Giants Country

New York Giants Exhibit Control in Spirited Joint Practice With Cleveland Browns

The Giants and Browns put a conscious effort into staging a quality practice that was free of the extracurricular activities and ugliness that marred some other joint practice around the league.

Patricia Traina

New York Giants Exhibit Control in Spirited Joint Practice With Cleveland Browns
New York Giants Exhibit Control in Spirited Joint Practice With Cleveland Browns /

For the New York Giants, the thought of getting a couple of extra practice days in against players in different colored jerseys was more than enough to get the juices flowing.

While the fully padded practice had its share of spirited moments, the Giants and Browns, unlike the Rams and Raiders and the Bucs and Titans, made it through their first day of joint practices without tempers flaring high enough to result in a brawl.

No, the Fighting Joe Judges learned their lesson about being spirited on the field but keeping it controlled. That lesson came early in training camp when an extra-spirited shove suddenly escalated into an unsportsmanlike display that enraged head coach Joe Judge.

After he had calmed down from delivering a not-safe-for-work verbal scolding of the entire team, Judge explained that behavior wouldn't be tolerated because if it happened in a game, it would have resulted in ejections, fines, and penalty yards.

Judge’s message to the team then, as it was to the team before Cleveland, was to keep it spirited but controlled within the confines of the game’s rules. And if there was any doubt whether the message was received, look no further than the balance of competitiveness with control exhibited by the “Fighting’ Joe Judges.”

“It’s not really as hard as you think unless you’re falling or something, but I think for the most part we’re some of the top athletes and I think we’ve got pretty good control over our bodies,” safety Jabrill Peppers said of staying in control. “It’s just about being under control and not being sloppy, playing with your feet under you.”

Defensive back Logan Ryan agreed when asked how difficult it was to refrain from finishing off a play.

“Finish them to the ground? No man, we’re all professionals,” he said. “It’s practice. I get paid on game day, so this is practice. I’m not out there taking cheap shots. I’m not trying to tackle to the ground. If they catch it, they catch it.

“As a professional DB, you’ve got to learn how to practice, and you’ve got to learn how to play on Sundays. It’s a different level of intensity on Sundays than practice, so you’re just being professional.”

Tight end Evan Engram feigned ignorance when asked how many times the team had been reminded not to do anything stupid out there, claiming, “We don’t know anything about that, so we’re good.”

That said, Engram turned serious and said, “I actually expected it to be a little bit chippier than it was. Guys respect each other, we know we’re trying to get work, we’re being smart. It’s camp so obviously we’re grinding, but we’re also protecting each other. It was good comradery between the lines today.”

Judge, who called the controlled practice “team tempo,” said it’s something they work on every day in practice.

“When we say, ‘team tempo’ we’re playing fast and we’re playing aggressive, but we’re playing controlled,” he said.

“We’re playing on our feet, we’re not cut-blocking or taking someone to the ground. We’re not live tackling all the way to the ground, we’re not taking kill shots on players. … We’re going to thud the runner close to the line then let him finish and carry down the field so all our defensive players can finish in pursuit, as well.”

Judge admitted that both he and Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski spoke to their respective players about being competitive and smart.

“We’re both giving the message that we’re here to work together,” Judge said. “We don’t have to get on a plane and fly cross-country to come get in a fist fight. We’re out here to play football against a good team and improve what we’re doing as a team.”

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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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