Giants Camp Live: First Padded Practice Puts Tackling — and Harbaugh's Approach — to the Test

The Giants strap on pads for the first time under John Harbaugh, with tackling technique — and the team's biggest 2025 weakness — squarely in focus.

Jul 30, 2026; White Sulphur Springs, WV, USA; New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh speaks to the media after practice at training camp at The Greenbrier Resort Sports Performance Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Things are about to get real at The Greenbrier.

The New York Giants, fresh off a day of rest, will don the pads for the first time under new head coach John Harbaugh, with the practice tempo and intensity expected to increase starting with Monday’s 1-hour, 45-minute session that begins at 1:30 p.m.

“It'll be a very similar practice. It'll just change the tempo of the period,” Harbaugh said when asked how the padded version of his practices would vary from the non-padded ones.

That statement is telling because the tempo of the practices thus far, dating back to the spring, has been much faster, with very little downtime between sessions.

The practices will also become more physical with live contact now being permitted. That’s important for a team that last year had its share of adventures when it came to tackling.  

The Giants allowed opponents to average 5.2 yards per play before a tackle was made. That put Big Blue’s defense 28th in the league.

“Without the pads, you're not wrapping,” Harbaugh said. “We’re not going to be tackling to the ground on Monday. We’ll be doing what we call ‘wrap and release.’ We're trying to stop the ball carrier if we can on defense and get the pads behind us on offense.”

The coaches will be able to gain a better evaluation of the trench play where, up until this point, the defense, as is usually the case, has been mostly dominating the offense.  

“I’m sure inside will be a little more physical than it is out here without the shoulder pads. It just ramps up just a little bit. But other than that, everything will be the same,” Harbaugh said.

The other major benefit is that quarterback Jaxson Dart, who has been getting used to working more under center, should be able to develop a better feel for the pass rush and make better decisions when in the face of pressure.

Readers can follow the day’s events with our live blog below. Please note, however, that while there is no live tweeting allowed during the practice, the live blog will continue to run throughout the post-practice media sessions, of which Harbaugh is scheduled to speak at approximately 3:30 p.m. and the players at approximately 3:45 p.m.

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