Food stalls from Day 2 of the Giants Rookie Minicamp

Food stalls from Day 2 of the Giants Rookie Minicamp

Sports News / By /

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — The New York Giants held their second and final rookie minicamp on the field Saturday. Let’s go through some of the takeaways.

Cheering for the Rangers

When he was in Buffalo, head coach Brian Daboll might have preferred the Buffalo Sabers. Now when it comes to hockey, Daboll bets on the New York Rangers.

“Hell yeah,” said Daboll when asked if he was fully invested in Rangers’ playoff run. That [the Rangers beating Pittsburgh Friday night] was a great game.”

Daboll sounded like he was fishing for tickets as he said at Game 7 on Sunday night: “I’d like to be there”.

“Really good example. They’re down 3-1 in the series, 2-0 in Game 5, and 2-0 in Game 6, and they’re all writing you off, and what are they doing? You just keep competing. In one after the other, the other team comes back, scores equal, loses some momentum and finishes the game strong. That is [a] Pretty cool team to watch now,” he said.

“Look at the Kentucky Derby the other day. Horse wasn’t even in the race, was it until the last day? This is athletics. This is sports. You are going through many difficult times. We have to stay mentally strong.”

The rangers took note.

I’m guessing Daboll will be at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Don’t argue with the head coach

I forgot to mention that on Friday. Coaches from Tom Coughlin to Joe Judge have always made a fuss about where media should be stationed to see drills, especially when backfield training at Quest Diagnostics. It’s always “keep ’em behind the ball” when there’s a line of players in the way and we can’t see anything, or “keep ’em on the patio” when we’re about 100 yards, if not more, of that what is actually going on. This is generally for the protection of players and media members. It’s understandable, if annoying.

Well, with practice on that back field on both Friday and Saturday, that’s what happened. Just as the Giants were about to complete their 14-game 7-on-7 period on Friday, we were ordered by PR to back off and get behind the ball. About a minute later, Daboll came over and told us we could stand in front of the ball so we could see better.

Well, a silly, shocked writer (OK, me) yelled, “But PR just brought us back here.” To which Daboll responded that he overruled and we could go wherever we wanted to get the best vantage point.

On Saturday I made sure to tell Daboll during his press that this time I wouldn’t be arguing with his instructions during practice. However, before 7v7, the coach asked me if I was okay with media moving in front of the ball.

So, yeah, at least for now, the head coach is pretty easygoing.

A little more action on Saturday

Saturday’s practice mirrored Friday’s format. Walk-through pace for much of it and a heavy dose of individual work throughout the 75-minute practice session, along with a 14-game 7v7 period.

The difference on Saturday was that the ball went across the field a couple of times. All of quarterback Brian Lewerke’s passes were included on Friday, several from the check-down variety. There were several deeper shots on Saturday.

  • Daylen Baldwin, a 6-foot-2, 218-pound tryout from Michigan, had the catch of camp. He extended to catch a high throw from Lewerke on a seam route 20-25 yards down field.
  • Undrafted free agent tight end Jeremiah Hall caught a well-thrown ball from Lewerke on a wheel route about 20 yards downfield. Hall was tightly covered by linebacker Josh Watson, a three-year NFL veteran.
  • Tight end Daniel Bellinger, the team’s fourth-round pick, was open to a big play in the seam.
  • Linebacker Darrian Beavers made the defensive play of the 7-on-7 session, batting away a quick out intended for Bellinger.

Here, Daboll explains why the Giants kept things as simple as possible on the field over the two days:

“The more stuff you have on your mind, the slower you play. These guys are pretty worried when it comes in.

School in session for Wan’Dale

Wan’Dale Robinson, second-round selector, received more attention than any other player that caught my eye over the two days of practice. This comes with the caveat that defensive linemen and linebackers as well as offensive linemen trained far from where.

Daboll always seemed around when Robinson was catching punts or running routes, and wide receiver coach Mike Groh seemed to have more to say about Robinson — good and bad — than just about anyone else. Conveniently, whenever it was Robinson’s turn in a receiving drill, it was Lewerke and not GM Joe Schoen or another coach who pitched to him.

It’s perhaps a small indication that the Giants have big plans with their 43rd overall win.

A QB in camp?

Everyone was ecstatic to see GM Joe Schoen throw to receivers on Friday. But why did the Giants only have quarterbacks in mini-camp? Daboll said he “just thought that was for the best”.

Football Gameplan’s Emory Hunt had the rest of the story.

to see players

Here’s Daboll on some of the notable undrafted free agents:

Running back Jashaun Corbin…

Athletic. Have a quick twitch. He had a pretty good day yesterday [Friday]. Kind of stood out a bit…there’s only so much to see out there. But the one-on-one drills, a lot of them almost run out on pro days or one-on-one workouts. Some of the drills that we do out here are some of the drills that we do when we’re training guys so you can get a good feel for it. You can compare apples to apples.

Tight end Andre Miller…

“He’s a good size. Obviously he played a lot at the perimeter there in Maine. He’s a good size and he has some skills that we can maybe develop a little bit in the inner part of the offensive formation here, wherever that might be, whether it’s attached and off the ball, a little bit in the slot, maybe something in that backcourt.

“I’m just trying to find a role. Has some athleticism. Went well. Hopefully he can be on special teams when he’s here. Just a guy with some athleticism that you want to see in that role.

Off-season schedule

The OTA portion of the Giants’ offseason schedule begins Monday. This will mix rookies with veterans for field work for the first time. Here is the schedule:

OTAs: May 16-17, May 19, May 23-24, May 26, May 31-June 3
Obligatory mini camp: 7th-9th June

The first OTA media access will take place on Thursday 19.