The Day at Camp | August 5 Photos and Observations
It's not quite football just yet, but Giants head coach Joe Judge has been overall pleased with the progress the Giants have made during the ramp-up period, which consists of strength and conditioning and walkthroughs.
"I see a lot of energy in coming in and improving on a daily basis and that’s increased from Day 1," Judge told reporters during a video conference call Wednesday.
"It’s day by day. We’ve got to stack them together, I say that every day. I see that with our guys every meeting, every walkthrough, every session. That’s all I can ask for from them right now."
The walkthroughs, which right now are limited to 60 minutes per day, are currently closed to the media, but Judge described them as "a slower version" of practice.
"We start off in individual and we just group them with their position coaches. We want to work obviously at a much slower pace, a more controlled pace with the fundamentals that we’re teaching to give them a chance to walkthrough at a slow pace," he explained.
"They get to go on the field the next day during our conditioning and agility periods and operate those drills at full speed. We get to teach them, and they get to carry them out. We build some group time where we combine multiple position groups and get them to work.
"We do have a limited amount of team reps at the end just to get 22 on the field at the same time. Really the biggest emphasis on that is communication. We can’t go at full tempo. We don’t want to expose our players to injury or something they are not ready for. It’s a teaching phase that we’re in right now."
Here are some photos from the workout, provided courtesy of Giants.com.
Judge wants the players to keep their collective foot on the gas.
"There’s an urgency to improve, there’s an urgency to learn," he said. "We have a lot of guys reaching out to coaches on their own for help. We have players in meeting rooms doing extra. That’s important, and that has to sustain over the test of time. A few days together doesn’t solve all our problems.
"As far as a starting point, I am very pleased with where we are going. We just have to be diligent with the day by day process of coming in with good energy, being attentive, and making sure we learn and then can execute at an improving level on a daily basis."
Observations
Disclaimer: It's tricky to tell much from a still picture, but here are some observations I've noticed after looking through two days' worth of photos as provided by the team.
- I see a lot of cross-training on fundamental drills going on between offense and defense. By that, I mean you see the defensive backs running some of the same agility drills as the receivers and vice versa. Joe Judge hasn't been shy about stressing the importance of the fundamentals, and so far, the on-field workouts are reflecting that.
- The running backs are doing a drill I don't remember seeing before. They're not only being asked to carry two balls in either hand (and take note how they're carrying the ball high and tight in each hand) but new running backs coach Burton Burns has the players running under some bars to encourage them to stay low to the ground. Again, fundamentals, folks.
- Linebacker Cam Brown is a big dude--you can see the length in his frame. Like all rookies, he could probably get by with some additional bulk, but he reminds me of a young Mathias Kiwanuka, who also had that length. I wouldn't be surprised if Brown, with what appears to be a long wingspan, has a few knock-downs this year.
- Lorenzo Carter looks even bigger in the upper body than I remember from last year. Will it pay off this year for him?
- Receiver Derrick Dillon looks to have some good size, at least based on what I could see in the one picture that captured him from the waist up. He doesn't have a thin frame like some receivers coming out of college, and I'm wondering if maybe he might be an option as possession guy for this team? Something definitely to watch.
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