EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants survived an Abdul Carter injury scare and saw a visit from Hall of Fame linebackers Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson steal the spotlight Monday on the first day of the team’s three-day mandatory minicamp.
‘That was something’
Giants head coach John Harbaugh had never met Taylor or Carson before Monday, and admitted to being a bit “starstruck” by the Hall of Fame former Giants linebackers.
“Two of the greatest linebackers ever in the history of the game talking to the guys after
practice, that was something,” Harbaugh said. “That was special. They had some good wisdom.”
Harbaugh spent a few minutes talking to Taylor and Carson after practice, and made sure to get a photo.
“I was in awe. I was kinda star-struck,” Harbaugh said. “I wanted to ask for an autograph. I thought you guys would make fun of me if I did that.”
Edge defender Brian Burns hopes his young teammates, even if they aren’t familiar with Taylor and Carson, look them up and learn from their words.
“There may be some young guys that don’t know them, but you’ve got to think about it. They’re far removed from it,” Burns said. “But I would just implore them to look at the history, see what those guys were about, and you never know that can help you, give you some gems along the way.”
Wide receiver competition
The Giants have more quality receivers than can make the 53-man roster. The competition for spots will be fierce. Here are highlights of what we saw on Monday:
- Third-round pick Malachi Fields made the catch of the day, a contested grab over a cornerback on a deep throw down the left side from Jaxson Dart. Our view was blocked, and we could not identify the defender on the play.
- Isaiah Hodgins had a leaping, contested catch for a touchdown on a throw from Dart during a red zone session.
- Odell Beckham Jr. had a quiet day, with just two catches that I noted. Unfortunately for Beckham, one of those turned into a catch-fumble as he stumbled after catching a slant from Brandon Allen, lost the ball, and cornerback Rico Payton scooped it up.
Giants tight end Isaiah Likely, who played with Beckham in Baltimore, said after practice that things are different than when Beckham was a Raven.
“I kind of cracked on Odell a little bit when he came here because in Baltimore seeing O was my first time, and I see him as mohawk Odell where it was like crazy colors. I think he had purple hair at the time, Odell, where it was like, you’re tapping your friend, like, man, that’s Odell,” Likely said.
“And then when he signed here, I kind of texted him, gave him a little text, talking about, hey, you’re on my team now, rook.”
- Jalin Hyatt hauled in a deep ball from Jameis Winston over rookie cornerback Colton Hood. Hyatt also went across the middle and made a nice grab against tight coverage.
Step forward for Cam Skattebo
When running back Cam Skattebo did a backflip to celebrate a home run at the recent Brian Burns Charity Softball Game, you had to think he was ready to get on the practice field and begin to work.
That happened on Monday.
Skattebo took a handful of reps during install or “on-air” periods without any defense on the field, the next step in his recovery from last season’s gruesome ankle dislocation.
“That’s [on the field] where you want him to be,” Harbaugh said. “He’s worked super hard, super hard. I did mention maybe no back flips out here today. We agreed.”
Quote of the day
Not spotted at practice
These practices are mandatory, so it can be assumed that each of the players listed was out with some type of injury. Not practicing were:
Tight end Thomas Fidone, offensive lineman Lucas Patrick, defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris (Achilles tendon), defensive tackle Sam Roberts, and linebacker Cam Jones. On the side with trainers were wide receivers Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton, and Beaux Collins.
Dominic Zvada up, Ben Sauls down
If the Giants had to make a placekicker decision today, the winner would clearly be Zvada, the undrafted free agent from Michigan.
Zvada went 8 of 8 on field goal attempts on Monday, the longest of which might have been from beyond 50 yards. Any reporter who writes he or she knows exactly how far any of the kicks were from is just making up distances, since kickers were on the far side of the field away from us and we could not see yard markers.
Sauls, who struggled during OTAs, continued to have difficulty on Monday. He made just 5 of 8 kicks, pushing each of his misses to the left. A frustrated Sauls could be seen talking with coaches after his first session, where he went 3 of 5.
Not exactly throwing darts
Jaxson Dart was 32nd of 36 qualifying quarterbacks in deep ball accuracy in 2025, completing just 16 of 50 passes of 20 yards or more, 32%.
Dart struggled with the deep ball on Monday.
Fields hauled in the one deep throw for a contested-catch touchdown, but otherwise Dart didn’t have much success down the field.
Paulson Adebo intercepted a Dart throw deep down the middle intended for Darnell Mooney. The ball might have been thrown late, as Dart was moving out of the pocket to his right. It was also underthrows.
Later in practice, Dart overthrew a handful of deep passes.
The run game? Without pads?
Yes, this was a Harbaugh. Not only because the Giants were on the field for virtually every minute of the allowed 2½ hours, but because the run game got attention. The Giants actually did a 9-on-7 run-game period, something usually reserved for fully-padded practices.
Obviously, the session did not have the physicality it would have in full pads. It illustrates, though, that Harbaugh is serious about the run game.
Lookin’ good
Giants co-owner John Mara, who has been battling an unknown form of cancer, walked out to the practice field on his own. He stood in the sunshine watching the workout for roughly 90 minutes, longer than any other outdoor appearance he has made this spring.
The 71-year-old Mara even stopped for a moment as he left the field to say hello to several media members standing by the steps leading on and off the practice field.
A few lineup notes
- It is waaaaay too early to say a competition is developing at left guard. During an early install period without any defense, though, Daniel Faalele took some first-team reps at left guard in place of Jon Runyan. That is the first time we have seen that development.
- Andrew Thomas and Marcus Mbow, as usual, split first-team left tackle reps.
- J.C. Davis was the second-team left tackle, and Josh Ezeudu was on the right side.
- The Giants ran a three-safety look with Ar’Darius Washington joining Tyler Nubin and Jevon Holland in the defensive backfield.
- Veteran defensive tackle Shelby Harris participated, but I did not notice him take any reps during team periods.
- As usual, the starting wide receivers were Fields, Mooney, and Calvin Austin.
- Rookie Jack Kelly was paired with Micah McFadden at inside linebacker with the second unit. Darius Muasau worked with the third team.
Day 2
The Giants will hold their final full practice of the spring on Tuesday. They will hold a second consecutive 2½-hour practice from 1:30-4 p.m. ET at Quest Diagnostics.
On Wednesday, the Giants will hold an abbreviated workout from 10:45 a.m. until noon. They will then break until reconvening for training camp in West Virginia, likely at the end of July.
