Giants training camp

[Lughead]

July,25,2008

 

Well, Training camp opened today But i was at the hospital with my mom, Nothing serious. anyway I could not make it down to Albany to day But while I was in the waiting room I was watching the news and the local sports came on and the Giants were the top of the order I could not hear the tv to well but I watched and Eli was throwing "LASERS"

Not the Mcnabbesque lasers but ones that where, well, you know a tight spiral on a wire. With no wobble.... saw one threaded in also, and a bomb to Manninghamfor 6. I belive it was #82 I saw on the jersey anyway. Saw a rb break a run to the outside it was Ward or Ware not sure.

 

Giants 2008 training camp video interviews

[Lughead]

***

A few highlights from the afternoon:

• A pleasant surprise in the afternoon for the Giants when LB Mathias Kiwanuka (ankle) practiced for the second time. He had been designated a once-a-day guy.

• This Kevin Boss guy might just be OK. He made another great catch in the afternoon on a crossing route. He had a full extension of his arms and made a falling catch, drawing what for him has become his usual ovation from the crowd.

• TE Darcy Johnson gave the Giants a teeny-weeny scare when he went up for a pass near the sideline and was hit by Sammy Knight. Johnson was very slow to get up and limped for a few yards before he finally jogged back to the huddle.

• Not so lucky was DT Nate Robinson, a New Jersey native who once played at Rutgers. He limped off the field with a hamstring injury.

• Andre Woodson has one of the biggest windups and slowest releases of a quarterback that I’ve seen in=2 0a while. He had one play where he was trying to find Sinorice Moss down the sidelines, but by the time he wound up and threw a wobbly rainbow of a pass, Moss had to just about stop. The ball was underthrown anyway, but CB Nick Barnett, who was in coverage, never turned around for what would’ve been an easy interception. Moss nearly made what would’ve been a remarkable catch by reaching around Barnett’s body, but he couldn’t hang on.

• QB Eli Manning still looks sharp, but he threw his first interception when it appeared he and WR Steve Smith got their signals crossed. Smith cut a route short, but Manning threw deep and CB R.W. McQuarters made the pick on the sidelines.

• Remember I told you earlier the Giants were practicing in front of a “decent, but smaller-than-expected” crowd. Well, I don’t know what I was expecting. The “official” (but estimated) attendance report said 2,910 people watched practice yesterday – 1,470 in the morning and another 1,400 in the afternoon. That’s a first-day record for camp here, eclipsing the 2,455 watched Day 1 in 2005.

[Lughead]

video highlights cbs6

[Lughead]

From Ralph V.

 

July 28, 2008

 

Monday Notes: Boss continues to shine

While Plaxico Burress was standing on the sidelines, being careful not to put any weight on his right ankle, here's what he missed at this morning's practice:

 

• I think that Kevin Boss guy is going to be pretty good. If nothing else, he seems to give me one highlight to write about every day. Today's version came when Eli Manning tried to hit him over the top of S James Butler, who leaped and managed to get one hand on the ball. But Boss, in stride, simply reached back and batted the ball away from Butler and to himself, before continuing on his way down the field.

 

• Did I see an end-around to Amani Toomer? I'm pretty sure I did. And I'm guessing that's the last one I'll see. I'd imagine that will be a play for Steve Smith or Sinorice Moss (if he sticks) during the regular season, not a 33-year-old, 13-year vet.

 

• Speaking of Toomer, he slipped on the sidelines while trying to make a hook back for a Manning pass. That allowed Corey Webster to make a nice play on the sidelines to pick off the pass.

 

• Boss made another catch over the middle in traffic. Yawn. Show me something new, kid.

 

• I've mentioned the slow release of rookie QB Andre Woodson before, but here's the upside. The kid has a cannon for an arm. I know, so did Jared Lorenzen. But there appears to be a difference. Woodson's cannon seems to hit its targets more often than Lorenzen's did. Lorenzen overthrew everyone, all the time. Woodson may take a while to let go of the ball, but when he does it's a dart in the right direction.

 

• The Giants are still working on their deep passing game, but it appears they were emphasizing the run a little more this morning. You can't tell much about the run game, though, when there's no hitting going on.

 

• Did I say no hitting? Rookie S Kenny Phillips must have missed the memo. He leveled RB Reuben Droughns on one run up the middle. He also gave WR Brandon London a little-too-hard shove on a sideline route, though London managed to hold on to the ball.

 

• LB Mathias Kiwanuka, who got some work in at DE today while the defense was working on the nickel, earned some praise for his work covering tight ends – including one play where he followed TE Eric Butler all the way down the field to break up a pass. "It was his fifth straight good practice," Coughlin said. "You saw him 35 yards down field knocking a ball down. That's pretty good."

 

***

Tom Coughlin has gotten a lot of things since winning the Super Bowl – the Lombardi Trophy, a parade down the Canyon of Heroes, a trip to the White House, a $21 million contract extension, a lucrative book deal. So what do you get for the champion coach who has everything?

 

How about a paper weight shaped like a dog?

 

Earlier today, in recognition of the Giants' Super Bowl championship, the University at Albany president presented Coughlin with a six-inch tall statue of a Great Dane (U-Albany's mascot, for those who didn't know). Oddly – very oddly – the little statue, much like the big statue of the Great Dane in Albany's basketball arena, was anatomically correct.

 

I believe that sometime tomorrow the Chancellor of Syracuse University – my and Coughlin's alma mater – will be presenting the Giants' coach with a replica of an actual orange.

[upstatefan]

pictures of me and my kids at training camp.

 

 

 

[TaylorBanksCarsonVanPelt]

Nice pics dude. Start em off young and right is the way to do it. Then they grow up into lifelong Giants fans. Great pic of the trophy too.

[GorillaNJ]

Im planning on going Thursday, so long as I can stay sober enogh at 2:00. Being on vacation I have been starting to hit the booze at 10ish

[Virginia Giant]

Hey upstate can I use those pics in the members galley?

[upstatefan]

Sure V G I'm going back to camp at least once more before it's And I try to get some closeup's at

autograph alley

[GorillaNJ]

Does someone know where at U Albany they practice? Is it the Uptown Campus?

[GorillaNJ]

Im planning on going Thursday, so long as I can stay sober enogh at 2:00. Being on vacation I have been starting to hit the booze at 10ish

Well it was too nice to leave the lake and my sangria... We should be going Saturday on our way home.

[jranieli]

Gorilla you have to wear your Bass t-shirt at camp.

[upstatefan]

Gorilla its between western and washington aves take fuller rd and go to any turnoff into the campus

[Lughead]

at the Bottom it talks about Books coming out 1 by Coughlin and 1 by Eli. I kinda feel Strahan would be writing one in the future

 

 

 

 

August 15, 2008

 

Defense is pick happy in evening

Perhaps sparked by the rare training camp appearance of their former defensive leader Michael Strahan, the Giants’ defense took control of the final evening practice of the summer by picking off the Giants quarterbacks six times.

 

Super-rookie Kenny Phillips had two of them, and safety Stuart Schweigert, linebacker Zak DeOssie, linebacker Bryan Kehl, and cornerback Corey Webster each had one.

 

Anthony Wright threw three of them. Andre Woodson threw two and Eli Manning threw one.

 

Phillips’ INTs were the ones that drew the biggest “Ooooooooo”s from the crowd. The first one came in a 7-on-7 drills, when he came out of nowhere (as usual) to step in front of Michael Jennings and pick off a pass from Wright. Later, he came from even farther out of nowhere in the full-team drills to pick off a pass from Manning, who was sure he had Dominek Hixon wide open over the middle.

 

Schweigert’s pick was a diving interception on a bad, low throw from Woodson that appeared to be ticketed for D.J. Hall. DeOssie’s interception also came off Woodson’s arm. Woodson had a fumble, too, proving he may not be ready for his expected appearance against the Cleveland Browns on Monday night.

 

I did not get a clear look at the pick by Webster (off Wright), but everyone saw the one by Kehl on the very last play of practice during the two-minute drill. He stepped right in front of TE Michael Matthews to pick off a pass from Wright, and he took off down the sidelines about 55 yards for a touchdowns.

 

Of course, the play never should have happened because Barry Cofield got through the line so quickly he would’ve crushed Wright.

 

Here are a few more highlights from the penultimate practice of training camp:

 

• Sinorice Moss giveth, and Sinorice Moss taketh away. He made a nice, juggling sideline grab on a pass that was tipped first by rookie corner Terrell Thomas. Then later, in the two-minute drill, he caught a pass on the sideline, turned up field … and fumbled it away.

 

• On the very next play, TE Kevin Boss made what has become a familiar turning, leaping grab down the field.

 

• Hall made a terrific diving catch in the back of the end zone on a pass from Wright. Hall had a good start to camp, but has been pretty quiet lately. I still could see him on the practice squad, if he clears waivers.

 

• Speaking of sure-handed receivers, I still don’t know how the Giants are going to cut WR Brandon London. He had several solid-to-outstanding catches today, including a leaping one on the sidelines just in front of Thomas. Really, the kid just catches everything. And he’s healthy, which counts for a lot on the Giants these days.

 

• Please add CB R.W. McQuarters (hip flexor) to an injury report that already included WR Plaxico Burress (ankle), WR David Tyree (knee), WR Amani Toomer (knee), WR Mario Manningham (quad), WR Steve Smith (groin), LB Mathias Kiwanuka (leg), CB Sam Madison (hernia), LB Jonathan Goff (back) and K Lawrence Tynes (leg). Did I miss anybody? Oh, Burress did his usual light running thing through some of the early routes, before donning his visor and taking a knee.

 

• New K Josh Huston went 4 for 4 on field goals in practice, but none were from farther back than 21 yards. A person who watched the tryouts today told me that Huston went 3 for 6 in his audition, while at least one other kicker out-kicked him. But the Giants really liked Huston last summer. That, and his familiarity with the holder/snapper combo, made him the easy pick for the temp job.

 

***

I was just handed a copy of A Team to Believe In, by Tom Coughlin (with Brian Curtis), and I promise I will read it as fast as possible and give you a review (it’s due out officially in early September). The first thing that jumped out it me, though, is this: Every chapter begins with an inspirational quote, including ones from Helen Keller, Vince Lombardi, Abraham Lincoln, Nancy Lopez, Pat Riley, Winston Churchill, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Lt. Col. Greg Gadson.

 

I am not, by the way, one of the two members of the media who are mentioned in the book.

 

And while we’re on the subject of books, I’m told that Amazon has begun shipping Eli Manning: The Making of a Quarterback. My name may be mentioned somewhere in (or on) that one.

[GorillaNJ]

I did make it there today, we had a great time. One thing I did learn is that Woodson will be a great QB, if throwing to defenders becomes a halmark stat. He had to throw three EASY picks and had two balls tipped. I will post sime pics soon