New York Giants Training Camp Week 2: Reflections on a Wild and Crazy Week

It was an interesting week, to say the least, for the New York Giants, who wrapped up their second week of training camp. Some thoughts and reflections on the week that was.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Aug 8, 2021 8:00 AM EDT

After a whirlwind six days of training camp, the New York Giants are taking a much-needed breather ahead of what will be an even more intense week culminating in their first preseason game on Saturday.

So as we all sit back and catch our breath from a week that saw three retirements in four days, some frustrating showings by the offense, and a ruckus among teammates that brought out a very scary side of head coach Joe Judge, let's reflect on some of the bigger picture items that emerged.

Daniel, Don't Be A Hero

Remember that catchy little tune from Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods called Billy, Don't be a Hero?

Well, when things got ugly for the New York Giants Tuesday via a bench-clearing ruckus and out from under the pile emerged Daniel Jones, I couldn't help but have the chorus, "Billy, don't be a hero, don't be a fool with your life" run through my head.

Daniel Jones is still trying to walk that fine line between being one of the boys and being smart. He seemed to brush aside his involvement in the whole ugly episode, and when asked why he took part, he said. "I’m part of the team and part of the offense and we’re competing. So I don’t see myself separated from that."

Look, I love the competitive spirit Jones has, as it reminds me so much of Phil Simms and Eli Manning, without question two of the greatest quarterbacks in Giants franchise history in the post-AFL-NFL merger era.

But there's a very fine line between being competitive and trying to be a hero and being smart.

And I'm sorry, when Jones somehow ends up in a pile of teammates involved in a skirmish--at the bottom of the pile no less--that's just not smart.

It was as smart as Jones trying to rush himself back from a hamstring injury last year only to find that he couldn't move as well as he thought he could.

The outcome saw him getting another injury that was so bad that even head coach Joe Judge admitted months later that most guys might have landed on season-ending injured reserve.

Daniel Jones doesn't need to prove he's tough. Playing the position tells you all you need to know about his toughness and the fact that he's playing in one of the most critical and largest media markets in the country--and that alone isn't' for the faint of heart.

What Jones needs to prove is that he can be a game-winner--and he's not going to be able to do that if he doesn't begin to exercise better judgment when it comes to intentionally keeping himself out of harm's way.

The Retirement Club

So long as there are jobs to be had, there will eventually be retirements. But when one organization--the Giants in this case-- has three retirements in four days, then something must be up, right?

Not necessarily. The three players in question--Joe Looney, Todd Davis, and Zach Fulton--simply realized that their hearts weren't in it anymore, and they didn't want to go through the motions of collecting a paycheck and depriving a younger, hungrier player of an opportunity to earn his keep in the NFL.

Now some might say that the wind sprints and penalty laps and yelling might have pushed those guys over the edge, that perhaps the feeling was the treatment they received was akin to being treated like an undisciplined child.

It isn't, and if you put yourself in the shoes of these guys for a moment, you'll see why. First, they were looking at starting over with a new team in a new city.

While that might not be a big deal for a younger player, for an older guy to have to move his family, like Looney, Fulton, and Davis would have had to do, being 100% of where your heart is is even more critical.

For Fulton, who recently welcomed a child and who launched a business to help keep himself and his family afloat after his NFL career, it might have boiled down to those priorities taking a seat ahead of football.

So congratulations to those players on their retirements. They paid their dues, earned their pensions, and have every right to go out of the game on their terms and be at peace with their respective decisions.

Receiver Worries?

I recently received a Twitter Tuesday question for an upcoming episode of the Locked On Giants podcast (spoiler alert: the show is expanding to YouTube this week), and I thought I'd also address it here.

What position group other than the offensive line was I most concerned with?

I initially was going to go with the edge rushers, but that was too easy.

Instead, I went with--wait for it!--the receivers.

Yes, the receivers.

I believe that if this receiving corps is healthy and available for the duration of the season, it's going to be one of the top groups in the league. That said, a little bit of history has me holding my breath.

Kenny Golladay, as we all know, is coming off the season-ending hip injury. He's also now dealing with a hamstring strain that, while not sounding serious, is still one of the trickiest injuries to come back from because of its sometimes deceptive nature.

Sterling Shepard spent the off-season putting in the time to have his best season yet, but we also know that he's had a bit of an injury history since entering the NFL, as has John Ross.

Then there is Kadarius Toney and his recent bout with COVID. The Giants have done everything possible to play it safe with Toney by bringing him back at a slow but steady pace from the virus.

While the hope is that Toney doesn't have any lingering side effects from the virus, if the last year has taught us anything, its' that the virus has affected people differently, including highly conditioned athletes.

Now the good news is that the Giants are loaded at receiver. They legitimately have a fully stocked group of different skill sets and abilities from which to choose.

But they won't be able to keep them all and those they do keep, well let's hope that nothing major pops up to cost any of them missed games as that would not be a good thing for a Giants offense looking to climb from the bottom of the league into at least a respectable ranking int he year ahead.

Giants Youngsters Getting a Chance

I've been on the beat long enough to remember when head coach Tom Coughlin had a thing about playing young players right out of the chute.

Quite frankly, I never agreed with that philosophy, especially when rookie contracts were so short. So I'm glad that current head coach Joe Judge, whom some say is a Coughlin clone with a new-era twist, doesn't prescribe to that philosophy.

There is something to be said about letting the kids play, as general manager Dave Gettleman once said when speaking of the offensive line. At some point, you have to have trust your coaching to where you have a comfort level to put the kids out there in the deep end of the pool without a lifesaver and see if they sink or swim.

That's how you build depth by finding out what you have in the kids and mixing them in with the starters.

Just look at rookie cornerback Rodarius Williams, the last of the Giants' 2021 draft picks this year, who has been on fire this week with his play with the first-string defense.

How much better do you think Judge and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham will feel knowing that as Williams continues gaining experience by delivering quality reps, they'll have another option to mix into an already loaded defensive backfield.

A lot.

Forbes Releases Its List of the NFL's Most Valuable Franchises

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was good news on the revenue front in the NFL circles.

In its recently released list of the top-ranked most valuable NFL franchises, Forbes has all the details, but you can get the main points, including where the Giants finished in the ranking, in the video at the top of the page.