Training Camp Day 2 Updates

[Mr. P]

NY Giants secondary stands out in second day of training camp

 

by Mike Garafolo/The Star-Ledger

Tuesday August 04, 2009, 10:40 AM

 

Safety Kenny Phillips and the Giants secondary continue to look impressive at training camp.

 

The secondary continues to dominate. They have seven INTs through three practices and they could have about five more on balls they dropped. Check out the details below in your morning practice report:

 

INJURIES

DE Justin Tuck (foot) and LG Rich Seubert (shoulder) were the only guys not on an injured list to be out of action. Coach Tom Coughlin said Seubert's injury doesn't appear to be serious.

 

DT Fred Robbins (knee/PUP), LB Michael Boley (hip/PUP) and DT Rocky Bernard (shoulder/hamstring/non-football injury list) did not practice as well.

 

THE STARTERS

WR Domenik Hixon, clearly motivated to avenge Monday's solid performance by the secondary, caught a ball on a 15-yard in with CB Corey Webster on his back. Hixon beat Webster for a great diving catch while falling out of bounds in the end zone. Both catches were on great balls by QB Eli Manning.

 

Indict this: LB Antonio Pierce got back to bat away a deep flag from QB David Carr.

 

Two bad, bad drops by WR Steve Smith on consecutive throws. The second one was a deep ball after he got wide open past CB Kevin Dockery. He later recovered to reach high above his head for a nice grab.

 

TE Kevin Boss does a good job of using his big body to box out a defender. He did it this morning on a skinny post when he turned his back to rookie DB Vince Anderson for a nice completion. Late in practice, though, Boss got reprimanded by Coughlin for failing to block the back side. He responded by beating LB Bryan Kehl on a deep out near the sideline. "Way to bring that rock in!" One of the defensive coaches instructed Kehl to "play bracket coverage next time," meaning he should have been underneath Boss, not on top with the DB.

 

 

THE BACKUPS

CB Terrell Thomas has gotten off to an excellent start to camp. He's stride-for-stride on every deep ball, has gotten his hands on plenty of passes and Tuesday picked off an underthrown fade from Carr to WR Mario Manningham.

 

Carr had a rough morning. He had a couple of bad throws back-to-back early. He threw high of WR David Tyree. No miracle catches this time as the ball went through Tyree's hands (CB Aaron Ross might have gotten a hand on it) and into the hands of LB Danny Clark for an INT. The next play was the Pierce PD. Carr later had a bad miscommunication with WR Hakeem Nicks. I'll resist the temptation to assume it was the rookie's fault. Later, he had a ball on a deep in batted away by Dockery.

 

Carr had a wrap on his throwing forearm but Coughlin said he's unaware of any injury.

 

Manningham continues to show great moves off the line. He undressed rookie CB DeAndre Wright in 1-on-1 press coverage drills.

 

DT Jay Alford made a nice stop on a run by RB Brandon Jacobs to start team drills. But the really nice stop was when he got into the backfield to get WR Sinorice Moss on an end around.

 

DE Dave Tollefson chased down RB Danny Ware from behind on a counter play. That play has to be quicker. Tough to see if it was Ware or the blocking that kept that play from getting upfield quickly.

 

Credit DT Jeremy Clark with a sack past C Adam Koets. And throw the flag on Koets for holding, too. The next play, Koets' snap was almost fumbled by the QB. (Didn't take note of which one.) Later, QB Andre' Woodson started to pull out from center and Koets was late with the snap for a fumbled exchange.

 

Another dropped ball by TE Darcy Johnson, who later appeared to cost Manning a completion when he ran a post route that was a bit too rounded instead of sharp.

 

Entertaining play on a ball to the end zone from Carr to Moss. S Travonti Johnson came over to bat the ball, Thomas deflected it again and Moss then caught it ... out of bounds. Still, good concentration by Moss.

 

THE YOUNG GUYS

LB Clint Sintim batted away a quick hook on the right hash from Carr to Tyree. I'm telling you -- Sintim looks good in coverage.

 

S Sha'reff Rashad was all over a pass up the middle from Woodson to WR Derek Hagan. He had forward momentum and everything. He just dropped the INT. "Come on, Sha'reff," safeties coach Dave Merritt said. (DT Anthony Bryant would have had a sack before Woodson threw.) Rashad came back strong to close practice by knocking a ball out of Tyree's hands in the end zone. Tyree had gotten on top of Rashad, who had his back to the play as the ball arrived. He kept fighting all the way down to knock the ball loose before Tyree's feet came down. Good play.

 

Hagan almost made a sick catch a few plays later. He laid out near the sideline and reached with his left hand. The ball stuck there for a nanosecond but slipped out as he came down.

 

We might have ourselves an early dark horse because I keep writing DE Tommie Hill's name. Tuesday, he got up to bat down a pass from Woodson. That's one mention per practice so far. He's officially on my obscure-guy watch list.

 

Wright got his hand on another ball after a couple of PDs Monday.

 

CB Bruce Johnson with a nice PD on a comeback from QB Rhett Bomar to Tyree.

 

Bad drop by WR Shaun Bodiford on a short hook.

 

Anderson stepped in front of WR Ramses Barden for yet another PD that could have an INT.

 

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2009/08/ny_giants_secondary_stands_out.html

[Mr. P]

'O' no! Giants passing game struggles again

 

Tom Coughlin hasn’t reached the breaking point yet, but the way his offense is performing it might be coming soon.

 

Three practices into training camp, the sad truth is that the Giants offense hasn’t been good. There have been too many penalties, blown assignments, bad throws and drops. And it’s starting to wear on the coach.

 

“It’s obviously not in midseason form,” Tom Coughlin said after the morning practice today. “It’s early, but I’m not very patient. I’d like to see some progress. On offense it’s got to be more than good play, bad play. We can make a big play everybody remembers. But to me it’s ‘Come on back and let’s get the next play. What are we going to do now? Let’s feel good about making a big play, but let’s make another one, not turn around and go backwards.”

 

Today was particularly bad for the receivers who seemed to drop more than they caught. Even the usually sure-handed Steve Smith had drops on consecutive plays. Facing an aggressive secondary that showed up to camp ready, the Giants’ offense has been sluggish and erratic. It’s only Day 2, of course, but the early signs are definitely not good.

 

Here are a few of the highlights from this morning - - or, I guess, make that lowlights:

 

• Eli Manning actually looked sharp again, so don’t blame him. He threw two perfect passes to Smith, including a beautiful deep ball that hit Smith in stride just beyond the defense. Smith dropped them both.

 

• QB David Carr wasn’t sharp. He seemed to hold the ball way too long in the pocket and made what appeared to be some bad decisions with his throws. Early on he had one bad throw into the corner after holding it for what seemed like forever. That allowed CB Kevin Dockery to step in front of the receiver and break it up.

 

• A bright spot to the offense? WR Domenik Hixon had his first turn in the spotlight at camp with a couple of nice catches. He had an impressive, over-the-shoulder catch for a 30-yard (or so) touchdown on an absolutely perfect pass from Manning. Earlier he had a nice catch in traffic with Corey Webster closing fast.

 

• Speaking of closing fast, don’t discount the possibility that CB Terrell Thomas could eventually beat out Aaron Ross. Thomas is having a great start and closed very fast to step in front of Mario Manningham to pick off a Carr pass.

 

• The play of the morning: Another terrible pass from Carr into traffic was tipped by S Travonti Johnson. But Sinorice Moss managed to keep his eye on it, turned, and made what turned into a spectacular touchdown catch.

 

• From down the depth chart, CB Vince Anderson, who is expected to see some time at S this camp, closed very fast on Ramses Barden in the end zone on a poorly thrown pass from Andre’ Woodson. Barden is 6-6 so if the throw was higher Anderson might not have had a chance. But it was at Barden’s chest and Anderson got there very fast.

 

• Also from down the depth chart, nice job by S Shar-eff Rashad - - who likely wil lend up as the fourth safety - - to break up a pass intended for Derek Hagan. I think it hit him in the chest, though, so maybe he could’ve caught it. He made up for that non-catch, though, a little later.

 

• Hey, look! It’s David Tyree. He got some significant action this morning, making one nice catch but missing out on two others. The catch was a leaping grab on the sidelines. A couple of plays later the pass (from Carr, I think) was way too high and Tyree tipped it into the hands of LB Danny Clark. He also nearly made a leaping, falling TD catch on the final play in practice, but Rashad ripped it out of his hands for an INT. Actually, I think that’s what happened. All I really know for sure is Rashad ended up with the ball.

 

• TE Darcy Johnson fighting for a roster spot had an ugly drop on a wide open flare.

 

• I’m seeing some good things from RB Ahmad Bradshaw receiving out of the backfield. Nothing spectacular, but some good hands. He made a nice grab in 7-on-7 drills on a low pass from Manning. Bradshaw insists he’ll be a factor in the passing game this year.

 

• G Rich Seubert (shoulder) and DE Justin Tuck (foot) sat out the morning practice.

 

 

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/giants/2009/08/o-no-giants-passing-game-strug.html

[BIGBLUE01]

Im eager to see what Sintim does this yr. He's gonna make an impact immediately IMO. Im glad theyre getting the drops out of their system early in training camp. Lets hope it dont stay that way.

[Mr. P]

yeah there was alot of talk post draft that he has major problems in coverage and because of that he would only be used situationally but everyone is complimenting his coverage skills

[BlueInCanada]

"LB Clint Sintim batted away a quick hook on the right hash from Carr to Tyree. I'm telling you -- Sintim looks good in coverage"

 

What I like to hear.

 

Manningham seems to be living up to his potential first round status, do you know what would be great if he does step up and push him and Nicks for the #1 spot and he turns out to be great. The only reasons teams passed on him was because he was caught with some marry-J which is pretty fucked up because I'm sure at least %40 of the league does it.

[Mr. P]

"LB Clint Sintim batted away a quick hook on the right hash from Carr to Tyree. I'm telling you -- Sintim looks good in coverage"

 

What I like to hear.

 

Manningham seems to be living up to his potential first round status, do you know what would be great if he does step up and push him and Nicks for the #1 spot and he turns out to be great. The only reasons teams passed on him was because he was caught with some marry-J which is pretty fucked up because I'm sure at least %40 of the league does it.

 

 

he also ran a horrible 40 time but i believe that was chalked up to him not hiring someone to help him run the 40, had to do with him getting out of the blocks correctly, thats why he improved his time immensly at his proday workout

[Sephiroth]

Im eager to see what Sintim does this yr. He's gonna make an impact immediately IMO. Im glad theyre getting the drops out of their system early in training camp. Lets hope it dont stay that way.

 

You know, after watching film of him it looked like he had really stiff hips and wasn't good at changing direction, but from the sounds of things in camp that isn't the case at all. Let's hope he keeps up the solid play.

 

Also... let's give props to both Sintim and Moss for rehabbing, being smart, and getting healthy for the first day of team camp after suffering setbacks in minicamp.

[Allstarjim]

yeah there was alot of talk post draft that he has major problems in coverage and because of that he would only be used situationally but everyone is complimenting his coverage skills

 

 

The thing is, we don't even NEED him to be good with the pass rushers and secondary we have. If he does turn out to be an impact player early, then that will just make us even more sick. Reese deserves a Nobel Prize or something for making this roster.

[Sephiroth]

The thing is, we don't even NEED him to be good with the pass rushers and secondary we have. If he does turn out to be an impact player early, then that will just make us even more sick. Reese deserves a Nobel Prize or something for making this roster.

 

He certainly has been doing a great King Midas impersonation since becoming GM.