Run-Heavy, Cards, and More from Giants' Tuesday's Practice

East Rutherford, NJ: With exactly a week to go before NFL rosters must be trimmed to 53 men, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll was about as blunt as he could be regarding the August 29 roster cutdown date.

"To be completely honest, cutdown day sucks," Daboll said. "It does because you develop relationships with players, you see how hard they work, and to bring a player up to your office and let them know that we’re going in a different direction or they didn’t make the team, you get a lot of different reactions and I completely understand it. They’ve laid everything they have on the line, and it’s a sports business, but it’s a people business. If you have relationships with people, that’s not easy. It’s not easy for me."

Daboll noted that every player takes the news differently and that all he can do is hope that his approach, which centers on transparency, takes some of the sting out of the rejection.

"Look, they’re human, so you know that as it gets closer to a cutdown date, I’m sure some players feel that way," he said. "You just try to be open and honest with everybody. The team is not cut down yet. There are plenty of opportunities for people to show what they can do, particularly in this last game. Again, empathy goes a long way."

There's an even bigger challenge for the coaching staff in trying to decide on guys that have been banged up and hence have missed chunks of the preseason.

"It’s just by past performance if we’ve had them or what we’ve seen out of them up to this point whether that’s through OTA’s, through training camp – if they can’t go, they can’t go," he said.

"So certainly, a lot of discussion about those types of players that haven’t been out there, so you have to kind of project a little bit, and some of them you have experience with, some of them are new players, so a lot of discussions.

Injury Report

Tyre Phillips (leg) returned on a limited basis. Defensive lineman Leonard Williams, who got gassed toward the end of Monday's practice, and receiver Sterling Shepard got veteran rest days.

Those still not practicing include offensive lineman Jack Anderson, receiver Cole Beasley, running back Gary Brightwell, tight end Tommy Sweeney, linebacker Cam Brown, defensive lineman Ryder Anderson, cornerback Nick McCloud, safety Jason Pinnock, and cornerback Cor'Dale Flott.

Wan'Dale Robinson Runs

There's still no timeline for when second-year receiver Wan'Dale Robinson will be removed from the PUP list. Still, in an encouraging sign on Tuesday, Robinson, who hadn't done much in terms of running and cutting this summer, did so while the rest of the team was going through individual drills. 

General manager Joe Schoen had expressed optimism that Robinson might be coming off the PUP list some nine months after he had ACL surgery sooner than later.

Head coach Brian Daboll has continued to insist there's no timeline regarding when Robinson might return. Still, it will be interesting to see if he does get removed from PUP before the initial 53-man roster needs to be set next week and, if he does, how that affects who the Giants keep at receiver.

Quote of the Day

"He's smart, isn't he?" -- Head coach Brian Daboll on assistant general manager Brandon Brown, who spoke to the media on Monday.

Observations

The Giants were in pads for perhaps the final time this preseason, and mixed in with the pads were cards, which we usually don't see until the week's final practice before a game. Regardless, there was a heavy focus on the running game and run defense, so let's get into a few takeaways.

ILB Bobby Okereke was off on the sideline during special teams drills, having grabbed an assistant coach to work with him on ball-stripping drills. The assistant would simulate a ball carrier, and Okereke tried different angles to knock the ball out of the coach's hands. Okereke has been doing a lot of that extra one-on-one work with an assistant coach during special teas, so hopefully, it pays off.

Tyrod Taylor connected with Jalin Hyatt on a deep bomb along the far sideline for a touchdown. Hyatt, who beat Amani Oruwarite and Alex Cook on the play, continues to impress with his ability to put at least three or more yards between him and the nearest defender.

Tre Hawkings, who has been all about that sticky coverage all summer, knocked away a pass intended for Jamison Crowder.

Adoree' Jackson, who at one point on the sideline was coaching up Deonte Banks on fighting off a receiver's jam, broke up a Daniel Jones pass intended for Darus Slayton. Later on, Jones connected with Slayton for a touchdown on a slant.

Kayvon Thibodeau continues to practice with a purpose, recording yet another sack on an outside rush against the first-team offensive line.

Speaking of the first-team offensive line, Mark Glowinski worked again at left guard in this practice. At this point, either the coaches don't know what they will do regarding the starting interior o-line, or they are trying to get different guys as much experience as possible at multiple positions in the event of injury.

The Giants did more running plays today, taking advantage of the full pads. Saquon Barkley had a couple of nice runs to the outside, but rushing attempts up the middle didn't succeed as much. One encouraging thing was how the defense came swarming to the ball carrier like men possessed, doing a nice job of filling holes and forcing runners to change direction.

Speaking of running backs, Eric Gray doesn't appear to be getting as many rushing reps as he was earlier in the camp. This doesn't mean he's in jeopardy of not making the roster, but it's pretty clear the coaches want him to win the returner job, where they will have him focus this year.

On the flip side, this has opened things up for Jashaun Corbin, who has quietly had a solid summer and could very well edge Gary Brightwell out for a roster spot.

Dane Belton got reps with the first-team defense with Jason Pinnock out and did a nice job, all things considered. Pinnock's leg issue is "day-to-day," according to Daboll.

And speaking of first-team reps, Micah McFadden was ILB2, receivers Jamison Crowder and Collin Johnson got first-team reps, and defensive lineman D.J. Davidson, back off the PUP list, saw some snaps with the first team defense in place of Leonard Williams (veteran's rest day).

Darren Waller continued to dazzle, making contested catches, outrunning defenders, and finding ways to get open. His catch radius is impressive, and his chemistry with Daniel Jones is a sight. Waller made a pretty juggling catch on a ball thrown by Jones and with Adoree' Jackson trying to swat it away.

Up Next

The Giants will practice again Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday's practice will likely be in shells, and Thursday's will likely be a full cards affair.

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