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- Giants await JPP's return. **
Veteran defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, whom the Giants designated as their franchise player in March, was absent during organized team practice activities and now the first day of minicamp. While he hasn't stepped on the field, there has been communication as the Giants install a new defensive scheme under Steve Spagnuolo.
"Well, obviously he is not here but I have been in touch with him and he came up here and we met with him for a few days," defensive line coach Robert Nunn said.
"He has got a start of what is going to be expected when he gets here in the beginning of it and we have been in touch with him throughout and that is really all I have to say about it. Obviously we'd like to have him here, but I don't get involved in that, but he has got some of the stuff that we dished to him when he gets back.
"I have fed him some of the stuff as we've gone and progressed through and he was here and I met with him probably four or five times, maybe even six or seven times.
"We kind of implemented some of the stuff and how it is going to be introduced when we get to training camp. I thought he had a very good grasp of it when he left and when he gets here we'll start and that is where we'll begin."
2. Coughlin's take on Odell's hamstring.
Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was held out of team drills on the first day of minicamp because of a sore hamstring, just like he was for most of OTAs as well as last summer and the first four games of last season. Having gone through this in 2014, coach Tom Coughlin was asked if they are doing anything differently.
"We approach it the same way," Coughlin said. "But we don't have our head in the sand. We know the guy has an issue. I think the training room is well aware of that."
3. Herrmann hopeful for LB corps.
Linebackers coach Jim Herrmann had two veteran free agents added to his position room this offseason in J.T. Thomas and Jonathan Casillas. They joined returning linebackers like Jon Beason, Jameel McClain, Mark Herzlich, and Devon Kennard to make up a corps that the front office believes is improved from last season. But it could be one of the Giants' best in recent years. Herrmann, who has been with the team since 2009, was asked if, top to bottom, it is the most talent he's had at the position with the Giants.
"That is a true statement," he said. "Nothing against those other guys. I don't want them to feel bad. Talent-wise, yes."
4. Beatty discussed his injury for the first time.
Days before the Giants began OTAs, starting left tackle Will Beatty, who has not missed a game since 2011, suffered a torn pectoral muscle that required surgery. While his approximate recovery time was set at five to six months beginning in late May, Beatty took in Tuesday's practice on the sidelines.
"It was a freak accident," Beatty said of the injury. "It wasn't, I mean I was lifting heavy, but it wasn't my max. It was just something like, 'What happened?' I just don't really know what happened. I know that I got to go into the recovery looking towards the future rather than the past."
5. Difficult road ahead for capable Collins.
While rookie offensive tackle Ereck Flowers is running with the first team on offense in place of Beatty, second-round draft choice Landon Collins is doing the same on defense at the safety position. His position coach, David Merritt, talked about the difficulties of rookies starting right away at safety.
"I think it is extremely hard," Merritt said. "You are the 'the extension of the defensive coordinator.' Whatever call comes in, you need to be able to hear the call, accept the call and then spit it back out to your fellow teammates. For a rookie to come in and have that pressure, to be the extension of the defensive coordinator, I know we have the right one doing it, but it is extremely difficult."
From what's he's seen through rookie minicamp, OTAs, and now the beginning of minicamp, does he think Collins is capable of doing that?
"I do, I really do," Merritt said. "He is starting to realize that these missed alignments and the minus plays, I have to cut those out of my game in order for the guys around me to trust me. That is what he wants to be. He wants to be a leader. Okay, we are putting him out there. I think he is going to be ready to go, definitely, for Dallas"
