Before practice today, head coach Pat Shurmur, two assistant coaches and a few players spoke to the media. This is what you need to know from the pressers:
1. You can trust Michael Thomas in a pinch. When the game is on the line, you can put your trust in safety Michael Thomas. After getting picked up by the Miami Dolphins in December of 2013 off waivers, Thomas intercepted Tom Brady in the end zone with time winding down to win the game. On that play, Thomas was playing nickel, which shows his versatility according to defensive backs coach Lou Anarumo.
"One of the attributes that he brings is that he is a multiple position guy, so I want him to get the safety stuff down here and then knowing that he can move around and maybe do some other things in a pinch, that's been one of his trademarks," Anarumo said. "He's played it at a high level and done it against the best."
Not only can Thomas move around on the defense, but he's also a threat on special teams.
Said Anarumo, "Michael's a great guy, and can do so many different things, and I think the stat that I didn't even realize is he leads the NFL in special teams tackles since 2014-15, so he's going bring that immediate impact to us, and then he brings some position flex on defense."
2. Odell Beckham Jr. leads by example. Clearly the presence of Odell Beckham Jr. on the field was missed last year by the struggling Giants. However, not many people realize he was also missed off the field as a leader in the locker room. Head coach Pat Shurmur knows his wide receiver just loves the game of football.
"This guy loves to play football, he trains extremely hard, he's totally engaged in the meetings behind the scenes, the things that the world is not aware of, and he's got a lot of passion for the game," Shurmur said. "We were just out in a walk-thru and I saw three or four times when he was talking to different players about certain techniques within the play. That's all good stuff."
3. The offensive line is starting to gel. The Giants offensive line was one of the main areas the team needed to improve heading into 2018. As a result, there are a bunch of fresh faces in the trenches. Chemistry with the group could take a while, but don't tell that to guard Will Hernandez.
"I feel like I've known these guys for a long time in the short period of time we have known each other. They've treated me like I was one of them. They started guiding me and showing me the ropes right away and started the teaching process with me," Hernandez said. "These guys are great; everyone gets along pretty well. We are spending so much time with each other in camp, everyone gets to know each other real quick."
A new offensive system and new faces mean everybody's learning it all together at the same time. Yet, Hernandez and the lineman just take it day-by-day.
"Yeah, there's a lot of specific technical things that we try to get better with everyday and that they point out that I need to work on but overall it's communicating throughout the whole line and being on the same page. That's the main goal and the short-term goal every single play too."
