The Giants wrapped training camp on Thursday, just 17 days after their first padded practice. It was an action-packed few weeks that revealed a lot about the direction of the team under new coach Joe Judge.
I wanted to share some thoughts and observations after watching all 16 practices. This will be lighter on player evaluations, since I recently published one thought on every member of the roster and my 53-man roster projection. Instead, this will focus on some bigger picture items:
1. Judge was the star of camp. That’s a bit unexpected since Judge is a football obsessive who doesn’t appear to be very interested in the spotlight.
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But somehow the first-time head coach became a lightning rod. Everything he did, whether it was making players run laps for mistakes or taping tennis balls to defensive backs’ hands to discourage holding, became fodder for talking heads.
Much of the reaction was overblown, but it generated debate and discussion.
But Giants fans should be careful about completely dismissing some of the skepticism raised by former players in the media. The outrage over minor disciplinary tactics may seem silly, but the former players have been in locker rooms, they understand the dynamics of the league and they have seen coaches lose teams.
I was speaking recently to a former NFL assistant who is now coaching in college and Judge came up. The coach offered the same warning as so many others: Judge better win.
“They’ll buy into it early,” the coach said. “But if you don’t have the results, they’re going to be like, ‘Eff you.’ They’ll shut you down in a minute.”
The point the coach and many of the former players have made is Judge needs to be himself rather than trying to be Bill Belichick. That shouldn’t be an issue. I’ve only known Judge for eight months, but from Day 1 he has been 100 percent authentic.
Obviously, some of Belichick’s methods rubbed off on Judge, but he’s not putting on an act. In some ways, it feels like Judge is less in Belichick’s shadow than that of the Patriots assistants who have flopped as head coaches.
But the failures of Eric Mangini, Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia don’t automatically doom Judge to the same fate. The advantage Judge may have over that trio is his communication skills.
Judge is extremely articulate and detail-oriented (it’s easy to see how he wowed the Giants in the interview process). He has stressed the importance of caring about his players and vowed never to lie to them. He can even mix in a bit of fun, as evidenced by his participation in a slip-and-slide fumble recovery drill at the end of Tuesday’s practice.
Show ’em how it’s done Coach Judge 😁 pic.twitter.com/mzlanDhlgd
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Judge seems to possess many of the qualities found in top coaches. But he also has a flawed roster that could have a rough season. If the Giants lose, the roster will likely be the biggest culprit, but his methods could get the lion’s share of the blame from outsiders.
2. All indications are that players are buying in, but their public comments don’t carry much weight. It’s highly unlikely that any player would get on a team-run Zoom call and blast the head coach. And it’s clear that the coaching extends beyond the practice field, as players have learned quickly to follow Judge’s lead in sharing minimal information about injuries.
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Along those lines, the COVID-19 restrictions on media access will be welcomed by coaches. Sure, reporters still have cell phones, but it’s not the same as walking around the locker room and making casual conversation. If there’s major discord behind the scenes, it will still get out. But it will be easier for teams to keep things in house than in a typical year.
Co-owner John Mara made an astute observation Thursday about why Judge is well-positioned to get players to buy in.
“It’s a fairly young team, so a lot of those guys don’t know any better,” Mara said. “They went through tough programs in college and I don’t think this is any great shock to their systems.”
It’s a candid and accurate assessment. There aren’t many players on the roster with enough of an NFL resume to bristle at Judge’s authoritative leadership.
It would have been a disaster if Judge inherited the roster Pat Shurmur did when he was hired in 2018. There were too many veterans with oversized personalities to fall in line. But the Giants’ young roster gives Judge a shot to keep the players on board.
3. If the Giants are poor at situational football, it won’t be for lack of preparation. Judge dedicated more practice time to situations than any coach I’ve ever seen. And I’m not just talking about two-minute offense or the red zone.
In Thursday’s scrimmage, quarterback Daniel Jones ran to the sideline to get the play call from offensive coordinator Jason Garrett before every play. Why? They were rehearsing how they’d handle having the coach-to-quarterback headset malfunction in a game.
The Giants practiced defending laterals on a kickoff at the end of the game (that’s something Judge knows is important from experience). They practiced fair-catching popped up kickoffs. There was no stone left unturned. Executing in those situations is the difference between winning and losing close games. The Giants will be prepared for whatever happens.
4. Another thing that should help the Giants in close games will be their conditioning. Practices are held at a fast pace with few breaks and they’re typically finished with wind sprints, which is unusual in the NFL. An individual close to a veteran player told me this was the hardest camp of his career because “they’re running all day long.”
5. The Giants tied for worst in the NFL in turnover differential last season. It would be surprising if they don’t improve significantly in that area based on the emphasis placed on preventing turnovers on offense and creating them on defense.
Now, coaching only goes so far. Daniel Jones needs to improve his ball security and an underwhelming secondary needs to produce some interceptions. But it’s not a coincidence that Judge is coming from a program that routinely finished among the league leaders in turnover differential. The work in practice should pay off on game day.
6. Judge drew plenty of attention for some of his unusual and physical drills. But he also introduced some that were especially practical.
I particularly liked a one-on-one blocking drill the team did multiple times throughout camp. There were three stations lined up across the field: An offensive lineman vs. a defensive lineman, a tight end vs. an outside linebacker and a wide receiver vs. a defensive back.
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A ball carrier ran toward the two players at an angle and then cut upfield as he approached them. The goal was simple: The blocker tried to seal the defensive player from getting to the ball carrier, while the defender tried to shed the blocker to make the tackle.
Naturally, the drill ran rapid fire with the next station starting as soon as the previous one finished. It seemed particularly useful for evaluating receivers as blockers, which is an important trait that doesn’t get much attention from casual observers.
7. When the Giants signed a handful of fringe players late in training camp, I assumed they’d make the 53-man roster because there wasn’t enough practice time for them to make an impression. I figured the Giants were just getting a jump on the post-cut day waiver claims.
Maybe that will be the case — we’ll find out soon enough, as the Giants need to cut their roster to 53 players by 4 p.m. on Saturday. But I’m also wondering if they signed players late in camp so those players would be through the COVID-19 testing entry process before Week 1.
The NFL rule is that street free agents must produce three consecutive negative tests over three days before they can join team activities. Players who are traded, claimed off waivers or signed a day after being cut elsewhere must produce two consecutive negative tests over two days.
So a player like wide receiver Johnny Holton, who was signed on Wednesday, may make the 53-man roster. More likely, he’s headed to the practice squad. But since he’s through the COVID-19 screening process, he could get cut on Saturday, re-sign to the practice squad on Sunday and participate in team activities on Monday.
8. Another player who fits into that category is long snapper Carson Tinker. The Giants are set with Casey Kreiter as their long snapper, but it would be advisable to carry Tinker on the practice squad in case Kreiter ever tests positive for COVID-19 too close to a game to allow the Giants to get another long snapper cleared.
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It makes sense to carry a hybrid kicker/punter on the practice squad for the same reason. Carrying a player who can handle both duties would save a spot on the expanded 16-man practice squad for a position player.
The Giants could turn to the CFL, which canceled its season due to COVID-19, since players in that league often handle kicking and punting duties. The Giants had one such player, Austin Rehkow, in for a tryout this week.
The challenges posed by COVID-19 are going to force teams to get more creative than ever before in roster construction. It will be interesting to see how teams vary in their approaches.
9. That lengthy onboarding process made decisions even more stressful for free agents during training camp. If a player accepted a tryout invitation from a team, that meant flying to that city, spending three days in a hotel and then working out after the third negative test.
It was a four-day commitment with no guarantee of a contract at the end of the process. And the logistics limited opportunities. If a player started the process with Team A on Monday and then got a tryout offer from Team B on Tuesday, he’d finish with Team A. If Team A didn’t offer a contract, Team B likely would have moved on by the time the player was available again.
10. My hunch that too much was being made of all of Judge’s supposed “cross-training” proved to be accurate. The starting offensive linemen never took a snap at another position in team periods all camp, aside from one day when left tackle Andrew Thomas and second-team right tackle Matt Peart switched roles. Otherwise, players exclusively played their primary positions.
There was frequent shifting on defense, however. It was less about cross-training and more about personnel changes. The Giants are going to throw out a ton of different packages defensively, with players’ roles varying week-to-week based on the game plan.
11. Expect to see plenty of starters on special teams. And I’m not talking about returners. That’s a given. The Giants used wide receiver Golden Tate and safety Jabrill Peppers plenty as punt returners last season, and Judge never shied away from using top receiver Julian Edelman as a returner in New England.
The Giants will have certain players, like Nate Ebner and Sean Chandler, who play every special teams snap. But don’t be surprised to see prominent offensive and defensive players more involved in the kicking game than usual.
12. The Giants were in pads for 10 of their 16 practices during camp. By comparison, they were in pads for 14 of 21 camp practices last year. Of course, the big difference was that the team had four preseason games last year.
13. Mara explained his stance on players kneeling during the national anthem.
“My preference is everybody stand,” Mara said. “But if you decide that in your conscience you think taking a knee is the right thing to do, I’m going to support your right to do that because I believe in the First Amendment and I believe in the right of people, especially players, to take a knee in silent protest if that’s what they want to do.”
14. Mara wasn’t interested in discussing hypotheticals about players sitting out a game in protest of social injustices, as happened last week in the NBA and Major League Baseball. He said his focus is on communicating with players and finding ways to make an impact in the community.
Obviously the decision to protest (or not) is complicated and there’s no “right” answer. But the Giants’ scrimmage last Friday presented a case for playing.
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The team had lengthy discussions about their next steps leading up to the scrimmage as teams around the league canceled practices. The Giants chose to proceed because they didn’t want to rob young players of a valuable opportunity in an already limited preseason.
Outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter was the star of the scrimmage, recording three sacks and a forced fumble. Naturally, reporters wanted to speak to Carter. Instead of discussing his performance, Carter delivered passionate and compelling commentary on the issues facing the Black community.
The reality is no one would have heard Carter’s message if he hadn’t performed on the field. Maybe players will determine that not playing will make a greater impact. But in terms of using their platform to amplify their message, Carter is an example of the upside to playing.
(Top photo: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)
