Giants Country

Giants Rebound with Solid Showing in Final Joint Practice with Lions

New York gets back on track with a much crisper performance.

Patricia Traina

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So about that inconsistent practice the New York Giants had yesterday against the Detroit Lions?

This morning, I wrote about how it was too soon to panic over the Giants having what amounted to a "bad day at the office." I mentioned how the bad moments can serve as teaching points for the coaching staff and how working against another team and losing a few battles could only help general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll identify what areas of the roster still need help.

And I mentioned it was practice, you know, the time where if you're going to have a bad day at the office, practice is where you want it to happen.

Daboll apparently feels the same way. He frequently used the word "productive" to describe the work his team got against the Lions on Day 1 and downplayed any rising panic about Tuesday's uneven showing.

"Look, every practice, we do the same thing as a coaching staff," he said. "You watch practice, there’s a lot of good things in practice, and then there’s a lot of things that you can improve on, and that’s the job of a coach and as a player. 

"Look at it, try to fix it, come out here, and have a good day. And we do that day-to-day."

So About Day 2

By all accounts, Wednesday was a much better day for quarterback Daniel Jones and the Giants offense.

Jones, to his credit, acknowledged to reporters yesterday that he didn't have as sharp of a practice as he had been having since training camp opened.

"Yeah, I just missed a couple of them that normally I feel pretty good about, so just got to be sharp with those and make sure we’re taking advantage of the opportunities that we have," he said.

Jones connected with Darius Slayton in 11-on-11 team drills for two touchdowns, including one of which was a juggling catch made by the receiver. 

Slayton, who over the last two years has had issues with dropped balls, has looked much better in this camp with hanging onto passes--it's clear he worked at fixing that problem over the off-season.

In that video clip above, note how tight end Darren Waller drew a crowd of defenders around him that helped to open up things for Slayton on the outside. That's exactly what the Giants were hoping to get out of Waller.

Again, training camp and practice aims to discover what works and what doesn't. And to correct mistakes, which it sure sounds like the Giants have done in this practice.

Not to be outdone, the Giants defense also had a better showing in 7-on-7 drills.

Among the plays made by the defense included a pass breakup by Deonte Banks against Amon-Ra St. Brown and an interception by UDFA hopeful Gemon Green.

And then there was this highlight play by second-year safety Dane Belton.

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The Biggest Takeaway from Two Days of Practice

With the Giants having had a better practice on Wednesday than Tuesday, the biggest takeaway is how the team responded to adversity.

Whereas some teams might fold up the tent and go home pouting if they had a bad day at the office, this Giants team went to work to correct the issues and came back swinging even harder.

That's the fine balance that anyone involved in a performance-based profession must find--learning from the failures to improve for the future without letting the failures drag down one's spirits.

And again, with the Giants in the thick of things, that's all anyone can ask of the team right now.

Injury Notes

Running back Gary Brightwell (ankle) and offensive lineman Devery Hamilton (leg) were added to the injured list. Daboll said that both players aren't expected to miss long-term time but are not day-to-day either.

Defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches (groin) remains sidelined with his ailment. Receiver Sterling Shepard got a day off as he continued to ramp up from his ACL injury that landed him on PUP at the start of camp.

Other Notes

  • Running back Saquon Barkley didn't get any team reps on Wednesday, likely due to having his workload managed.
  • Cornerback Rodarius Williams appeared to get banged up during the practice but returned with his wrist taped up. Williams can ill afford to miss any time, as after being banished to the inactive list late last season, he appears to be hanging onto his roster spot by his fingernails.
  • There was a little extra pushing and shoving between Giants outside linebacker Oshane Ximines and Lions offensive tackle Germain Ifedi.
  • Rookie receiver Jalin Hyatt may have hurt his right wrist in an earlier practice but seemed to be pushing through it.

Up Next

The Giants will hold a walkthrough practice Thursday, which is closed to media/public viewing. They'll suit up on Friday for their preseason opener against the Lions.

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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