Giants Training Camp Practice Report Day 5

Joe Judge offers praise on young players plus he answers a burning question regarding whether the offense or defense is ahead after four practices.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Jul 31, 2021 8:41 PM EDT

One of the challenges of being on the outside looking in can be to determine if the offense is ahead of the defense or vice versa during training camp.

Well, for the first few days of camp, the offense has been inconsistent on plays it should be otherwise making. But if head coach Joe Judge is concerned, he's not letting on.

"I think we all have plenty to work on right now," he said. "So in terms of the who’s ahead of someone one way or another, I’m watching tape every day and just looking at what corrections we have to make, what we have to improve on, what fundamentals need to be honed in and how our conditioning is as a team."

"In terms of who’s ahead, offense or defense, that’s going to go back forth at different times day-to-day. To me, it’s not some kind of assessment or status of the team of who’s winning, offense or defense. To me, it’s about getting everybody on the same page."

At least a couple of times, we at Giants Country have noted how second-year inside linebacker Carter Coughlin has flashed at an increasing rate in his filling in for Blake Martinez.

Head coach Judge also has taken note of Coughlin's progress.

"Carter has flashed pretty positively these first few days," Judge said. "Being a new position for Carter, we understand that there’s going to be a learning curve at times, but one thing he does is he plays aggressive, and he plays instinctual, and he puts himself in position to be competitive on every practice.

"So we’re just looking for constant improvement from him day by day, but so far everything that (Linebackers Coach) Kevin (Sherrer) has asked him to do as an inside or outside linebacker, he’s embracing."

Judge also revealed that last year the intention was to play Coughlin more as an inside linebacker, but Coughlin received snaps on the edge because of injuries to the edge rushers. This coming season Coughlin can still expect to see some snaps on the edge in specific packages.

"He still has some outside responsibilities as well based on the package and call we’re in," Judge said.

Another young player making an early case for a roster spot is cornerback Rodarius Williams, the second of the Giants' two sixth-round draft picks this year.

Williams is competing for a roster spot in what's become a very crowded defensive backs room. James Bradberry, Adoree' Jackson, Darnay Holmes, and Aaron Robinson are all penciled in to make the 53-man roster, which leaves Williams in competition with guys like Madre harper, Isaac Yiadom, Jarren Williams, and Sam Beal.

So far, though, the reviews on Williams, the older brother of Browns cornerback Greedy Williams, have been glowing.

"He’s got a lot of instincts, he’s got good size and length, shows good speed," said Judge. "He’s got good instincts for the ball and shows good hands, so he’s a guy that’s shown up positively in a lot of practices as far as getting his hands on the ball."

Like all the rookies, Williams is far from being a finished product as he continues to learn the Giants' schemes, but there is undoubtedly one thing that the young man has shown that has impressed Judge.

"One thing he does do that’s positive is he learns not only from his own mistakes, he learns from the other guys’ mistakes, too. When you’re sitting in the meetings, it’s important not to go ahead and repeat a mistake that someone else got corrected on," he said.

(For more from the day at camp, be sure to check out the video at the top of the page.)