Flags Aplenty, Evan Neal Dinged, and More from Giants' Eighth Training Camp Practice

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Ever since it was revealed how last year, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll schemed to challenge quarterback Daniel Jones in every way possible by making things difficult for him to test his response time, questions have been flying around as to whether the head coach still takes that approach with other players.

Daboll, who has never denied the charge of creating adversity to test Jones, explained that the only way to test the strength of a tea bag is to dunk it in boiling water.

"Look, here’s what we do," he said. "We sit down as a staff (and) sometimes I sit down on my own and not let anybody know what’s going on, (and) see how they react, whether that’s a coach, whether that’s a player."

The adverse situations can range from putting excess pressure on a quarterback to having receivers purposely run the wrong way to having a missed block. Sometimes the adverse situations include knocking a player who thinks he's made progress in climbing the depth chart down a peg but replacing him in the lineup.

It's all part of a master grand scheme that fits within the Giants' mantra of "smart, tough, dependable," and the player response tells Daboll all he needs to know about what he has on the roster.

"All the substitutions and things we do in training camp are planned. Maybe it’s for a personnel matchup or to see a reaction. So, everything we do, we try to map out and plan the best way we can," Daboll said.

"This year is different than last year, but certainly, we have a lot of conversations. Sometimes I’ll just spring something on a coordinator in a certain situation or a player to see their reaction in a competitive situation. But every year’s different."

Injury Report/Lineup Notes

Right tackle Evan Neal suffered a concussion during the practice and walked off the field with a trainer. The Giants later confirmed Neal was in the league protocol. Matt Peart replaced him.

Rookie receiver Jalin Hyatt, who has displayed his speed this week, sat out the team part of the practice as a maintenance step. Defensive lineman Leonard Williams was given a second straight "maintenance" day, but unlike Thursday when he stayed inside the team's facility, Williams was outside on Friday during the practice.

Outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari also received a maintenance day. As part of his ramp-up, receiver Sterling Shepard was a spectator on Friday. Outside linebacker Jihad Ward participated in individual drills after missing several days with an undisclosed ailment.

Defensive lineman Ryder Anderson (triceps) didn't practice. Daboll said Anderson's injury wasn't something they anticipated would keep him out long-term.

Receiver Parris Campbell returned to practice after sitting out Thursday to rest his knee.

Roster Transactions

Receiver Jeff Smith (knee), who hasn't been able to practice the last several days due to a knee issue, was waived/injured by the team. His roster spot was filled by nose tackle Donovan Jeter, who played his college ball for Michigan.

Jeter originally signed with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and also has been with the Commanders. The Giants are a tad thin on the defensive line depth with Anderson sidelined and DJ Davidson and A'Shawn Robinson still on the PUP list.

Good to Know

Knowing there would be more one-on-one opportunities to watch between the offensive line and defensive line/linebackers, I asked Daboll if he and the coaches were looking to see how the players responded to being beaten.

"One-on-ones are really about fundamentals and techniques. It’s competitive all the time because it’s one-on-one, but it’s not real football," he said. "You’re trying to improve techniques and fundamentals.

"One-on-ones for an offensive lineman are hard. One-on-ones for defensive backs against receivers are hard, but you’re trying to improve techniques (and) fundamentals.

"You go back, you watch them, you coach, but that’s really what one-on-ones are for: the individual technique part of it. Who gets beat and who doesn't get beat-- that’s going to happen all the time. You know it’s more skewed toward one side of the ball, particularly in certain drills, but you need to do them to improve your techniques."

Okay, so what about a 7-on-7 or a team drill?

"Just move on to the next play. It’s going to happen; it’s football," he said. "You’re going to have a bad call as a coach, a bad decision, or a bad play as a player. It’s about the next play, so our next-play mentality is important."

Keeping that in mind, I focused on right tackle Evan Neal's one-on-one reps. Neal still plays a little high at times, which is to be expected given he's 6-foot-7, but he's also doing a much better job of not bending at the waist and thus giving up his leverage.

"I think Evan’s done a good job," Daboll said when someone asked about his technique. "He’s improved, he’s got the right mindset, and we’ll just grind along with him."

Quote of the Day

"Could be both." --Rookie center John Michael Schmitz, when asked whose blood was on his uniform pants leg.

Practice Observations

The Giants were in full pads on Friday. Here are a few takeaways and observations.

• Overall, it was a sloppy practice, with flags flying everywhere, particularly against the defense. The officials working the practice didn't signal what they were calling or who it was against. Some of the more blatant penalties included Darrian Beavers grabbing onto Saquon Barkley's jersey as he tried t pull him to the ground, safety Jason Pinnock getting flagged for taunting, and a few flags in which the defensive front jumped early. Suffice it to say that DAboll was not happy with the sloppiness, and he let the players know about it--loudly at that.

• Speaking of Saquon, the running back had been lined up wide on the play in which Beavers grabbed his jersey. We've seen many plays with Saquon split out wide so far this camp, so it will be interesting to see if the coaches keep that going into the season.

• The Wildcat made its triumphant return. Barkley took the direct snap from center and then scurried into the end zone to break the ice in the team drills.

• I thought the run defense did a nice job shutting down the Giants running game. Daniel Jones did manage to outrun Oshane Ximines (in for Azeez Ojulari, who was getting a rest day) around the edge. Still, for the most part, there was nothing to be had when running between the tackles, as Bobby Okereke and Micah McFadden were busy filling lanes.

• Daboll was not happy when the defense failed to get lined up correctly in time, which forced a timeout. At this point in camp, you'd like to think that the mental errors have dissipated enough to where they're no longer an issue, but in this practice, they were.

• Carter Coughlin, who is fighting for what could be the last roster spot at inside linebacker, made a heads-up grab of a Tyrod Taylor pass that fellow linebacker Cam Brown tipped.

• Ben Bredeson is quietly having himself a nice camp. Bredeson is probably one of those guys Daboll was talking about when he mentioned throwing adversity their way, as every day and even within the practice, Bredeson is asked to play a different position. In his one-on-one reps, he showed a feisty side by latching onto the defender, who initially started to push him backward and then violently shaking the defender off him.

• Matt Peart, getting first-team reps at right tackle when Evan Neal had to leave with a concussion, had, what I thought, was a mixed bag. In the one-on-one reps, Peart did a nice job staying as low as he could with his pads, but on the team drills, his pads rose a few times to where he was either slow off the snap or just couldn't get his man fully blocked.

On one team snap, Peart looked like he was trying to cut his man (Tashawn Bower), only to be left whiffing at the air as Bower avoided him and got into the backfield for pressure.

• Another practice, another botched center-quarterback snap. Not sure who was at fault on this last one, but Daboll wasn't happy.

• Kayvon Thibodeau easily won one of his matchups against Evan NEal in the one-on-ones.

• Also showing a feisty side was rookie center John Michael Schmitz, who finished off his one-on-one blocks with a little shove at the end.

• Parris Campbell took a few snaps lined up from the backfield. It sure does look like that will be a keeper in the playbook.

• Good job by Collin Johnson to find the handle on a touchdown pass thrown by Tyrod Taylor. Johnson initially bobbled the ball, but his catch was ruled complete by the officials.

• We're seeing a lot of blitzing coming in from the defensive secondary thus far in this camp, most of those blitzes getting home. That's something to watch moving forward, especially for those who still question whether the Giants have enough pass rushers at outside linebacker.

• Tremon Green had a nice breakup of a pass intended for Bryce Ford-Wheaton to end the team drills. 

What's Next?

The Giants have a padded practice set for Saturday night at 5 p.m. It will be the last practice open to the public this year. The team is off on Sunday and will have a short practice Monday before leaving for Detroit for their joint practices with the Lions.

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