Tag Archives: OTAs

The Giants held their final Organized Team Activity before next week’s mini-camp (Tues-Thurs) this morning.

It lasted about an hour.  What did you expect? There’s only so much you can get done at these OTAs. It’s Friday, too….

According to the beat reporters on hand (Tom Rock, Mike Garafolo, Pat Traina, Ralph Vacchiano) DEs Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora were not in attendance.  Don’t read too much into that, they probably cleared it with Coach Tom beforehand.

S Kenny Philips continued to run individual drills on the sidelines. Today he was joined by LB Michael Boley, who apparently has a hamstring issue. Not to worry, as long as its not his knee….

Former Giant WR and Super Bowl XLII hero David Tyree was in attendance.  He reportedly is looking for a job, but in all likelihood, his playing days are over.  Tyree told me several weeks ago he would only come back if the right offer presented itself.  I guess it hasn’t.

Best wishes to Jenny Vrentas of the Star Ledger who has been on the Giants beat for the past several years.  Jenny will become the Ledger’s Jets beat writer this year.  Hope she’s ready to do a lot more writing….

Tagged New York Giants, New York Giants News, Osi Umenyiora, OTAs |

Shockey Hospitalized After “Seizure”

Former Giants’ All-Pro TE Jeremy Shockey was taken to the hospital yesterday after suffering what doctors are calling a “seizure”.

Shockey, 29, was in the Saints’ weight room at their headquarters in Metarie, LA  when he told teammates he felt ‘light-headed’.

“It was scary,” teammate Darren Sharper said. “We didn’t know what was going on.”

The hulking tight end appears to be OK now, although he remains hospitalized.  “I am O.K.,” Shockey said via Twitter. “Thanks to everyone who has shown their concern. Don’t worry about me. I will be fine.”

Random Observations from OTAs

DE Osi Umenyiora did not participate due to a sore hip.  Not that this matters, but Osi missed five games in 2006 with a strained hip flexor…

OL Guy Whimper was in with the first unit at guard – at Rich Seubert’s usual spot.  This is Whimper’s last hurrah. If he craps out a guard, he’s done as a Giant….

Ramses Barden is being integrated into offense more and more.  He is happy to finally be participating and he knows he has to be more aggressive on special teams if he wants to get on the field more this year.

“Anywhere they feel I can be a threat,” he said. “We did some tackling drills the other day and that dummy didn’t get back up off the ground.”

The Giants’ next OTA is next Wednesday, June 2nd.

Tagged Jeremy Shockey, New York Giants, New York Giants News, OTAs |

Tagged Ahmad Bradshaw, Eli Manning, New York Giants, New York Giants News, OTAs, Ramses Barden |

The Giants completed their OTAs for the week yesterday at the Timex Performance Center.  There were several highlights.  Eli Manning looked fairly sharp completing passes to – brace yourselves - Ramses Barden and Travis Beckum (picutred).  Don’t read too much into that, but it was still nice to see those two finally out there producing.

Brandon Jacobs, coming off knee surgery showed the old burst of the Jacobs we have all come to know and love.  There were also safeties who appeared have a clue.  Both free-agent signees Antrel Rolle and Deon Grant handled themselves like a couple of old pros (which Grant just happens to be)

There will be three OTAs next week – Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Coughlin Post-Practice Presser

Q: How much is your defense going to change from what it was last year?

A: It will change somewhat, but the basis of the defense will remain the same. It will be the Giant defense.

Q: How do you go about restoring the identity of being a tough-nosed defensive team?

A: Practice tough; play tough. Get that mentality the way it should be. Stop the run. Run the ball. Those would be the ways you would indicate that.

Q: Do you usually instruct your team to run after these?

A: Depends. There is conditioning throughout. We conditioned the first practice of the week – not the second, we conditioned the third. Yes, we do some.

Q: Do you expect Kevin Boss to be ready for training camp?

A: Yes.

Q: That is why he is doing it now?

A: Yeah, that is why they are doing it now. He worked, he practiced two days.

Q: Is that related to what he was dealing with last year? I know he had a couple of ankle things last year.

A: I’m sure it is. The idea was to try to put him into the season without the pain – without that – on a weekly basis type stuff.

Q: Kevin Boothe – is he going to be able to get to training camp at all?

A: I don’t know. We’ll see. That is an extensive thing. I don’t see training camp, no.

Q: What are your thoughts on the secondary so far?

A: As I have watched them work individually, they have done a good job. There is definitely some pride back there – Antrel Rolle is kind of a take charge personality. So I like that aspect of it.

Q: More so than Deon Grant? He is louder than Grant?

A: Deon Grant has been good. I don’t judge – the ability factor is not going to be on how loud they are.

Q: Michael Johnson looked like he wasn’t working today.

A: He wasn’t. He has a quad strain.

Q: Ahmad Bradshaw was listed as not being able to work, but he was out there…

A: He can do some things. He is very restricted. But he can do some things.

Q: What is the prognosis on Kenny Phillips?

A: All I know is what they tell me. He is making progress. We’ll see.

Q: You don’t know whether he will —-?

A: I don’t know anything. I just know that he is running. He is happy, he is getting better. He feels good. There is no swelling. So those things are good.

Q: Have you had Jonathan Goff at work with the first team at middle linebacker?

A: All it is is that they are rotating in and out. They are all going to work. It is springtime and they are all going to get all kinds of work. It is not going to be any set anything.

Q: One of the guys who is new to that position is Gerris Wilkinson. How is he handling that?

A: He is anxious to have a chance to be in there.

Q: It seems like over the last couple of months every time you turn around you see something written about Rex Ryan or the Jets. Are you getting the feeling like you are being the ignored team around here?

A: Not at all, not at all.

Q: How about the rookies? Do they all look like they are equally acclimating? Do they all look confused?

A: You mean after a couple of days?

Q: Yeah.

A: They are all equally confused, yes. That is a good way to say it. You only have to tell them 15 times a day what exactly you are doing. When they were here for the weekend of minicamp it was 20.

Q: Are there any that are standing out in any way?

A: Sure. But I’m not singling any of them out right now.

RE: Andre Brown

A: He worked okay, yeah. He is okay. He has had a couple of setbacks this winter but by and large he is doing okay.

Q: Do you have to be careful with him?

A: They list him as limited but I think that by the time we get to camp hopefully that will be taken off.

Tagged New York Giants, OTAs, Tom Coughlin |

Boothe Out Four Months; Boss Needs Ankle Surgery

It wouldn’t be a day that ends in Y if we weren’t talking about Giant injuries.

OL Kevin Boothe will have surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle and will miss four months.  This means he won’t be participating in training camp, which means he could either get an injury settlement from the Giants or find himself on IR.  Either way, his 2010 season is not looking good.

TE Kevin Boss will have ankle surgery and miss approximately a month.  That means he won’t participate in mini-camp next month, but he should be ready for training camp in July. 

According to our colleague Michael Eisen at Giants.com, several players who were injured last year are back on the field, but some others are not.

Kenny Phillips and Ahmad Bradshaw are two of those players.  The Giants are hopeful about Phillips’ chances to return this year. They are taking him through his paces, but doing it gradually.

Bradshaw is still recovering from the multiple foot and ankle ailments that hobbled him- and the Giants’ running game – in 2009.

Also not on the field: Hakeem Nicks and Rocky Bernard.  Nicks has tremendous upside as we all know and is destined for stardom.

Bernard is slowly making himself expendable by his frequent absences.  Keep in mind, Jay Alford is back, Chris Canty is looking good, too.  The Giants also have two other DTs…some guy named Cofield and the mammoth rookie Linval Joseph, who may end up being a major steal in this draft….so Bernard may not be around come September….

Tagged Kevin Boss, New York Giants, OTAs |

OTAs Begin Today in East Rutherford

The Giants defense will be the main focus as the full team meets for the first time today since last year’s horrific collapse.

Perry Fewell, the new defensive coordinator, will attempt to repair – or better yet, rebuild – a defense that gave up a whopping 427 points last season.

He’ll have plenty of questions to answer, lots of holes to fill and dozens of candidates to work with.  All of the injured Giant defenders whose absence sunk the team’s ship last season will be in attendance: S Kenny Phillips; DTs Jay Alford and Chris Canty; DE Justin Tuck and Aaron Ross.

The porous safety situation has been addressed.

Gone are the inept C.C. Brown and Aaron Rouse; replaced by a returning Phillips, veteran free-agents Antrel Rolle and Deon Grant and rookie slammer Chad Jones.

The defensive line is back and ready to rock and rotate.  Justin Tuck has both arms again.  Jay Alford has both knees again.  Chris Canty is healthy and Barry Cofield and Osi Umenyiora’s ill feelings towards management have subsided.

Throw in Mathias Kiwanuka, rookies Jason Pierre-Paul and Linval Joseph and this group is potentially the among the league’s best.

The corners are now a veteran group.  If Ross can stay healthy, the Giants have a core group of him, Corey Webster and Terrell Thomas backed up by Bruce Johnson, D.J. Johsnon and Vince Anderson.

It is at linebacker where the Giants will be scrutinized the most by their critics.  The Giants have a good idea who will be their SAM backer (second-year pro Clint Sintim) and who will be the WILL backer (Michael Boley).  It is the MIKE or middle linebacker that is the real question mark.

It was evident to nearly every pundit, fan, bartender and bus driver that they needed to either select a MLB high in the draft or acquire one in free agency.

Many though the Giants would trade up to take Rolando McClain or select Missouri’s Sean Weatherspoon, but they opted for defensive lineman instead.

The two free agents that would have fit nicely – Kirk Morrison of Oakland and Tampa Bay’s Barrett Ruud, were both deemed too expensive to sign.

GM Jerry Reese waited until the fourth round to take Phillip Dillard of Nebraska.  Also drafted was a defensive end, Adrian Tracy of William and Mary, who translates into an outside linebacker.

Lee Campbell, a hard-hitting veteran of the Tampa 2 in his days at the University of Minnesota, was signed as an undrafted free agent.  After giving Kentucky’s Micah Johnson a tryout, he was signed as well.

The rest of the linebackers who hope to play the middle are already here:  Jonathan Goff, Bryan Kehl, Gerris Wilkinson, Chase Blackburn and Kenny Ingram.  None of these players has distinguished themselves in the limited times we’ve seen them.

Fewell will have success this season simply by keeping everyone healthy.  The most difficult aspect might be to find the right combination to make his new defense special.

Tagged New York Giants, OTAs, Perry Fewell |

The Giants officially released their off-season workout schedule today.

All mini-camps and OTAs (Organized Team Activities) will take place at the Timex Performance Center adjacent to the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

Mini-Camps

Rookies – April 30-May 2
All players – June 15-17

OTAs

May 18, 20-21, 24-25, 27
June 2, 4, 7-8, 10-11

Tagged Giants Mini-Camp, OTAs |