Live Updates: New York Giants OTA #6 Practice and Media Sessions

The New York Giants are about to hold their sixth OTA today at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center, the OTA being open to the media.

While there will be the unusual questions about who shows up for the voluntary practice and who doesn’t, as well as how the various lineups continue to be deployed, if there is one thing that has emerged from the OTAs that should have Giants fans excited it’s the level of execution that new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson is demanding of his players.

Giants in-house media member John Schmeelk, in his Thursday OTA practice report (that practice was not open to the independent media) dropped this interesting nugget which spoke volumes.

“Despite all the great plays by the defense, defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson was locked in on the details on every play.

“If a player missed an assignment, he was on them immediately. If substitutions were not sharp, people heard about.

“Even if a player made a great play earlier in practice, if he made a mistake a couple plays later, he was pulled off the field.”

We don’t know about you, but that is music to our ears.

How many times last season did the Giants defense look disorganized? How many times were mistakes made? How many games were blown because the defense couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain?

Too many.

That is why Wilson, who per the New York Post told players that he’s not here to be their friend but to do a job.”

It’s about time. Last season, besides the breakdowns (many of which were a result of coaching), the Giants defense vastly underplayed despite the talent it had, finishing 28th overall, 31st against the run, and 16th against the pass.

Situationally speaking wasn’t much better for the Giants. The defense finished with the 25th worst interception rate, 27th in first downs allowed, 25th in the red zone, and 22nd in point differential.

To be clear the defense wasn’t the sole problem behind a 4-12 record, but it was a big one. So kudos to Wilson who, as he installs the different looks and packages demands perfection from a unit who better start getting used to it if it aspires to be part of a postseason team.

Follow along with our live blog

AS the Giants take the field today for their sixth OTA. You can follow all the action right here in our live blog which will feature observations, videos and of course post-practice coverage starting at noon ET. (Practice is set to start at approximately 12:15.)

Then be sure to check back later for more complete coverage from the post-practice media sessions.

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