Giants Headed for the Hill During Practice With Patriots

And now "the hill" could be making its way to East Rutherford in the future

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Aug 27, 2021 10:00 AM EDT

During their joint practices with the Patriots, the Giants were seen headed for the hills a couple of times.

No, not those hills. Instead, the Giants players were introduced to the famous New England Patriots' Hill, sometimes known as "Mount Belichick.

The hill--two hills at the south end of the practice field, one being 20 yards long and steep and the other 60 yards long with a gradual incline--has been a Belichick staple to help players with conditioning and, at times, with expelling excess energy.

Giants head coach Joe Judge, who spent several years in New England and may have taken advantage of what the hill had to offer himself, introduced his players to the hill during the team's two-day joint practice stint up in Foxborough.

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What did the players think of the hill?

"It’s different," tight end Evan Engram said after running the hill in 90-plus degree weather. "I had a hill in pee wee days that we used to run after practice, so that was going down memory lane a little bit, but it was good work."

“It’s a different way to condition,” added quarterback Daniel Jones, adding, “It was good--yeah, a lot of fun.”

But seriously, despite having to run the hill in scorching heat and humidity, the intent of Judge wasn't to punish his players. Judge is intent on having every player optimize his conditioning, so that come late in the games, no one is dragging trying to keep up with the action.

"I think it’s great," said inside linebacker Blake Martinez. "I think it’s one of those things – you never really get that hamstring work and all those extra components that kind of builds that callous and makes you ready to go when you only have to run on a flat surface."

Whether the Giants players were being polite about their host's provided accommodations or sincere (or a combination of both), anyone who thinks they've seen the last of the concept might be in for a surprise as Judge reportedly wants a version of the hill at the Giants’ training facility by next year.