Giants’ minicamp takeaways, Day 1: What we learned from practice

The Giants have one more workout until they break for the summer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants held their first of two mandatory minicamp practices on Tuesday. Here is some of what we saw.

Jalin Hyatt leaves early

Third-year wide receiver Jalin Hyatt left early in practice on Tuesday with an apparent leg injury. Ending the spring that way puts a damper on what has been a good offseason for Hyatt.

Quarterback Russell Wilson has been consistent in his praise of Hyatt, who has had a disappointing first two seasons with the Giants, this spring. He was again on Tuesday.

“He’s made some great plays,” Wilson said. “I think that the biggest thing is just consistency that I can bring to him every day.

“I have all the belief in Jalin and who he’s going to be and what he’s going to mean to us.”

Wide receivers coach Mike Groh also praised Hyatt’s spring.

“He’s attacked every single day with the right attitude, the right energy” Groh said. “He’s been accountable for anything that may have been a mistake on his part, he owns up to it very readily, and he doesn’t get down on himself.

“Usually that pays dividends in the end.”

Groh said “the play strength and weight that he’s added is only going to benefit” Hyatt this season.

Best guess is we won’t see Hyatt on the field Wednesday when the Giants complete minicamp.

Not practicing

We don’t get injury reports from the team at this time of year. The list of Giants who are rehabbing or dealing with something and not practicing includes:

Left tackle Andrew Thomas (offseason Lisfranc surgery), linebacker Bobby Okereke, rookie defensive tackle Darius Alexander, rookie running back Cam Skattebo, wide receiver Malik Nabers (toe), and tight end Chris Manhertz.

As he has in other practices, Nabers appeared briefly on the field and jumped into the huddle to listen to play calls from Wilson. Otherwise, he was a non-participant.

We have seen little of Alexander and Skattebo this spring, rookies who have now missed valuable reps.

Offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo tried to minimize any concerns about Thomas, saying “we’re happy to see him whenever he gets out there.”

“He’s doing a good job of rehabbing and getting close to getting back out there,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “He’s doing everything you can do to get better.”

Daboll did say every player on the roster was in attendance.

Dart’s day

Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart is always a player of interest, and he had an interesting day on Tuesday.

Dart actually did not receive any reps during the first of three 11-on-11 periods the Giants conducted during a workout of about an hour and 45 minutes.

He looked a bit uncertain in his first 11-on-11 series, taking a sack, throwing a ball into the ground under pressure and completing just one of three passes.

Dart was better in his second and final series, going 6 of 7 and completing a nice fade pass of about 20 or so yards to Dalen Cambre for a touchdown.

Daboll said that Dart has been “excellent” this spring.

“The true test will be once we start live hitting and preseason games and things like that, but he’s progressed,” Daboll said.

Other quarterbacks (all numbers unofficial):

• Russell Wilson was 9 of 14 with three touchdown passes, all in red zone work, and an interception when he overthrew a receiver and defensive back Art Green swooped in to grab the ball.
• Jameis Winston was 7 of 12 with a couple of red zone touchdown passes.
• Tommy DeVito was 1 of 2 in his only session.

Undrafted wide receivers impress

A couple of undrafted wide receivers took advantage of Nabers not practicing and Hyatt leaving practice early.

• Beaux Collins, out of Notre Dame, got first-team reps. He saw the ball come his way quite a bit and had a touchdown catch on a pass from Wilson. He nearly had one on a throw from Dart, but was ruled out of bounds.
• Dalen Cambre also got some first-team reps. In one session with Winston at quarterback, Cambre caught passes on three consecutive plays.

Evan Neal update

Because, of course, we have to.

Neal played both right and left guard during practice, the first time media has seen him anywhere other than right guard this spring.

Bricillo said Neal is “doing well so far” at his new position.

“Excited to see what happens when we put pads on, but he’s embraced it, we’ve embraced it, it’s been good so far,” Bricillo said.

One liners

• Deonte Banks and Cor’Dale Flott split first-team reps at cornerback opposite Paulson Adebo.
• Jon Runyan Jr., who did not participate in team drills in earlier practices open to media, was at left guard with the first team for a number of reps.
• Graham Gano was 4 of 4 and Jude McAtamney 3 of 3 on field goal attempts. Distances were impossible to gauge as the kickers were on the opposite end of the field from media during the indoor workout.
• We saw rookie No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter work on the edge, off the ball and at defensive tackle in pass rush packages. He did have a sack of Wilson during the final 11-on-11 period.
• Fifth-round pick Marcus Mbow played right tackle with the backups, but did slot in for a pair of first-team reps at left tackle.