WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Practice No. 3 of New York Giants training camp is in the books, a two-hour workout on a hot West Virginia afternoon.
Winners
Darius Alexander — The second-year defensive tackle made a spectacular play to end practice.
The Giants were in a last-minute, game on the line situation with the offense already in field goal range. Quarterback Jaxson Dart tried to get the offense a little closer with a short pass over the middle. Alexander leaped, intercepted the ball, and quickly got
down to the ground to seal the “victory”. He and his defensive teammates celebrated wildly.
“Probably a presence of mind kind of a play. Probably felt like the ball had to get out,” said head coach John Harbaugh. That’s a heck of a catch. Very athletic play. Game winner.
“The thing I probably liked about it the most, now that you mention it, was the fact that he caught it and got down right away. That’s a game winner. He didn’t put the ball at risk and then the defense wins the game. That’s what you kind of want to try to do in that situation.”
Some of you might remember Alexander doing this in college:
Jalin Hyatt — During practice, I did hear Hyatt derisively called “Mr. July.” Considering the past few seasons it is hard to argue that the barb wasn’t appropriate. Hyatt, though, did have three or four catches Friday. The best was a highlight-reel leaping grab between defensive backs Nic Jones and Korie Black on a Jameis Winston throw.
Ben Sauls — Friday was Sauls day to kick. He answered the 57-yard game-winning kick made by undrafted free agent placekicker Dominic Zvada with a 58-yard game winner of his own. Sauls made 6 of 8 kicks on the day, missing one kick that appeared to be from beyond 40 yards and another that was likely from beyond 50. Media was on the opposite end of the field, making judging distances difficult.
Arvell Reese — The rookie linebacker made a fantastic play on Friday, using his wingspan to knock away a Dart pass that looked like it was about to be a completion to an open Odell Beckham.
Dalen Cambre — If not for Alexander’s interception, the second-year wide receiver/special teamer would have gotten the nod for Play of the Day. Cambre made a fantastic adjustment on a deep ball thrown by Jameis Winston to haul the ball in against tight coverage from rookie cornerback Colton Hood.
Losers
Jon Runyan — Maybe this should be more about Kayvon Thibodeaux belonging in the “winners” column. Somebody, though, has to lose. Thibodeaux, aligned as a pass rushing defensive tackle, blasted past Runyan to flush Jameis Winston and create a sack for Abdul Carter.
Backflips are on hiatus
Running back Cam Skattebo, still answering questions about his failed backflip at a recent offseason event, said that backflips are off the table until he scores a touchdown in a game.
“We’ll see what game time comes around,” Skattebo said on Friday. “But right now, we’re focused on training camp, and we’ll keep the back flips off the field for now.”
Skattebo admitted that he and Harbaugh have had some “rough conversations, being honest with other.”
“You can tell he cares, man. You can tell he wants the best for this team,” Skattebo said. “He wants what everybody wants. We all want to win. We all want to win the Super Bowl. We all want to win the championship, everything. So he wants that for us. When guys aren’t doing that, he’s going to make sure that we know that we’re not doing that.”
Skattebo acknowledged his impulsivity.
“Obviously, I do some dumb things here and there, but I learned from it,” Skattebo said. “My coach talked to me, told me how he felt, and I learned from it. And will I go do that back flip again? Probably not.
“So, I mean, we live and we learn and we move on.”
Double-edged sword
The interception by Alexander was fantastic. The flip side of that great play, though, was that Dart threw a game-ending interception with his team already in position for the field goal it needed.
Harbaugh had mixed feeling on the play by Dart.
“He’s trying to get yards. I think we’re in field goal range, so he’s got to make that decision probably not to do that,” Harbaugh said. “Maybe he didn’t see the defensive lineman. There’s a lot of nuances to that, but of course, obviously, it’s not a circumstance you want to throw an interception in. We’ll break that down in the meetings tonight and look at the details of it.”
The other side of the coin is that it is training camp.
“It goes back to what somebody asked me yesterday. You put the quarterback in a tough spot out here. Do you want him pushing the envelope?,” Harbaugh said. “Are you going to criticize him for throwing a pick in training camp? It’s training camp. You’re working through all these things.
“You do want him pushing the envelope. You want him competing out there. I think that’s part of what this is all for.”
Malik gets a day off
After doing individual drills and running routes on air the first two days of training camp, the Giants gave wide receiver Malik Nabers, coming back from a torn ACL, Friday off.
“I’d say it’s part of the process. Just got to work through it. And every single day will be what it is,” Harbaugh said. “Every day he’s working real hard. Made a lot of progress, and that’s what we decided to do today.”
Other injury notes:
- Cornerback Art Green worked on the side with trainers, but missed on-field work for a second straight day. Harbaugh said Wednesday that Green is dealing with “a little muscle tightness.”
- Tight end Tanner Conner left the field late in practice with an unknown injury.
Remaining Greenbrier practice schedule
- Saturday, August 1 — 1:30-3:30 p.m. (Open to the public)
- 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.
