New York Giants Begin OTAs

Phase 3 of the voluntary off-season is here, but how many Giants players will attend in person?

Phase 3 of the NFL off-season program is underway, a four-week period in which the offense will be allowed to work against the defense, albeit in non-contact drills. According to the NFL CBA, teams may hold up to 10 OTAs with the on-field work limited to two hours per OTA session.

The OTAs, however, are voluntary, and with the NFLPA having encouraged its membership base to skip the voluntary workouts due to ongoing health and safety concerns related to the continuing global pandemic. However, with the rollout of vaccines to help reduce the COVID-19 spread, there are sure to be some players who will ignore the recommendation of the union and put in an appearance for all or at least part of the scheduled OTAs.

According to head coach Joe Judge, the Giants had perfect attendance at their rookie minicamp, who confirmed that all six draft picks, the three undrafted free agents, and the rest of the players eligible to attend the rookie minicamp did so. But as far as the OTAs were concerned, Judge, who is aware of the recommendation by the union to its members to skip the workouts, said it’s full steam ahead as far as the coaches are concerned.

“Obviously it's a voluntary period so we are going to work with every player we can whether it's virtual or in-person,” Judge said at the end of the rookie minicamp. “So obviously whoever is here we'll coach in person, whoever is virtual for the meetings we'll work with them virtually. Some guys will be doing both.”

The Giants’ OTA workouts are May 24-25, May 27, June 2-4, June 14-15. They will hold their mandatory minicamp June 8-10. Media access to the OTAs will be Thursday of this week and on Friday, June 4. The media is also expected to have access to the mandatory minicamp.

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