Giants Country

Why It's Way Too Soon to Panic About Giants' Shaky Practice with the Lions

The Giants looked slightly outmatched against the Detroit Lions in their first of two joint practices. But here's why it's way too early to panic.

Patricia Traina

Why It's Way Too Soon to Panic About Giants' Shaky Practice with the Lions
Why It's Way Too Soon to Panic About Giants' Shaky Practice with the Lions /
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No one said it was going to be perfect.

And for the New York Giants, their first joint practice with the Detroit Lions was indeed far from perfect, as both the offense and defense, which had looked so good in their ten days of practicing against one another, at times looked out of sorts when going against the up-and-coming Lions.

But for those sitting there wringing their hands with worry that this Giants team isn't what we thought it was, it might be time to take a step back and breathe. Bad days at the office are going to happen to everyone. And bad days can be good days. Because imagine if a team went through an entire summer working against each other and thinking that it was proficient enough to stand up against anyone. Imagine if minimal mistakes were made.

What good would that do? How would masking a team's deficiencies benefit it in the long run?

It wouldn't, which is why having the occasional bad day at the office isn't necessarily a bad thing.

And in the case of a sports team, isn't it better to have it happen against another team in practice so that any deficiencies can be highlighted and addressed before the games start counting for real?

The Giants have, for what it's worth, looked light years ahead of where they were this time of year last year when the players and coaches were learning about each other and trying to figure out what worked. 

The same happened with the Lions, a new set of faces that the Giants (and Liosn, for that matter) were trying to figure out.

"I think it’s an extremely competitive situation to go and practice against another team, but I think it just comes down to hitting it and taking advantage of the opportunities when we have them," said quarterback Daniel Jones. "Maybe it’s a little bit of a different feel to practice against another team, but at the end of the day, you’ve just got to hit it."

That's what practice is for, and these Giants will get a second chance to "hit it" against the Lions in Allen Park on the final of the two-day joint practice session before the two teams meet again in Friday's preseason opener.

Now that they've felt out their opponent, the hope is that the results will differ greatly by the end of the day.

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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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