News

Mar 06, 2024

Giants finally get the pads on, and it feels so good

When Brian Daboll was the offensive coordinator in Buffalo, it became abundantly clear that he would be a head coach someday. There were coaches in Daboll’s past who likely saw the signs before that.

When Brian Daboll was the offensive coordinator in Buffalo, it became abundantly clear that he would be a head coach someday.

There were coaches in Daboll’s past who likely saw the signs before that. But his work in Buffalo sealed the deal and landed him in East Rutherford.

These days, the Giants seem to mirror the team Daboll always imagined leading – relying on player-driven leadership, empowering players to reach their potential, and on having rules, but not an abundance of them.

On Tuesday evening, we saw another example of that when the Giants were in pads for the first time during this training camp.

The practice featured a lot of what Daboll hoped to see: Teammates competing on the practice field and doing so responsibly.

No coach wants to see injuries in training camp.

“I don’t want to fight in practice,” Daboll said. “To me, it’s undisciplined, it’s 15-yard penalties. I understand that it’s a competitive situation, but you can’t do it in the games, so being able to maintain your composure and be disciplined, I think, is important. With that being said, I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a camp where there wasn’t [a fight], but certainly that’s something that we don’t want to do.”

There were no fights on Tuesday evening. Wednesday may have been a welcome day off for some Giants. They’ll be back on the practice field Thursday.

“It felt great [to be in pads],” Leonard Williams told Giants.com after the practice. “Even though it’s still time to focus on your technique and fundamentals, it’s my first time having a full uniform on since we broke after last season. That’s always a great feeling. I can feel a high energy in the locker room and on the field amongst everybody. There’s always a little competition when the pads come on.”

Said tackle Andrew Thomas: “It’s real football. Other days we are just working, trying to work technique and hands and footwork the best that we can. But the realistic part of the game is we are going to have shoulder pads and helmets on. I love it.”

The intensity was ratcheted up with the pads on. So was the playmaking.

Sixth-round rookie Tre Hawkins broke up a deep ball to fellow rookie Jalin Hyatt. Just getting close enough to make that play against the speedy Hyatt bodes well for Hawkins.

Fellow rookie and first-round draft pick Deonte Banks had a “sack” on a blitz.

A shotgun snap from rookie center John Michael Schmitz sailed through Daniel Jones’ hands.

The best competition of the day was between Darren Waller and safety Xavier McKinney, who broke up a pass intended for the tight end. That matchup will be fun to watch through training camp.

“He’s 6-6, runs a 4.4 [forty], has great hands, can run routes like a regular wideout, can run all the routes,” McKinney said of the challenge. “Pretty much can do everything. Being as big as he is, you don’t see guys that big that can move like that. So, it makes him real special.”

McKinney said he’ll be a better player because of his matchups with Waller.

“When I am on him, it puts me on high alert,” McKinney said. “I have to be because I know that every play, he can get the ball. It just makes me compete and go a lot harder, it makes me a lot better. Definitely love having him on this team because I know how he’s going to help us, and I know how he’s going to help me improve as a player.”

That’s what training camp is about. The difference this year is that the Giants have enough quality players to truly challenge each other at practice.

Thomas said wearing the pads brings a feeling that, “OK, we’re playing football now.”

And Giants vs. Giants, finally, is a pretty good watch again.

Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.