The past few seasons, the New York Giants have been plagued by two things: Slow starts and injuries. Under new head coach John Harbaugh, those could be things of the past.
Harbaugh is a stickler for detail and preparedness. No detail is too small, and no task is too minute. He came in the door this past offseason and began transforming the Giants back into a unit that will work hard and benefit from it. His workout regimen for the team and training camp in general has been rigorous.
"It's camp," Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Burns said, "it's supposed to be hard."
In the three years leading up to Harbaugh's hiring, the Giants have opened the season 2-8, 2-13 and 2-13. They weren't prepared and got bushwhacked early on. Many blamed the lax training
camps and the tenor of the workouts. They weren't being trained to play football right out of the gate.
The Giants practiced fast and hard this summer, both at their New Jersey facility and at The Greenbrier in West Virginia, and most practices were held in the afternoon. Why? Because that's when the games are played.
"I think it was kind of needed that we do those afternoons and make sure we get in that temperature, make sure we're conditioning ourselves and getting used to playing one o'clock games," linebacker Micah McFadden told The Trentonian.
"I think we were just kind of priming our bodies, making sure we're in the right type of shape, the way the coaches want us to be. And then by this time we're ready for whatever may come."
Ready. That is the operative word.
"What we found was over time there's a certain preparation that you really have to get your body ready to both perform at the highest level and to, we feel, we believe, to protect yourself," Harbaugh said. "It's just hard to do that in the morning. Your body, you're sore from the day before and all that. It's hard to get your body going where you get it going."
From The Trentonian:
The Giants now prepare in the morning with strength, conditioning and mobility training from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Players lift weights, loosen up their bodies and make sure their major muscle groups — like their hamstrings, glutes and core — are firing and ready to go.
After meetings, they hold a tempo practice called ACT (action, continuity, tempo). “Basically like a jog-through is another way to say it,” ex-Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton said. “You move, you break a sweat, but you’re not sprinting. It’s not hard effort, but it just helps get your body and everything going.”
The last step before an afternoon practice is a 15-to-30-minute warmup. It’s a welcome process for the players, especially some Giants veterans, who haven’t experienced time dedicated to strength and conditioning before camp practices.
The Giants think it will prepare them better for the start of the season and keep them prepared for the 18-week grind. But how does all of this translate towards injury prevention?
"Maybe just focus a little bit more on the rehab, whatever modalities you're doing, whether it's at home or here," said McFadden, who was knocked out for the season last year by a Lisfranc injury in Week 1. "I'd say I've kept up a little bit more on some of the things that just, if anything's bothering me, just try to stay on top of it and make sure I get it fixed before the next day, or at least feeling better so I can go out and play.
"I think the team has gotten calloused and gotten ready to play an NFL season. It's kind of on the player and being a pro and making sure you're ready for the next day, whatever that day may be. And then taking advantage of the days you have off, taking advantage of the downtime, and making sure your body's ready."
Harbaugh's former team, the Baltimore Ravens, followed this regimen and had far fewer injuries than the Giants did last year.
More from The Trentonian:
The Giants have reason to believe that the makeover will pay dividends. According to RotoWire, the Giants had 28 injured players miss games last season for a total of 240 games — sixth-most in the NFL — while the Ravens had just 14 injured players miss games for a total of 148 games — sixth-fewest among the 32 teams.
“The idea is to have them ready for what they’re going to have to do, whatever the level of practice is, so they would perform at the highest level that we think they physically can and so we can keep them safer,” Harbaugh said. “But we’re not in a hurry to get the practice over with. It’s not like we want to get it done so we can relax the rest of the day, or so everybody feels good that they’re done with the hard work. We want to have the best practice we can have.”
The Giants hope all the hard work and preparation will lead to a healthier, more conditioned team in 2026. Last year, they repeatedly broke down in the fourth quarter, blowing record-setting leads in the process. Those days could be over.
"How do you go out there and compete at this level if you don't expect to win? If you don't expect to win, you certainly aren't going to," said Harbaugh, who compiled a .614 winning percentage with Baltimore over 18 seasons, winning a Super Bowl. "We expect, and we plan to, and we'll be playing to win every single one of our games this year. That's our expectation, that's our plan, that's what we'll be striving for. We think we can. We believe we can, wholeheartedly."
"There's a method to the madness," McFadden said of Harbaugh's ways. "Winning is always in the little things, in the details, and making sure we're never losing sight of that. And whatever issue may arise, make sure it's clear and concise, and the players know what to do and what not to do and be able to do that fast."
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants feel rigorous training camp will pay off in win column
