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- Reese had nothing to report on JPP but his "heart goes out to him." **
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Giants general manager Jerry Reese addressed the media before Sunday's training camp practice at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.
**>> READ MEDIA HOUR QUOTES**
While he had nothing to report on the Jason Pierre-Paul situation, Reese said, "I wish Jason nothing but the best. This is a traumatic situation—it was an accident. Plenty of people have opinions about it. My heart goes out to him. For a young man to have a traumatic event like that in his life is life-changing for him. I hope and pray for the best for him, that's what I can say about that. Other than that, I'm not going to say anything else about what Jason's situation is, except I hope for the best and hopefully he's healing mentally and physically and that he can be back to himself as soon as possible. That's all I'm going to say about the Jason situation."
2. Cruz + Beckham = wins.
With the current rules in place, there's no denying offenses dominate the game in today's NFL. Reese knows this and expects the Giants' unit to put up points this season, especially with wide receiver Victor Cruz back in the mix.
"You just think about last year, if you have Odell [Beckham Jr.] for 16 games and you have Victor Cruz for the entire season, you would think you could probably squeeze out a few more wins if you have those explosive-type players playing for the full season," Reese said. "Hopefully those guys, the offensive line, Eli [Manning is] playing well, continue to grow from this offense, the tight end, Larry Donnell, stepped up in a big way last year and there are some more guys competing at that position. So I expect our offense to score points. If you don't score 28 points in this league, it's hard to win."
3. Defense could surprise people in 2015.
While it's the offense's world, the defense still has to be solid, and with Steve Spagnuolo back as coordinator, the unit is looking to improve on finishing 29th in yards last year.
"I think we're going to surprise people," Reese said. "I think we have five defensive ends that we feel like can play and play at a high level at that position. I do think our defense is going to be a better unit than it was last year. I'm excited to see them out there playing."
4. More blitzing for Kennard, others.
With some defensive end in his blood, linebacker Devon Kennard always says there's nothing better than a forced fumble on a sack. He proved he was capable of doing that down the stretch as a rookie last season, and now there could be more coming in Steve Spagnuolo's first year back as defensive coordinator.
"He likes coming after the quarterback and getting pressure on the quarterbacks," Kennard said. "He has different blitzes and different things we can do out of our coverages and stuff, so to that degree it is a little more complex but easy on us but looks more complex, I should say."
5. Richburg feels at home playing center.
After cutting his teeth in the NFL at guard, Weston Richburg is back to center in his second season and looking to bring continuity to the offensive line. Richburg, who said the unit has already taken "huge steps" compared to last season, learned a lot about center by seeing it from a different perspective at guard in 2014.
"I feel real comfortable," Richburg said. "It's something I did all throughout college, and then being able to come back has been nice. It kind of gives me an increased leadership role, which has been good as well."
6. Randle doesn't see his role changing with Cruz back.
Just when Odell Beckham Jr. got going last year, Victor Cruz suffered a season-ending knee injury that he is now trying to come back from in 2015. Meanwhile, Rueben Randle, who has not missed a game in his three NFL seasons, set career highs by wide margins in receptions (71) and yards (938) in 2014. With the possibility of all three on the field together -- in addition to others like newly-signed receiver James Jones -- Randle said he doesn't think his role is changing at all. Rather, they all have to be interchangeable in offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo's offense.
"We all should be able to play our roles in this offense," Randle said. "We all understand that we all are playmakers and there's going to be a lot of things for us to learn and improve. Coach McAdoo is going to do a great job, I'm sure, of spreading the ball around for us."
7. Rookie Flowers can carry a tune.
Going through the same thing last year as a rookie, Richburg revealed that quarterback Eli Manning stood up and demanded left tackle Ereck Flowers, the ninth overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, get up and sing to the team today. Flowers, who isn't the most vocal person, performed well, to Richburg's surprise. "He's a good singer, though," Richburg said. "He just sang for us in the meeting room. It was actually very good…I was surprised. It was good stuff."
Although he doesn't like to think about it, Richburg had to do the same thing last year, belting out a song from his favorite singer and King of Country, George Strait.
"I wasn't good," Richburg said. "I did it on purpose, though. I think if you do bad, you won't have to do it again."
