The third week of training camp and the first preseason game have officially come and gone, meaning there are just two and half weeks left of summer practices and slightly less than a month until the first regular season game for the New York Giants.
Week 3 of camp was a little less eventful for the Giants than the first two, having largely avoided big-time injuries and suspensions, while limiting camp fights and keeping everyone focused.
Here’s a look at nine things we’ve learned over the past seven days:
Daniel Jones is a gamer
Daniel Jones has had some anticipated ups and downs as a rookie, but far more ups than downs over the first few weeks of camp.
Then came a Thursday night preseason game against the New York Jets.
In his one series, Jones was dominant, completing all five of his passes for 67 yards and an impressive touchdown to wide receiver Bennie Fowler, where the rookie caught the safety snoozing and made him pay.
It wasn’t a perfect performance, as outlined by head coach Pat Shurmur, but it was certainly more impressive than any of the other first-round quarterbacks and far more impressive than the many Jones critics expected.
The future looks bright with Jones.
Eli Manning having his best camp ever?
While Eli Manning played just one unimpressive series against the Jets, his practice work has been nothing short of remarkable.
The long-time veteran has been nearly flawless over the first three weeks of training camp, displaying notably improved arm strength and accuracy, and a dominance in the intermediate game.
However, one of the big concerns plaguing Manning early this summer was his effectiveness on the deep ball, which seemed to be the only thing alluding him. But that changed this past week, as Eli seemed to focus a greater emphasis on making plays down the field.
As part of that push to throw the ball down the field, Manning has created an impressive rapport with wide receiver Cody Latimer, who seems to be on the end of most deep passes.
If Manning can round that part of his game into shape come Week 1 of the regular season, there’s no telling how good this offense can be.
There’s still no QB competition
Despite Jones’ near-flawless NFL debut against the Jets and Manning’s obvious struggles in his one series, head coach Pat Shurmur says nothing has changed. Literally nothing — there is no quarterback competition.
“Listen, we’re not going to play the ‘what ifs,’ and I would say this: nothing has changed. This is the first game and I expect Daniel to play well, I expect him to go out and improve, and for the people that don’t know him, impress them. That’s what we expect from him. We expect that from Eli, we expect that from everybody. So our expectations for him have not changed, and in my mind our situation hasn’t changed,” head coach Pat Shurmur told our reporters.
If that weren’t blunt enough, Shurmur added: “Manning is our starter.”
We’ll see if the “no quarterback competition” angle persists should Jones continue to dominate.
Giants are in serious trouble is Saquon goes down
It seems like an obvious statement to suggest the Giants would struggle without running back Saquon Barkley, but that became especially evident against the New York Jets.
With Barkley sitting out, Wayne Gallman, Paul Perkins, Rod Smith and Jonathan Hilliman all had the chance to step up and stake claim to the No. 2 spot, but none did.
Perkins struggled mightily in almost every conceivable aspect, while Hilliman was lost to a concussion and Gallman and Smith combined for just 25 yards on 11 carries.
It was an exceptionally poor showing by the Giants’ running backs and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Barkley is not only an offensive key, but the glue that holds the entire offense together.
Jake Carlock, Ryan Connelly appear here to stay
Two undrafted rookie free agents once thought to be outside shots to make the team’s 53-man roster, Jake Carlock and Ryan Connelly now appear to be locked into a spot.
Yes, it’s still early and a lot can change, but from practice to the Jets game, Carlock and Connolly consistently make their presence felt on and off the field. They are loved by their teammates and their respective grittiness is why.
Both Carlock and Connelly are considered under-sized or a little on the slow side for the NFL, but their relentless motors and fearlessness on the field has seemingly made up for that.
Carlock had a tip-drill pick-6 and a sack against the Jets, while Connelly flew around sideline-to-sideline, violently collapsing running lanes and throwing caution to the wind. It was hard not to notice both.
After the game, Carlock received a special shout-out from head coach Pat Shurmur, while Connelly has caught the attention of national writers for his violent approach to the game.
Expect to see much more of these two.
Mike Francesa out at Giants camp
After ripping the Giants repeatedly this offseason, calling the team “clowns” and implying Corey Ballentine was somehow a bad character for being shot at random, there was an obvious falling about between the organization and WFAN host Mike Francesa.
Even Eli Manning declined to join Francesa’s show this year — something Francesa claims stemmed from Manning’s uncertainty about playing time.
Well, that all came to a head early last week when Francesa declined an invite from the Giants and promised interviews with co-owner John Mara and head coach Pat Shurmur, but not general manager Dave Gettleman.
The Giants weren’t interested in joining Francesa’s pity party.
As of now, plans haven’t changed and WFAN will not be broadcasting from camp.
Dave Gettleman still doesn’t care what you think
Giants general manager Dave Gettleman has been reluctant to open up about the criticism he’s faced from former players and the media alike, repeatedly shutting down the Giants beat when Odell is brought up.
However, for a brief and fleeting moment, Gettleman finally addressed the trade with Sports Illustrated.
“Here’s what I’d say,” Gettleman told Sports Illustrated. “I handled it professionally and with complete respect. What more can I do?
“I can’t be responsible for the way people characterize things that happened. Because you know what? It’s the way they saw it. It’s what they feel. You can’t argue with emotions.”
Asked more directly if he cares what any players, media personality of fan thinks about his style of managed, Gettleman scoffed.
“I’m not saying this from an arrogant place, I’m just saying that I’ve been around enough successful teams and I’ve seen the way they’re built. And to a degree I know what it looks, smells and tastes like. I have confidence in myself. I have confidence in the organization, and Pat and his staff, the scouting staffs. I have tremendous confidence in ownership,” Gettleman said. “It’s almost like … you’re asking me if I’m being penalized because I’m confident in my skills.”
No matter how much chirping occurs, Gettleman simply doesn’t care.
Landon Collins is still talking about Giants
Not a single week has gone by this spring/summer without a former member of the Giants taking aim at the team, but that distinction has primarily fallen to wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and safety Landon Collins.
Somewhat surprisingly, Beckham has quieted down recently, but the same can not be said for Collins.
Less than a week after he threatened to “run over” Dave Gettleman on the sidelines prior to a Giants-Redskins game, drawing ire from the league, Collins was back at it again, talking about how much aggression he’s going to unload on Big Blue.
“For me, it’s going to be a lot of aggression,” Collins told reporters. “When I go to those types of games, I go to my college times. I was from Louisiana and I was playing LSU [while at Alabama]. So just being able to keep my composure as much as possible, keep my emotions in check and play within my defense.
“When you go against a team that you have some aggression against, you want to let some self-esteem out. You want to pick your times and pick your moments to do that. You got to be able to control it at the end of the day because it could hurt the team more than it could help. From that standpoint, I just got to keep the emotions under control.”
Yawn.
Giants may have something in T.J. Jones
Lost in the commotion of everything else going on in camp, the Giants signed veteran receiver and Golden Tate friend, T.J. Jones, to help replenish the team’s depth at the receiver position.
Initially, the transaction seemed like a throw-away, but Jones clearly had another idea.
In both practice and against the Jets, the savvy Jones has made his presence felt, hauling in impressive catches, running crisp routes and getting the playbook down at lightning speed.
Jones led the Giants with six receptions on six targets for 72 yards and a touchdown in their first preseason game.
“He did a very nice job. He’s a young player but experienced. When he was out there playing, it was obvious that he knew what to do. He obviously has the ability to make plays,” head coach Pat Shurmur told reporters. “We worked him out, and we certainly had a good grade on him in our pro system. So, when we worked him out, and at that point we were needy at wideout because we had some injuries, we brought him in.”
Expect Jones to carve out a role for himself in 2019 and not just be an afterthought.
