New York Giants Practice Report No. 8: Receivers Pop, Defense Takes Shape

Friday's New York Giants practice saw receivers make big plays and the defensive scheme open up.

East Rutherford, NJ -- August 1, 2024 -- Wide receiver, Jalin Hyatt practicing today at training camp for the New York Giants. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The New York Giants offense has been the focal point of training camp so far and that didn’t change amid today’s blistering muggy two-hour practice.

The quarterbacks, namely Daniel Jones, have been the headliners but the people who continue to pop out to me are the receivers. 

First-round rookie Malik Nabers had a strong day of practice, including multiple toe drag catches on the sideline. Nabers also found success as an underneath receiver. And despite good coverage, Nabers made the difficult catches look routine. It appears that the Giants got themselves a rookie receiver who is ready to be a big time player from day one.

Early in practice, Jalin Hyatt got vertical and almost reeled in a deep ball for a touchdown but Cor’Dale Flott, who popped repeatedly, broke the pass up. Flott has been inconsistent this summer, leaving us with still a concern regarding that CB2 spot, which we still like Nick McCloud for. Flott was beaten by veteran Allen Robinson II, who put a double move on him in a red zone drill.

Isaiah McKenzie, who left practice early with what appeared to be a hip injury on a jet sweep, was having a good day working out of the slot. McKenzie and rookie cornerback Dru Phillips matched up with McKenzie winning on a dig route, the two appeared to talk a little bit of trash after. 

McKenzie took a pop in the back from linebacker Dyonte Johnson and immediately fell (and stayed) on the ground in pain. There was no word regarding his injury, but he was clearly smarting afterwards, and was done for the day. 

Wan’Dale Robinson, finally healthy for the 2024 season, scored a deep touchdown after beating veteran free agent Tre Herndon. We remain impressed with all the different ways Ronbinson has been deployed in this offense and think he’s clearly one of the underrated players who is going to sneak up on defenses. 

Isaiah Hodgins scored a touchdown in the back of the end zone on a scramble drill where Jones stepped up, rolled right, and got it high and out to Hodgins. Earlier in practice Hodgins ran a curl against Darnay Holmes, who was in Hodgins’ pocket, but the highpoint was too much for Holmes to make a play against.

Ayir Asante, John Jiles, and Dennis Houston each made a good play as well. Asante beat Isaiah Simmons for a fade touchdown from Tommy DeVito. Jiles caught a contested slant against Breon Borders. Jiles also muffed two kicks when working as a kick returner. Houston ran a slant and made a one-hand catch on a pass far behind him.

The Giants clearly have an abundance of riches. We’ll be curious to see if they look to trade any of them at cut-down day as we think they have talent who could bring a sixth or seventh round pick.

Defense Opens Up

The Giants hired Shane Bowen from the Tennessee Titans this past offseason and the scheme is vastly different from what the Giants ran in 2023. As we’ve previously noted, the systems and philosophies run by Bowen and Wink Martindale are about as polar opposite as could be as far as their aggressiveness as well as coverage tendencies.

In Friday’s practice, we saw edge rusher Brian Burns drop into coverage more often than previously this week. Bowen, remember, used Harold Landry III in pass coverage on 17% of the passing plays for the Titans last year. It appears Burns will be given that responsibility in 2024. The role is nothing new for Burns, who spent 15.4% of his snaps with the Panthers in coverage.

On the back end, safety Jason Pinnock intercepted a pass late in practice after jumping the route. Pinnock had a strong season in 2023 as the deep safety in Martindale’s defense but should be in an even better position for 2024.

The second-team safety group at one point in practice was Alex Johnson, an undrafted free agent out of UCLA, and Elijah Riley, who signed with the Giants as a free agent this offseason.

Lineup Notes

The shuffling along the interior offensive line continued Friday. Greg Van Roten played center for the majority of the first-team snaps. Jon Runyan Jr was at left guard and Aaron Stinnie at right guard.  Ezeudu, prior to his leaving on a cart toward the end of practice, rotated in at left guard.

Dru Phillips seems to be the leader for the slot cornerback spot. HE got first-team reps at that position and acquitted himself well. Meanwhile Dyonte Johnson continues to make a case for a job at inside linebacker after delivering some solid first-team reps against the run and the underneath passing game. 

At running back, Tyrone Tracy, Jr sprinkled in some first team reps along with Devin Singletary. Eric Gray was primarily second team for this practice.

Elijah Chatman, a spunky yet undersized defensive lineman, got some first-team reps. He managed to slip through the protection for a “sack” on quarterback Daniel Jones.

Injury Report

The Giants have been dealing with injuries and it got worse on Friday morning.

John Michael Schmitz (shoulder) and Evan Neal (PUP, ankle), who were both projected starters just a short time ago, were both held out of Friday’s practice. 

This was the fifth practice in a row Schmitz has missed. We’ll see if he returns after the day off on Saturday. If he does not, then we think it will officially be time to worry about that spot. 

To make matters worse on the offensive line, Joshua Ezeudu was carted off late in practice. We don’t know what happened–it’s certainly possible that it was cramps from the extreme heat. Either way, the Giants can’t keep affording to lose offensive linemen.

Running back Jashaun Corbin didn’t practice either. He is already facing an uphill battle to make the 53-man roster, and missing practice doesn’t help his case.  

As previously mentioned, wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie left practice after getting hit on the sideline on a jet sweep. McKenzie held his hip on the ground while being attended to and would later put his helmet back on while standing on the sideline.

Others who left practice early include receiver  Bryce Ford-Wheaton, tight end Jack Stoll, and defensive lineman D.J. Davidson.

Receiver Darius Slayton was limited to individual drills. Head coach Brian Daboll said Salyton was “tight.”  

Other Observations

Kicker Graham Gano tried a few field goals of varying distance. He fell short on what I think was about a 55-yard field goal, but he made his other attempts. 

Jason Pinnock “picked off” Daniel Jones but to be honest, Jones was technically “sacked” on the play as he was scrambling around to find someone. 

Call it a draw between receiver Malik Nabers and cornerback Deonte Banks in practice today. Banks denied Nabers a red zone touchdown but Nabers later caught a deep pass against his teammate. That battle has been a fun one to watch. 

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