Giant Football Blog

No Boss puts all the pressure on Beckum

About two-thirds of the way through practice Wednesday, offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride appeared to have had enough of Travis Beckum.

"Just stay out," Gilbride said to the third-year tight end who wasn't even supposed to be on the field with that personnel group and then ran the wrong pattern. Gilbride waved his hands disgustedly as if he was tearing every Beckum page from the playbook.

"I messed up a play and him being the offensive coordinator, it's his job to be upset about it," Beckum said. "It was just a miscommunication. I think that if you didn't know what was going on, you kind of got the wrong perception of it."

No. it's clear that Gilbride and the Giants are losing patience with Beckum. Now in his third year, he has yet to develop into the mismatch-inducing slot receiver they thought they were drafting in the third round. While some of that falls at the feet of the staff -- they've never quite figured out how to use Beckum -- a lot is on Beckum. (continue)

Cruz starts off fast in camp again

Victor Cruz still feels the chills when he thinks about what he did last summer and that magical debut he had in a preseason game against the Jets. He marvels that fans still recognize him. He's amazed that a kid from Paterson, N.J., has become such a star.

In hindsight, though, getting to this stage wasn't the hard part. For Cruz, that is what happens next. He's no longer a rookie legend or just a feel-good story. He's a second-year pro out of the University of Massachusetts battling for a role in the Giants' offense, trying to live up to the legend he created for himself. (continue)

Osi goes to camp

The Osi holdout is over. The drama may just be starting.

After skipping out on the first day of training camp on Friday and missing the Saturday morning walk-through, the agent for the disgruntled defensive end said that Umenyiora will report to the Giants this evening. It will probably be within the hour, between 4 and 5 o’clock. Whether Umenyiora will be able to be processed into camp with physicals and paperwork in time to be on the field for this evening’s 6 p.m. practice remains to be seen, but Tony Agnone, his agent, said Umenyiora is looking forward to addressing the media.

“It should be quite entertaining,” he said.

Perhaps as enlightening as Umenyiora’s sworn affidavit that essentially called Jerry Reese a liar for not trading him or giving him a new deal (Reese called the official court document and sworn testimony "offseason chatter" yesterday). Umenyiora clearly holds a grudge against Reese, and there are reports that Umenyiora has vowed never to speak to Reese again. (continue)

Giants to open camp on Friday

According to the NFL Network, we're only days away from the start of Giants training camp.

The team will open camp on Friday, the network is reporting. The Giants aren't giving official word yet, and for good reason: they're waiting until the players vote to accept the CBA offer the owners approved last week.

The Giants announced earlier this month they'll hold camp at the Timex Performance Center instead of Albany. Practices will be open to the public, with details perhaps coming by the end of the day. (ledger)

No Albany training camp for Giants this year

Late last month, when the Jets scrapped their plans to hold training camp in Cortland, N.Y.,the Giants stuck with their schedule to head back to Albany.

Today, they officially pulled the plug on that plan.

The team announced this afternoon it will hold training camp at the Timex Performance Center in East Rutherford, citing in a press release "logistical and timing restrictions resulting from the league's current ongoing labor negotiations."

The Giants believe, even if an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement is reached next week, they won't have enough time to transport their equipment and supplies to the University at Albany while also arranging transportation for many of their players. (Camp was scheduled to begin on July 30.) The team also said, after missing the offseason program, the players' "time will be more efficiently spent at the team's home base." (continue)

Reese denies turf issues

The Giants are already trying not to focus on the hype and “rivalry” with the Jets heading into Monday’s matchup. The fear is if they try to make a statement by playing harder than a typical preseason game, they’ll unnecessarily risk injury.

Well, there’s one more thing they’ll have to ignore: the playing surface.

Almost two months since wide receiver Domenik Hixon suffered a torn ACL during a practice in the New Meadowlands Stadium, at least one player is still thinking about the FieldTurf.

While not trying to think about it. (Ledger)

Phillips back on practice field

They were the most important 12 plays the Giants have run thus far in training camp, which entered its second week yesterday. No matter what had gone on before and what takes place in the month to come prior to the regular-season opener, the return to health of safety Kenny Phillips is the fulcrum on which the Giants' fate sits.

No player is more vital to the cause. With Phillips once again a star-on-the-rise capable of the football equivalent of leaping tall buildings in a single bound, the defensive shambles of 2009 can be transformed into real dominance. With Phillips hobbled or ordinary, the secondary is a player short and once again has holes to fill.

For the first time in 11 months, Phillips participated in practice with his team, an event safeties coach David Merritt called "another little Christmas present" and newly-imported safety Antrel Rolle said had Phillips "grinning from ear-to-ear, and we were also grinning from ear-to-ear for him." The long road back has finally placed Phillips on the field, and as long as he stays there, the Giants defense as a feared entity is back in business. (NY Post)

Webster seeking consistency

For Corey Webster, it always seems like it’s one play that swings the momentum.

The deep ball to the Redskins’ Santana Moss that landed him on the bench early in 2007.

The interception returned for a touchdown against the Bills later that year that boosted his confidence.

The NFC Championship Game interception to set up the winning field goal in Green Bay that continued the Giants’ Super Bowl run and sparked an outstanding 2008 season for Webster.

And then, the play that pretty much summed up the Giants’ 2009 season and sent Webster into a tailspin. (Ledger)

Bradshaw the #1 back?

For a week now, Ahmad Bradshaw has taken the first handoff of team drills, with Brandon Jacobs standing in the background.

Coach Tom Coughlin has often cautioned about reading into such patterns during training camp. And today, when finally asked about the order of operations in the backfield so far, the Giants’ coach characteristically said it wasn’t a manifestation of the depth chart.

“No, they all have special skills, talents and abilities,” Coughlin said. “And if we can use them all, we’ll get the one player in that one aspect of the game that we want.”

Still, it’s starting to seem like Bradshaw could be leaned upon more than last year, especially after Jacobs wore down with another knee issue that required offseason surgery. (Ledger)

Alford limited by injuries

At this point last year, Jay Alford was darting across the line of scrimmage, making his way into the backfield almost as quickly as the quarterback, reaching the running back just after the ball arrived and stopping plays that had barely even started. 

Thursday, with his left knee wrapped, his head down and the shoulders of his jersey sagging where pads are meant to hold them up, Alford slowly trudged across the line during a walk-through drill.

Nearly one year removed from tearing his medial collateral ligament and partially tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, Alford is trying to work his way back to top shape. But with soreness in his knee, doctors relegated the Giants’ defensive tackle to practicing only once per day during training camp for the foreseeable future. (Ledger)