There really isn't much difference between practices at OTAs and those at minicamp. The players still are not in full pads, the workouts are structured just about the same way, and the goal is the same.
"It's really just an expansion of the offseason program," Giants head coach Ben McAdoo said.
The glaring change now that the Giants advance from one stage of that program to the next, though, is in the expectation of attendance. OTAs are voluntary. Players are not required to attend, and while most have shown up for all 10 of them ending with Friday's, some have decided to do their training elsewhere as is their right.
On Tuesday, that right gets rescinded.
Mandatory minicamp begins then, and it will be the first time star players who have not been with the team much for the past few weeks _ a list headlined by Odell Beckham Jr. _ will be contractually required to show up.
All eyes, of course, will be looking to see if number 13 honors that mandate.
Beckham told NFL Network several weeks ago that he planned to attend the minicamp, and despite a report on ESPN that Beckham's absence from OTAs has been an angle to get a contract extension, there has been no formal word from him or his camp regarding motives for training in California rather than East Rutherford. He, or anyone else, can be fined by the Giants for not showing up next week.
Participation, of course, is another matter. Some players have sidestepped the fines by being physically with the team but refusing to go on the field. No one really knows for sure what Beckham will do if and when he shows up for work for the first time in almost a month.
"I'm not talking about attendance," McAdoo said.
On Tuesday, one way or another, he'll likely have to.
