passes, defeating Michael Coe, Kenny Phillips and Chase Blackburn in succession.

- Jernigan beat Phillips to the post and made a terrific catch in a tight space over the middle.

- Martellus Bennett squeezed in-between Brandon Bing and Spencer Paysinger to make a nice catch over the middle.

- Wide receiver Dan DePalma had two short catches.

11-on-11

The Giants usually do this drill twice during each training camp practice. Monday was no exception. Here are some of the highlights.

- The offense seemed to pick on cornerback Michael Coe a bit. Manning hit Domenik Hixon and Barden on successive short passes in Coe's direction early in the first 11-on-11 session.

- Bennett caught a 20-yard sideline route on a brilliant throw between defenders from Manning. Easily Manning's best throw of camp thus far.

- David Wilson got stuffed on a run up the middle (it was hard to tell who made the play in the mass of bodies). That caused the effusive Perry Fewell to yell "Hey, welcome to the league, baby."

- In the second 11-on-11 session the defense dominated the early portion, leading Fewell to scream something I won't print. Among those plays, was a run stop up the middle, a bat-down of a pass by Jason Pierre-Paul, a stop in the backfield by Mathias Kiwanuka and a play broken up by a combination of good pressure from Osi Umenyiora and good coverage by Amukamara on Reuben Randle.

- Manning tried to hit Hixon deep down the left sideline and Hixon, blanketed by Amukamara, hauled the cornerback to the ground. The obvious offensive pass interference was called emphatically by safeties coach Dave Merritt, who took off his hat and flung it at Hixon.

- Brandon Collins has done some great things, and some not-so-great things. Here, he did both in one play. With David Carr quarterbacking, Collins ran a beautiful stop-and-go route then cut to the sideline, leaving a befuddled Coe behind. Only Collins dropped a perfect pass that hit him right in the belly.

- Herzlich and Dwayne Hendricks, among others, blew up a pitch out to Andre Brown for no gain.

- Manning made maybe his worst throw of camp, trying to force a deep slant to Cruz and having the underneath defender, cornerback Dante Hughes, pick the ball off. That sent Hughes, and Fewell, on a 70-yard sprint to glory for a touchdown.

Quotable

"We've had a couple of plays that come through. I'm not so sure yesterday wasn't better than today, but we've made a little progress. Certainly, I think it's a day that I would like to have seen what I'm constantly talking about through our team's improvement. Improvement, improvement, improvement, improvement. The only way you're going to improve is to have everybody test the guy across from them continuously. There's some good and some bad. We're looking to get a bit more consistent in that regard as well."

-- Coughlin on the progress of the running game

" I expect us to do well. When people say that, it’s funny. It’s almost as if we mistakenly won the Super Bowl. I don’t understand how you do that mistakenly. We caught a break here and there and we beat those teams – we beat them fair and square. All we need to do is carry over the focus and intensity from those past couple of games and link it up to what we’re trying to do this year, and I think we’ll be successful"

-- Osi Umenyiora on talk the Giants were lucky to win the Super Bowl

[Reveryroadie]

Giants Camp Day 4

The Giants had an off day, but that doesn't mean there wasn't any news out of Big Blue

The New York Giants secondary has taken another hit with reports on Tuesday that safety Tyler Sash has been suspended by the league for violating the league performance-enhancing drug policy.

This is really disappointing. On the heels of the injury to cornerback Terrell Thomas there was a possibility that Sash, the second-year player from Iowa, was about to see his role on defense expand.

Here is Sash's statement on the suspension, courtesy of Ralph Vacchiano:

"I took a prescription drug (Adderall) legally under a doctor's care for an anxiety condition during the off season in March of this year. The purpose was to help me with public speaking appearances. I had no idea that this prescription drug was banned by NFL policy. Although I take full responsibility for this situation, I also want to state that I have never cheated or taken performance-enhancing drugs, and I frown on those who do."

Now, the third safety spot is left to a group of players that include free-agent signees Stevie Brown and Chris Horton, and undrafted free agents like Will Hill and JoJo Nicolas. How long before Deon Grant's phone rings, if it hasn't already?

[mrtxstar]

Originally Posted by Reveryroadie

The Giants had an off day

Put that line on the "often played" list, you'll need it quite often this year, starting week 1 when my Cowboys spank that giants ass up and down the field all game long.