WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The New York Giants completed their third consecutive day of padded practices, the maximum allowed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement, on Wednesday.
This was the best day of camp for the offense, and for wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
Winners
Beckham — This was Beckham’s best day of camp. He caught passes from Jaxson Dart, Jameis Winston, and Brandon Allen, and showed some burst turning a couple of those receptions upfield. Yes, Beckham received some first-team reps on Wednesday,
the second straight day that has happened. I refuse to fuss about that, though. Jalin Hyatt and Xavier Gipson also got first-team reps.
Jaxson Dart — After he fired a ball at Greg Newsome after a touchdown on Tuesday, Harbaugh made sure the quarterback was penalized 15 yards for taunting. You can be sure the topic was addressed during the team’s Tuesday night film session.
“We have our team meeting, and all those plays come up, the different things come up. So, that’s an opportunity for coaching points. So, we went over the sequence, and everybody knows,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “So, it was good. He was great about it. He’s great about accepting responsibility and he’s a very accountable guy.”
Dart responded by having a good day. He threw two interceptions, one a slightly off-target ball that safety Raheem Layne grabbed after Darnell Mooney batted it into the air, and the other a ball he tried to squeeze in to Calvin Austin that defensive back Elijah Campbell came away with.
Despite that, Wednesday was probably Dart’s sharpest day of camp.
Dalen Cambre — How did this young man catch only 10 passes as a college player? In his second season, Cambre has had an exceptional start to camp as he bids for one of the backup wide receiver spots. Cambre has made several highlight-reel catches in camp, including one Wednesday on a deep ball down the right sideline from Jameis Winston.
“I see him make a circus catch every single day,” said Harbaugh. “And not just that, he’s doing all the other things. He’s doing special teams. He knows what he’s doing. He’s running great routes. I think he’s making a move. I think he’s done a great job and he’s got our attention.”
Tae Banks — The Giants’ 2023 first-round pick has followed a solid spring with a good start to training camp, aside from a bad drop on an interception earlier this week. Banks is firmly in the mix in the competition for snaps opposite Paulson Adebo.
Banks played collegiately at Maryland. Harbaugh, coach of the Baltimore Ravens for 18 years, was familiar with Banks before taking the Giants job.
“We’ve known Tae for a long time. He’s from the area there, played at Maryland. We knew him coming out,” Harbaugh said. “I was really thrilled that he was on the team coming here. And I was excited to see how he did, and he’s done really well.”
Dominic Zvada — The undrafted rookie placekicker took his turn in the kicking rotation with Ben Sauls on Wednesday. Zvada was a perfect 10 of 10 on field goals and extra points.
Theo Johnson — The third-year tight end is a frustrating player. He will drop balls that look like they should be easy catches. Then, he will have days like Wednesday when he made two difficult catches with safety Tyler Nubin draped all over him.
Calvin Austin — Like Cambre, he just keeps making plays every day.
Losers
Andrew Thomas — The star left tackle was not really a “loser”. Thomas, however, got yanked off the field for a play after committing a false start during a red zone session. In his media sessions, Harbaugh has not been critical of players for a high number of penalties. Taking Thomas off the field, though, shows that the veteran coach is not taking the penalties lightly.
Theo Johnson under center — The Giants are experimenting with a Kansas City Chiefs-style sneak/Tush Push play with tight end Theo Johnson under center. They ran it Wednesday from their own 1-yard line. I hate, hate, hate, hate this play. It has disaster written all over it, and I hope we never see it during the regular season.
Injury notes
- Edge defender Brian Burns and safety Beau Brade both sat out practice. Rookie wide receiver Malachi Fields only did individual work. Harbaugh said the injuries to all three players were “minor”, and that each would have played if Wednesday had been a game day.
- Nickel cornerback Dru Phillips left practice after a collision in the end zone with a wide receiver. I believe it was Xavier Gipson, but it was on the far end of the field blocked by players. Harbaugh said Phillips’ injury appeared to be minor, but the Giants would monitor him throughout the evening.
- Malik Nabers did his usual individual drills and routes on air.
- Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was a full practice participant a day after sitting out with knee swelling.
- Cornerback Jarrick Bernard-Converse was back to practice after missing a couple of days.
- Running back Cam Skattebo was not listed as injured, but did have a lighter workload on Wednesday.
Roster moves
As we reported earlier, the Giants made four roster moves. Defensive tacke Roy Robertson-Harris was placed on season-ending IR, ending hopes that he could return late this season. Second-year wide receiver Beaux Collins was waived.
To fill those spots, the Giants added defensive backs D.J. James and David Long.
Marty Mornhinweg pays a visit
Marty Mornhinweg, former head coach of the Detroit Lions and a four-time NFL offensive coordinator, was on the field at Giants practice on Wednesday. Mornhingweg made the rounds, introducing himself to media members. Mornhingweg’s son, Skyler, is a football analyst for the Giants.
Quote of the day
“There’s absolutely nothing to do here. Beautiful place, but nothing to do here.” — Odell Beckham on West Virginia
Mixing and matching
The Giants did a lot of work on Wednesday with the units mixed up. Rather than first unit vs. first unit, there were a number of instances of the first team working against the second or third team.
“You go ones against ones, you get good on good, just like you would expect. That’s more the coordinators calling what they want to call,” Harbaugh said. “If we go ones versus twos, we’re still, at this stage of camp, we’re still running our offense and defense. But the coordinator, if it’s the first offense, then he’s going to ask for some things. He wants to see more cover two, more cover three. He wants to see a blitz. He doesn’t want to see a blitz. He can help script that, but the defense still plays. It’s our calls, that kind of thing.
“And then you also, we were able to run some longer periods out. So, you saw the guys out there for 12 plays, nine plays, for six no huddle plays, things like that, which become more game-like. So, that’s the balance I think of it.”
Remaining Greenbrier practice schedule
The Giants’ stay in West Virginia is winding down. There are only two more open practices. So, if you are in the area you are running out of chances to see your favorite team practice.
- Thursday, August 6 — 1:30-4 p.m. (Open to the public)
- Friday, August 7 — 1:30-4 p.m. (Open to the public)
- Saturday, August 8 — 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
