The New York Giants used Monday’s practice as their first in-season look, bringing the initial 53-man roster together and adding practice-squad players later the same day. Head coach John Harbaugh said the session was pushed back so those additions could work with the team after the roster moves.
That schedule also served quarterback Jaxson Dart, who by Week 1 will have gone roughly a month without live game action. Harbaugh said the staff is using a 13-day runway before the opener to restore timing through volume and execution.
“Well, as you noticed today, we had a lot of reps out there today,” Harbaugh told reporters. “This is the week – we have 13 days till we play, so we’re working hard on execution. We’re working really hard on that aspect
of it. And that’s for the quarterbacks – for everybody too, but we’re trying to get it done in practice to make sure he’s ready to go.”
Harbaugh framed the day as the start of game week preparation, not another camp installment.
“We had our first practice with that group, sort of our first in-season type of practice today,” he said. “Getting ready for our first game.”
The message was practical. The roster is set, the practice-squad pieces are in the building, and Dart needs work before Week 1, when he will have gone roughly a month without game action. Harbaugh did not describe an accelerated crash course so much as a focused stretch of reps, with execution as the standard for the quarterbacks and the rest of the offense.
With the first game now on the calendar, the Giants are treating practice as the place to close the gap.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Jaxson Dart getting heavy reps as Giants begin in-season practice
