Revealing One of Joe Judge's Biggest Challenges Ahead of Training Camp

Giants head coach Joe Judge has any number of schedules ready to go for whenever he receives the green light from the NFL regarding opening training camp.

With the league insisting that it plans to have its season start on time, that would mean training camps, scheduled to begin late next month, would also have to start on time.

However, there has been some talk that the league might cut the four-game preseason schedule in half to allow for more extended acclimation periods for the players, who did not.

While he did not disclose any details of the schedules he has waiting on his desk, regardless of what he does end up putting into play, Judge said he’s not going to put the players at risk.

“We have to put the players in a position where they can come in, and they can learn to execute the schemes on the field and practice,” Judge told Giants Country this week.

“But we also have to give the opportunity to just put them through the football movements on the grass and have the awareness to keep them healthy. We have to push them. We have to practice hard, and we have to condition at the same time.”

That part about practicing hard while conditioning is important to Judge, who can ill-afford to hit the ground running only to have key players end up with soft tissue injuries.

Judge remembers how in 2011, the year of the lockout in which off-season activities weren’t held when the players did return, there were more soft tissue injuries early in training camp, and sounds like a man who has learned from that experience.

“We have to be smart as coaches to make sure that we give the players the opportunity to acclimate and put their bodies in a position that they can compete,” he said. “After we feel that’s been accomplished, then we have to infuse competition in everything we do.”

A sign outside the main entry gate of the Quest Diagnostics Training Center, the Giants team headquarters in East Rutherford, New Jersey, advises anyone who has been outside of the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut in the last 14 days may not be permitted onto the property.

While five days might ordinarily be enough for players to re-acclimate to football movements, as Judge noted, the players haven’t all necessarily been going through a uniformed training.

He also confirmed that the team didn't track the players' workouts, a decision that could end up biting the Giants later on unless they have a plan that allows them to assess where each athlete is in his conditioning.

Between the mandatory acclimation period and some additional days which can be gained if the league does eliminate two preseason games, Judge could use the time for a refresher on the schemes before putting them to the test against live competition.

Assuming it’s built-in, the extra acclimation time would allow for another desired benefit: the chance for Judge and his staff to strengthen the camaraderie with the players that began to develop virtually but which can only be enhanced through in-person interaction.

“Absolutely,” he said when asked if strengthening those bonds would be a challenge. “In terms of, you know, getting them to buy in, every time we're in front of the players, we have to let them understand what we're about. We need to be very clear in our messaging. We have to let them understand what the culture of the program is going to be about as well.

"We can never get in front of the players and be unprepared or unprofessional. You're gonna lose the guys immediately at that point. So I think as coaches, we have to do a better job when we get them in person of putting them in a position that we can properly evaluate them in a short period.”