After a day off, Joe Judge wasn’t going to take it easy on the Giants on Monday. The team had one of their tougher practices since training camp starts — and it will only get more intensive from here as they start practicing with pads on Tuesday.
But Monday’s practice — the fifth of training camp — was full of lap-running (including an entire unit), Judge yelling and some extra post-practice work for most of the roster.
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Plus, the Giants ran more team drills (11 on 11 and 7 on 7) beyond just in the red-zone/end-zone areas.
There was plenty to observe.
So that’s what we’ll do: Here are five observations from the Giants’ practice on Monday at Quest Diagnostics Center:
Daniel Jones’ no good, very bad day: It was a rough day for the Giants quarterback — not all bad, but a lot of it was — which was especially notable as the team ran more 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 team drills on Monday than in previous days. And it wasn’t only in the red-zone area, as it had been.
This is unofficial, but my count — I might’ve missed a few throws — Jones was 2 for 5 in 7-on-7 drills and 4 for 9 in 11-on-11 drills. That’s not counting check-downs.
That included a couple completions on short passes to Sterling Shepard (who I’m not sure has dropped anything in camp so far), a drop from running back Devontae Booker, a couple of misses on passes to Kenny Golladay — including a deep ball where Jones overthrew him, and on a slant that hit his hand. There was also a ball that sailed over Evan Engram’s head, though they did connect on a touchdown on a slant in end-zone drills later on. Jones overthrew Darius Slayton on a deep ball too.
Jones also missed Golladay in the back of the end zone in team drills, though it was hard to discern — the Giants were at the far field, facing the opposite way, with most of the roster blocking the media’s view — whose fault it was and if it was tipped.
The offense just remains out of sync in general. Maybe it’s the receivers, maybe it’s Jones, maybe it’s the defense getting the better of them — or maybe it’s all of it.
A lot of work to be done.
Kenny Golladay’s big catch: About the $72 million receiver, he got off to a rough start on Monday as he and Jones continue to work on getting their timing right. He had a couple of drops, including one while practicing slants with Jones off to the side as the team ran special teams drills.
But he also had his first big play of camp, an impressive catch on a deep slant from Jones that probably would’ve gained 30-plus yards in a game setting. He caught the ball over cornerback Sam Beal, who does still exist. He also outran Beal on the deep ball that Jones overthrew.
The Giants signed him to make those big plays, so it is encouraging that he’s starting to get in position to make them. He and Jones hung around for a little bit after practice again, too.
Kadarius Toney’s debut … sort of: The Giants rookie is still M.I.A. when it comes to actual practice time as the Giants ease him in coming off the COVID-19 list. But he was seen after practice on the field with a few other skill players fielding onside kicks, while getting instruction from Joe Judge.
Maybe that’s a step in the right direction, though it seems unlikely he’d make his camp debut when pads go on.
“He’s still building up, but we will start seeing a little bit more of him day by day as the trainers keep allowing us to have him more,” Judge said before practice. “The focus is to get this guy involved as much as we can with football and keep building him up through training camp. It’ll be limited for the time being., We’ll get him day by day a little more.”
Until he actually practices, it’ll be hard to believe he’ll play a significant role at the start of the season on offense.
Lap day: New Giants offensive lineman Joe Looney got his warm welcome into Joe Judge’s practices by getting sent on laps two separate times on Monday due to mistakes.
Looney said he wasn’t aware of the lap punishment system until the moment coaches first told him to do it. He ran his first lap with Daniel Jones by his side, actually, early in practice. Looney, who was signed as a free agent on Saturday, said he was punished for snapping the ball early.
“Something I ain’t done since little league,” Looney said, laughing. “But I loved it. It’s another way to hold us accountable as professionals and if you make a mistake, you’re going to run a lap for it. I’m all about it.”
Looney wasn’t the only one running either — after the defense made some sort of mistake during team drills later in practice, Judge was livid and it led to the entire defense running a lap, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham included.
At one point, center Nick Gates was sent on a lap, but it was while the second-team offense was on another field so there wasn’t a center around to jump, which led to Gates’ teammates and coaches yelling at him to hurry up.
Clearly, Judge isn’t messing around.
Miscellaneous
– Some familiar faces watched practice on Monday, a trio of the team’s best-ever pass rushers: Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka. The Giants’ collection of pass rushers has a long way to go to even approach that level. The pass rush is one of the bigger questions heading into the season, at least in terms of where the sack production is going to come from outside of Leonard Williams.
It’s too early to judge how the pass rush has looked, though it doesn’t help that Lorenzo Carter, Oshane Ximines, Elerson Smith and Ryan Anderson are all out with injuries, which has led to players like Trent Harris getting reps with the first-team defense on occasion.
– It seems Matt Peart might still be limited after coming off the PUP list, as Nate Solder was getting snaps during team drills at right tackle. Kenny Wiggins was also missing after filling in as the first-team left guard for the last few practices. Veteran Zach Fulton filled in at left guard for the first time.
– Backup quarterback Mike Glennon has been … fine, generally. He missed Corey Clement on a bad throw at one point during 7-on-7 drills. He almost connected with C.J. Board on a nice deep pass but Board wasn’t able to bring it in. He did connect with David Sills on a deep ball that might’ve scored a touchdown in a regular game setting.
– Jabrill Peppers was back fielding punts, though he did muff at least one attempted return.
– Fullback Eli Penny has been getting some targets in team drills the last few practices — same for backup Cullen Gillaspia — and let’s just say that Penny is more sure-handed. He’s fighting for a roster spot this year but if the Giants keep a fullback, it’d be surprising if it’s not Penny.
– Tight end Levine Toilolo and center Jonotthan Harrison, who had been injured, got some work in Monday’s practice. Harrison was just activated off the PUP list. He might have to fight Looney for a roster spot.
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