INJURIES
Add Kenny Phillips (knee) and LB Antonio Pierce (foot) to the rehab area.
OG Chris Snee (knee) whom head coach Tom Coughlin said earlier today had some swelling in his injured knee, and CB Aaron Ross (hamstring) who said he was at 80 percent, did individuals. Both are probably not going to play on Saturday in Chicago.
DE Dave Tollefson reportedly suffered dehydration and had to be carted off for an IV. DE Justin Tuck (foot) was unable to finish the practice.
CC Brown played for Phillips. Also, DT Rocky Bernard (hamstring) did some limited work after being cleared today to come off NFI. He looked good in his first action back.
PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS
* Eli has arrived! The Giants multimillion-dollar man had one of his best practices of the summer, hitting every receiver in stride and nailing the deep balls. We think all that work he did with his receivers in the spring is starting to pay off. Some of the gems include:
-- Sinorice Moss separating from Michael Johnson, putting a nice little move to break free from the defender.
-- Darcy Johnson hauling in a deep ball and beating Corey Webster, back from his hip ailment, for the ball.
-- Mario Manningham catching a perfectly thrown deep pass in the two-minute offense. Manningham, by the way, has come a long way from last year when he looked lost out there.
* In other plays, Derek Hagan, who had a quiet preseason debut, continued his practice prowess by making a great leaping catch against DeAndre Wright in early practice one-on-one drills.
* Kevin Boss channeled David Tyree’s Super Bowl magic by making a spectacular catch against his helmet. Nice going there kiddo!
* Speaking of the Super Bowl hero, he had an ugly drop along the sidelines. Probably everyone in the world is rooting for Tyree, but he has not been consistent in practice and with all these young receivers breathing down his neck, the clock is starting to tick louder.
* PK Lawrence Tynes went three for four, missing from about 35 yards, his longest attempt. The kick was wide right. Tynes is 25-30 for this camp.
* Back on the field for the first time since, well since we can recall, DT Rocky Bernard recorded two sacks right out of the chute, looking no worse for the wear with his hamstring ailment.
* Kevin Dockery picked off Rhett Bomar on a ball that sailed through Taye Biddle’s hands. Gotta make that catch there, fella!
* Stoney Woodson was burned by Ramses Barden on a pass down the middle thrown by André
Woodson. Woodson has been another player who has looked decent in practices but who hasn’t been able to translate that onto the field of play so far.
* Bruce Johnson appeared to pick off David Carr but the play was ruled incomplete. Carr, by the way, hasn’t always looked sharp in practices, but he’s stepped up on the playing field.
* Kevin Dockery nearly had his second interception of the evening but the ball hit him in the facemask.
* No botched snaps by Adam Koets. Let’s hope he’s finally turned the corner and that the coaches no longer have to worry about the backup center spot.
LEFTOVER QUOTES (FROM PAT TRAINA)
We mentioned in an earlier report that Pat Traina had some leftover stuff from Monday night’s game, so the following are some remaining tidbits from her post game notebook.
In the preseason opener against Carolina, there were a couple of players whose performances stood out that I wanted to catch up with after the game. The first was RB Danny Ware, who finished with 12 carries for 21 yards but who led the team in pass receiving with two catches for 43 yards and a touchdown. Noting that his per yard carry was a bit down, I asked Ware if there was a specific set of running plays that we have yet to see that would better emphasize his strengths.
“I like the zone schemes because I like to cut it up field and get it north and south. When we get the defense flowing fast and running past the ball, it’s just easy to cut it up field and get a few yards.”
Noting how running backs have pass protection responsibilities first, I asked Ware to asses show he did with handling the blitz, which was limited in the preseason opener. “I did pretty week,” he said. “One time they brought a WIL at me and tried to shake me up a little bit, but I picked him up pretty good. I stood in there and hit him straight down the middle. It was good to get a little work at that because once the season comes along, there’s going to be bullets flying everywhere and you want to be prepared.”
Another player I was interested in hearing from was rookie OT Will Beatty, who took snaps at both tackle spots. Beatty has at least a year ahead of him to fully complete his transition from college to the pros, but he’s off to a good start.
“It was a little faster,” he said of his debut, adding, “the biggest thing I had to get used to was not having a coach on the field to talk me through things. That’s something I’ve had since I got here, but I adjusted well and I think I did a good job figuring out some things. It was a good learning experience and it gave me a lot of time to play.”
Having gone against his own teammates throughout the spring and summer, I asked Beatty if he became too accustomed to what he saw from his teammates and if that was an advantage or disadvantage. “There are certain techniques that everyone uses on defense, but you’re right, ideally you want to zero in on your opponent by watching film and picking up those little nuances that make his game unique.
“Since this was our first game, the film wasn’t there. For the Chicago game, we’re going to get to see film and I think once you have that element into your preparation, it’s going to really make more sense to me because I can take what I see on film and then look at my teammates and say, ‘OK, this guy’s footwork is similar to the guy I’m facing in the game, and as a result, this move should work against him.’”
COMING UP
Tomorrow the Giants will have a jog-thru from 8:55 - 9:55 and then a full practice at 2:35. Friday, 8/21 is a travel day, and Saturday, 8/22 will be their road game at Chicago. After a day off on Sunday, 8/23, the team will have a practice on Monday, 8/24 at 2:35 and then on Tuesday, 8/25, they will break camp and move everything back to the TPC.
-- Reported by Jim Murphy
