Giants end the spring portion of their offseason
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants concluded their spring workout program on Wednesday with the second day of mandatory minicamp.
The best story of the spring
This has nothing to do with football, but I have to share it. Tommy DeVito and Jaxson Dart are young NFL quarterbacks and eligible bachelors. The two have spent time this spring bonding by watching the television reality show ‘Love Island,’ and have even discussed being participants.
“Me and Jaxson might go on ‘Love Island.’ We’ve talked about it,” DeVito said, admitting that the two young quarterbacks have watched the show together.
“I can’t say we do it every night, but from time to time when we get an off day we watch it, we talk about it,” DeVito said.
I am an old man who knows nothing about the show, but if you are a ‘Love Island’ fan, feel free to discuss.
Now, back to football
The Giants held a light workout that lasted a bit more than an hour on Wednesday. The team portions were all 7-on-7 work with starters taking few, if any, reps.
- Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart had an interesting day. His first session was a red zone one inside the 10-yard line. It went touchdown to Lil’Jordan Humphrey, touchdown to Montrell Washington, interception by safety Raheem Layne, touchdown to Dalen Cambre. Later, Dart threw a deep ball that bounced off the helmet of a defensive back and was intercepted by safety Dane Belton. That was Belton’s fourth interception of the spring.
- Cambre, the undrafted free agent knows as a special teams player, continued to flash receiving skills. He caught red zone touchdown passes fro Dart and starting quarterback Russell Wilson on Wednesday.
Injury stuff
Aside from the addition of wide receiver Jalin Hyatt, who suffered some type of leg injury on Tuesday, the list of players not practicing looked familiar. It included:
Left tackle Andrew Thomas (Lisfranc surgery rehab), wide receiver Malik Nabers (toe), safety Anthony Johnson (shoulder), edge Victor Dimukeje (pec), running back Cam Skatebo, defensive tackle Darius Alexander, linebacker Bobby Okereke, linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles and tight end Chris Manhertz.
I have never seen this before
Giants’ punt returners did a drill where they were holding a tennis ball. As they prepared to catch punts from Jamie Gillan, they flipped the tennis ball in the air, caught the punt and then tried to also catch the tennis ball. More often than not, the tennis ball fell to the turf in the field house during the indoor practice.
Training camp
Daboll said the tentative plan is for players to report for training camp on July 22. That would make Wednesday, July 23 the first training camp practice.
Finally …
The time between the end of the spring program and the beginning of training camp is a nervous one for NFL front offices and coaching staffs. They have no control over the players for the next few weeks, and more often than not any news they get is bad news.
So, what message is Daboll sending his team into summer with?
“First and foremost, what we accomplished in the OTAs and phase one, phase two and phase three, which we put a lot of good work in, we can’t lose that in the next 30 days,” Daboll said. “In terms of our physical abilities, our techniques, our training methods, we have to come back. When training camp hits, I don’t have much tolerance for mistakes during training camp.
“The season is getting close, so we have to be prepared mentally, and we have to be prepared physically, then we have to make good choices and decisions outside of the building. They’re used to a routine for the last three months and you have to represent yourself and the organization the right way.”
