WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — On the fourth day of 2026 training camp, New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh believes the team took “a good step” in a positive direction.
The Giants get their first off day of camp on Sunday, after which they will practice for six straight days before heading back to East Rutherford, N.J. So, this was an appropriate time to ask the coach for an assessment of what has taken place thus far.
“You don’t really measure too much. You just try to do as good as you can
at everything you can,” Harbaugh said. “I felt like today was a good step because a lot of the things that we were working on from yesterday and the first couple of days, we saw the improvement today in terms of execution.
“So that’s what you really want to see is better today than you were yesterday. It’s kind of the measuring stick. I felt like we did that today.”
Harbaugh was particularly pleased with the offense, which had only one false start on Saturday after a rash of them over the first three practices.
“The operation was better on offense, for sure,” Harbaugh said. “We’re pushing the envelope on all the cadences.
“It’s not like we’re protecting it and going simple cadences. There was a lot of tough cadences, and for the most part, we did a really good job of it.”
Let’s get to the rest of what we saw on Saturday.
Winners
Odell Beckham fans — For three days, fans have come to the Greenbrier hoping for an Odell Beckham highlight. He finally provided one on Saturday, leaping to snag a touchdown pass of roughly 25 yards from Jameis Winston Winston.
Theo Johnson — The third-year tight end, who has seemingly always struggled with catching the ball consistently, had a really good day. He made several nice catches. The best might have been a deep catch on a ball feathered beautifully over cornerback Jarrick Bernard-Converse by Jaxson Dart. Johnson dropped easy passes in each of the first two practices, so this was nice to see.
Tanner Conner — I don’t know if Conner, a tight end who came to the Giants late last season, can make the roster. I have to add him here because he has been productive every day catching passes from Jameis Winston. He had at least four catches on Saturday, all from Winston.
Chris Manhertz — Yep, another tight end. The veteran blocking tight end has four catches in two seasons with the Giants. He had three, and nearly came down with a fourth, on Saturday. So, he has met his quota.
Dominic Zvada — It was the rookie placekicker’s turn to kick field goals on Saturday, and he made the most of it. Zvada made 13 of 14 kicks, including a couple in late-game “must-score” situations where the offense was trailing. He made a couple of kicks from roughly 51 yards.
The Greenbrier East and Greenbrier West high school football teams — Both teams attended the practice and were brought down to the field afterward, where they were presented with a $5,000 check on behalf of the Giants.
The pass rush — I can’t try to count “sacks” during these practices. They aren’t real, and the quarterbacks never get touched. but, what was clear is that Jaxson Dart and Winston were rarely able to just set their feet and throw comfortably.
Paulson Adebo (with an assist from Tremaine Edmunds) — Over the first few days of practice, Giants defensive backs had their hands on several passes. They could not, though, reel any of them in for interceptions. That changed Saturday. After linebacker Tremaine Edmunds tipped a Dart pass at the line of scrimmage, Adebo snagged it and took for a touchdown.
Tremaine Edmunds — Edmunds created the Adebo interception. He also had one himself. Dart tried to float a pass over the backpedaling Edmunds, who is nearly 6-foot-5 and has a 97th percentile wing span. Edmunds wasn’t having, reaching up to intercept the ball.
When the Giants drafted Arvell Reese, who is also 6-4, to play alongside Edmunds, they talked about the space that duo would take up and how difficult they would make it for quarterbacks to complete passes in windows tightened by their size. We have seen that come to fruition a number of times over the first four practices.
Jack Kelly — The rookie linebacker, a sixth-round pick, made a pair of nice plays. During a 7-on-7 drill, he jumped a crossing route intended for Isaiah Likely and knocked it away. During 11-on-11, he showed tremendous range by knocking away a deep ball from Dart that was intended for speedy wide receiver Calvin Austin.
Losers
Colton Hood — Honestly, I’m reaching for a loser here. Hood is only a “loser” because an offside penalty on a defensive lineman cost Hood a pick six. The rookie cornerback intercepted a Winston pass and took it to the house, but it didn’t count. So, he “lost” a pick six.
Trivia participants — Let’s just say these Giants fans struggled with their history.
John Mara attends practice
The Giants’ co-owner attended practice on Saturday for the second time in four days. Below, Mara, who has been battling cancer, walks off the field with head coach John Harbaugh and GM Joe Schoen.
Malik Nabers practices
Malik Nabers was back at practice on Saturday after having an off day on Friday as he recovers from a torn ACL. Early on, it did not look like Nabers would practice. He had a baseball cap on and did not initially warm up. He did, though, participate in the limited fashion which is becoming customary.
Full pads on Monday
Things get real on Monday when the Giants return to practice. They will be in full pads for the first time, Harbaugh said on Saturday.
“We’re not going to be tackling to the ground,” Harbaugh said. “But we’ll be in what we call wrap and release. So we’re trying to stop the ball carrier if we can in defense. Pads behind us on offense, things like that.
“I’m sure inside it’ll be a little more physical than it is out here without the shoulder pads. So it just ramps up just a little bit. But other than that, everything will be exactly the same.”
Something to watch
Despite Harbaugh’s reminders to keep players on their feet, tight end Isaiah Likely was slammed to the ground after catching a pass during a “must-score” situation late in practice. Likely got up slowly. We will have to wait until Monday to see if Likely suffered any ill-effects.
Remaining Greenbrier practice schedule
- Sunday, August 2 — Players’ day off
- Monday, August 3 — 1:30-3:15 p.m.
- Tuesday, August 4 — 1:30-3:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, August 5 — 1:30-4 p.m. (Open to the public)
- 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.
