New York Giants Training Camp Week 2: Five Storylines to Watch

The Giants are back at it this week, set to take things to the next level. Here's a look at some potential storylines we'll be watching.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Aug 1, 2022 8:00 AM EDT

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New York Giants

The New York Giants are back to work Monday at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on what's a key date on the summer calendar: the team's first practice in full pads.

That means the Giants will be allowed to engage in live contact, making the practices look more like real football.

"We’ll keep them off the ground and stay away from the quarterback," head coach Brian Daboll said regarding the planned tempo of the padded practices.

"But you can see the fundamentals that you’re teaching. They’re doing a good job right now of trying to execute it, but when you have the pads on, particularly in the trenches, you get a good feel for some of those guys, their power, ability to anchor, and ability to pass rush."

The return of the padded practices is just one major storyline that will take center stage as the Giants enter the second week of their training camp. Here's a look at some others.

The Offensive Line

Every year, the defense seems to be ahead of the offense, and with good reason. The offensive linemen can't fully get physical with blocking their defensive counterparts, and thus it often looks like there are more jailbreaks on defense than there would be in reality.

That will hopefully change starting Monday. All eyes will be on the revamped offensive line, which should have starting center Jon Feliciano back after he missed the last two days due to a heat-related issue. The Giants have been trying to build up a functional and capable offensive line for several years now, only to spring leaks at this all-important position.

They are hoping that this latest version consisting of Feliciano, guards Shane Lemieux and Mark Glowinski, and tackles Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal is the right one moving forward and that the unit can stay healthy to build some cohesiveness.

Daniel Jones

No, Daniel Jones and the passing offense didn't look crisp last week. The offense was also trying to incorporate receivers Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney, who had been missing in the spring.

Daboll admitted that there were a few rough spots on offense with the communication. "You go out there and have 30 snaps of various blitzes, different looks. There are so many different things that happened --like a lot of really good things: hots, breaking off routes," he said of Friday's practice.

"Were there some miscommunications? Absolutely. For some of those guys, it’s the first time in this offense where they’re practicing with Daniel. It’s their third practice. So, we’re kind of day-by-day. Get better each day, have a positive mindset and correct the things you’ve got to correct."

Kayvon Thibodeau vs. Andrew Thomas/Evan Neal

Just as one can't fully gauge how far the offensive line has come along, the same can be said of the pass rush. And certainly, there will be a lot of interest in the pass rush, and in particular rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux, the fifth overall pick in the draft who is excited about finally showing more of what he can do.

"There are a lot of things as a pass rusher, as a defensive guy, you aren’t able to do without pads," he said. "The offense has the baggy jerseys you can just pull on them. Now it’ll be more of a fair game. I’ll be able to use all the moves I’ve been working on."

Thibodeaux has primarily been going against tackles Andrew Thomas and fellow rookie Evan Neal so far in camp and has enjoyed the competition.

"Oh, it’s been great," he said. "Me being able to go back and forth. Everyone asks me, ‘What is the difference between now and I mean college and the NFL’? It’s like, you have to be 100 percent and have a move every play, there is no getting by. Just going against both of them, and Evan, especially, is good to continue to grow and share info now and again."

That competition is about to be turned up a few more notches starting Monday.

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The Blue-White Scrimmage

The Giants will hold their Blue-White scrimmage on Friday night in what will be the closest thing to a football game, as there will be up until that point. While Daboll hasn't yet divulged exactly how he plans to structure the scrimmage, there are other things worth looking for, such as where the coordinators will be stationed (on the field or in the box), how the communication will work, the tempo shown by the offense and the defense, and much more.

More importantly, it will be a chance to better understand potential trends and approaches that each side's coaches will deploy in certain situations.

But just as important in the grand scheme of things, the scrimmage should offer a look at not just the starters but also the depth players trying to separate themselves from the pack in their quest to make the roster.

Injury Status

The Giants got relatively healthy through the first week of training camp, though some of the guys in red medical jerseys in the spring had their workloads adjusted early on.

Feliciano and tight end Ricky Seals-Jones were sidelined the last couple of days, Feliciano due to a heat-related issue and Seals-Jones for an undisclosed reason.

The Giants had Sunday off to heal some of the early bumps and bruises, so one might conclude that anyone who had their workload scaled back on Saturday should be fully good to go Monday.