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- Berhe went for an MRI. **
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Nat Berhe, who is in the middle of a "wide open" safety competition, continues to deal with a calf issue that also cost him most of the spring.
Before Thursday's training camp practice at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center, the second-year pro told the media that he had an MRI today and is awaiting the results. Berhe added it will still be a couple more days for his return to practice but that he will be ready next week for Cincinnati.
"Of course, you definitely get frustrated, especially with this great opportunity that you have," Berhe said. "For me, I just think that there must be something great ahead. So I can't get too frustrated because there has to be something big head."
2. Eli's arm feels live.
Many people have raved about Eli Manning's arm looking strong as ever heading into his 12th NFL season with the Giants, but today we heard it straight from the quarterback's mouth.
"It feels good, it feels live right now," Manning said. "I think that's the goal—keep it strong, keep it healthy. I think a lot of times training camp is the most difficult time where you are throwing the most consecutive practices in a row. Less off days, less rest days—it is a time when you have to be careful and make sure you're not over-throwing and keeping it strong and doing your maintenance. I think I've got a good program, a good system to keeping it healthy. Not over-throwing, so it will stay strong the whole season."
3. The buildup for Cincinnati continues.
Next week the Giants will do something they haven't done in a decade: hold joint practices with another team. The team travels to Cincinnati next week to scrimmage the Bengals before their first preseason game on Friday, Aug. 14. Manning thinks it will be good to mix up the dog days of training camp.
"I'm excited for it," Manning said. "I think it will be good. It's always great for an offense to go against a different defense. All of a sudden, you're kind of going in not really knowing what they're doing, what they're going to be showing. It's different from a game when you go in and you game plan and you have looks. We might watch a little film on it just to get an idea, but for the most part, you're just kind of going to go off what we see and make adjustments. Guys are going to have to really understand and know the rules of their assignments and their fundamentals, and do everything perfectly."
4. Jenkins: Hankins could have been in the Pro Bowl.
Defensive tackles Cullen Jenkins and Johnathan Hankins both joined the Giants in 2013. Jenkins, of course, had already been in the league for a decade at that point while Hankins was the team's second-round draft pick. Since then, Jenkins has seen Hankins grow into the player who recorded 7.0 sacks and started all 16 games in 2014.
"The jump he made from his rookie year to last year was pretty impressive," Jenkins said. "The strides he made— I felt like he could've been a Pro Bowler last year. He definitely played well enough. He's just continued to improve, and I think that now he's more comfortable out there. Going into last year, he was still trying to feel his way at first and work on stuff, but I feel like now he knows how to play and knows how to play well at a high level. He expects it from himself and I think that he'll have another great year this year."
5. Big Hank wants to be a leader.
While his play speaks for itself on the field, Hankins wants to be heard off the field as well, the 6-foot-2, 320-pound defensive tackle said today. "This year, I'm trying to take up a leadership role," Hankins said. "Help guys that are new to the D-line, do as much as I can to help the D-line."
6. Eli: Cruz and Beckham feel good, look good.
Victor Cruz cleared another hurdle on Wednesday by practicing in full pads for the first time since suffering a season-ending knee injury in October. Meanwhile, fellow wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who is also on a pitch count, has been practicing in team drills, which is a good sign for Manning and the offense.
"It was probably more of a question about Victor just coming off the injury and he didn't do anything in the spring, and didn't know how it would feel, how it looked, and his progress with that," Manning said. "I think he's looked great out there. He's been out there a bunch, and seems to be feeling good—running his routes the normal way, getting in and out of breaks. So, excited to see that. I was thinking Odell would be back and seems to look fresh and look good out there as well. So I think both guys, as far as I can tell, feel
good and look good."
7. No interceptions yet for Eli.
Just like he did in the regular season, Manning has cut down on his interception total so far in his second training camp with Ben McAdoo as offensive coordinator. In fact, Manning has yet to throw one so far this summer, and he's fully aware of it.
"You remember those [interceptions] in practice," Manning said. "They're never fun, never fun to watch on film."
