EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Tuesday’s joint practice against the New York Jets was not a great one for the New York Giants’ offense. Wednesday was not dominant by any stretch of the imagination, but the Giants did have some success.
The offense continued to be without wide receiver Malik Nabers and running back Cam Skattebo, but wide receiver Jalin Hyatt and guard Evan Neal returned to practice.
Alignment notes
The Giants usually work players who miss practice time back into action slowly. That did not seem to be the case with Neal on Wednesday. He went right back to splitting time with Greg Van Roten at right guard with the first team, and worked a significant amount of time with the second unit at left guard. Neal also took one-on-one reps against the Jets’ defensive line.
At wide receiver, Beaux Collins, Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Gunner Olszewski got some first-team reps with Nabers sidelined and Hyatt returning from whatever ailment has kept him out of recent practices.
At tight end, Greg Dulcich got lots of extra work with Chris Manhertz sitting out.
At quarterback, Jameis Winston and Tommy DeVito rotated series with the third unit.
Jake Kubas worked quite a bit as the second-team center.
Quarterback stats
These are all, of course, unofficial.
- Russell Wilson: 8 of 11, 2 TDs
- Jaxson Dart: 4 of 7, 1 TD
- Jameis Winston: 1 of 2, 1 TD
- Tommy Devito: 1 of 1
Related
Passing attack
After not being able to generate much down the field during Tuesday’s practice, the Giants made a concerted effort to do so on Wednesday.
- Winston hit undrafted free agent wide receiver Dalen Cambre for a long touchdown on what appeared to be a blown coverage by the Jets.
- Wilson lofted a moon ball in the direction of Collins, but it fell incomplete with Collins unable to shake free of cornerback Brandon Stephens.
- Dart tossed deep shots in the directions of both Cambre and Collins, each of which fell incomplete.
Wilson hit Dulcich for a touchdown of roughly 20 yards on a seam route. His other touchdown pass came in a third-and-goal situation at the 3-yard line, a quick strike to Olszewski at the goal line.
Dart’s touchdown was to Collins. That was again roughly 20 yards, and appeared to be another coverage bust by the Jets.
Running game
The Giants made an effort throughout practice to establish a physical tone and run the ball. Except for back-to-back productive runs by Tyrone Tracy, the second of which ended in a scrum involving Jon Runyan and Greg Van Roten of the Giants, and Will McDonald and Qwan’tez Stiggers of the Jets, they did not have much success.
What did work was a surprise element — what appeared to be the read option quarterback keeper in the red zone. Wilson scored on one from about 15 yards out, and Dart got a touchdown on a run of about 12 yards.
One-minute drill
Practice ended with each team getting a possession from roughly their own 25-yard line. Reporters were on the opposite end of the field, so the exact yard line is a guess. The idea was to see if you could move into scoring position in that time.
Wilson completed all four of his passes, but they went for short gains. The Giants also committed a false start during the sequence. They ended up with a Jude McAtamney field goal attempt that appeared to come from 55-60 yards. It fell well short.
1-on-1: Giants’ OL vs. Jets’ DL
- Neal had reps against Derrick Nnadi and Jay Tufele that he won. The impressive thing is that even if Neal gets pushed back a bit, once he sets his feet into the ground and anchors, a play is over. A defender is not getting through his massive frame.
- Mbow was beaten on an inside move by Will McDonald, but did well otherwise.
- John Michael Schmitz got pushed deep into the backfield on one rep by Payton Page.
- Jake Kubas ended up on the ground after getting bullied by Phidarian Mathis.
- There was a good bit of two-on-two and three-on-three involving stunts and twists. Neal and left tackle Josh Ezeudu did a nice job passing off one stunt. Greg Van Roten and Mbow successfully passed off another.
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