Sorry this is a little late, but I was at the press conference announcing the Giants partnership with Timex. Anyway, here are some notes from the morning practice.
Not working today were Rocky Bernard, David Tyree, Chase Blackburn, Taye Biddle, Kevin Dockery, Corey Webster, Fred Robbins, Barry Cofield, Sinorice Moss, Clint Sintim, Lee Vickers, Travis Beckum, Anthony Bryant, Will Beatty and Andre Brown. Moss, as I mentioned in an earlier note, is going to miss the rest of mini camp with a hamstring issue. Not sure what Dockery’s injury was, but he did say he’ll be back and that Giants fans can look forward to seeing him make plays this summer.
* Going on to the 11-on-11 drills, Eli Manning handed off to Brandon Jacobs, who took it outside and beat Michael Boley and Michael Johnson, who were hot in pursuit.
* Domenik Hixon did a nice job of fighting off a slight jam and beating double coverage to make a catch despite having Kenny Phillips breathing down his back.
* David Carr rolled out and connected with Derek Hagan, who did a perfect job of slowing down and adjusting his route to come back for the ball. The pass went for bout 30 yards.
* Good job by Ramses Barden to make a catch on a comeback route. He adjusted perfectly to the ball that was whipped to him by Andre Woodson.
* Free agent RB Allen Patrick, who at times showed some quickness and burst, didn’t look so quick on an outside run. Facing a wall of defenders, he suddenly began to look jittery as he tried to find an opening.
* Woodson threw a deep wobbler to Shaun Bodiford, who made the reception along the sideline for a 45-yard gain.
* Beautiful leaping catch by TE George Wrighster, who came up with a 20 yard gain despite traffic.
* In a seven-on-seven drill, David Carr’spass intended for Wrighster was tipped by Gerris Wilkinson. However, Ahmad Bradshaw came down with the reception, greeted by cheer from his teammates.
* Domenik Hixon looked like an all-Pro on a 45-yard fly pattern in which he split the coverage of Aaron Ross and Kenny Phillipsand made the reception. Hixon picked up about 15 yards after the catch for what was an impressive play in the series.
* Great job by Ramses Bardenwho made a diving catch to hang onto a ball for a 20-yard gain. Barden’s long body really helped him out here as he initially overran the route and had to dive to keep the ball from hitting the ground.
* Back to 11-on-11s. Nice job by Zak DeOssie on a pass thrown to Michael Matthews to limit the tight end from picking up a large gain.
* Ahmad Bradshaw looked a little awkward on a cutback. I couldn’t tell if his feet came out from under him or if he was tripped up though.
* David Carr picked up about eight yards on a keeper which fooled half the defense. A couple of plays later, Carr misfired on a pass intended for Hakeem Nicks who had Antonio Pierce breathing down his back.
* Oops! Terrell Thomas was guilty of pass interference as he didn’t turn around when defending a pass thrown by Andre Woodson that was intended for Nicks.
* Michael Matthews nearly dropped a pass that was right in his hands. You could hear the ball hit his hands with a loud thump.
* Leger Douzable didn’t earn any points with the coaches when he jumped off side and forced the play to be whistled dead.
* Beautiful pass by Rhett Bomar to Hakeem Nicks as Sha’reff Rashad tried to swat it away. The reception went for close to 50 yards.
* Moving onto the red zone drills, which to my eyes were very sloppy from an offensive perspective, the only plays of note were a Bradshaw run behind a Madison Hedgecock lead “block” and a “sack” by Osi Umenyiora, who beat Orrin Thompson.
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I mentioned the Timex presser I was at. As part of that presser, I was able to pick up a few tidbits of interest about the new stadium. Giants CEO John Mara said that the stadium is set to open in April 2010 with a lacrosse event. He also said they were hopeful of having some concerts at the venue leading up to football.
When asked about the future of training camp in Albany, he was non-committal, saying hat they in the organization needed to sit down to discuss it. Among the concerns they have is whether their new grass fields will be able to hold up for training camp plus the season.
Mara did not rule out a return to Albany next year, noting that once they as an organization had an idea of what they wanted to do, they’d meet with the school’s officials. Some likely scenarios could include spending a week or even half of camp at Albany and then moving back to their New Jersey headquarters to finish out camp.
My vote, if anyone cares, is to have camp in New Jersey.
Yeah, it means some long days and some likely problematic commuting, but if it also means that I can sleep in my own bed at night and cook my own meals, I’m all for that.
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A couple of quick notes. I’ll have the afternoon practice report early this evening. I also hope to get another player feature online tonight – not sure who it’s going to be on a I have several tapes just waiting to be transcribed and written, but I’ll work on that tonight from home as we will be finishing up practice here a little earlier than we did yesterday.
Also, Inside Football subscribers can look for the longer report which will combine the morning and afternoon practices this evening.
Lastly, the Giants will have one final practice, tomorrow morning. After that, I imagine that the veterans will burn rubber to get out of here as they start their summer vacation while the rookies will hang around for an additional week.
