The Giants held their final practice at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Monday before leaving for Detroit in the early evening. After practicing in pads on Sunday, the team came out in shorts in preparation for what is sure to be some physical work against the Lions. It was a slightly shorter practice. Here's what I saw from the sidelines.
- Linebacker Alec Ogletree had nice penetration during red zone drills, and he would have had a chance to take down running back Saquon Barkely for a loss near the goal line in a game situation.
- The Giants once again limited quarterback Eli Manning's reps, giving Davis Webb an opportunity to play with the first group of wide receivers. It did not take him long to gain some chemistry with Odell Beckham Jr. in red zone drills. Their first connection came on a sprint out to the right. Beckham trailed along the back of the end zone and Webb, while on the move, hit him with an accurate rocket for a touchdown. A play later, Webb dropped in a perfectly thrown back corner fade in the left corner of the end zone to hit Beckham after he got behind cornerback Janoris Jenkins. It was the proverbial "drop in the bucket" throw. Later in practice, Webb hit Beckham with a slant during team drills. Overall, Webb had some excellent throws, and others that could have been more accurate.
- Quarterback Kyle Lauletta also got a series of plays with the ones. His best throw with that group came on a pass down the field to Saquon Barkley, who had gotten behind the defense. Later in practice, the throw of the day came from Lauletta, who threw a perfectly arced pass down the sideline to wide receiver Kalif Raymond. The pass dropped in between safety William Gay and cornerback B.W. Webb for a big gain. It will be interesting to see if the last two days of practice is a clue for things to come in how the Giants utilize their quarterbacks in practices against the Lions.
- The defensive play of the day came from safety Michael Thomas. It looked like he was set up in a short zone, but read Kyle Lauletta's eyes and dropped into the passing lane to intercept his throw intended for Rhett Ellison. The veteran defensive back displayed excellent instincts on the play.
- I can't wait to get to Detroit to share with everyone what happens in practice against a different opponent. Joint practices give teams a closer look into where they are relative to other teams in the league. Sometimes, things are hard to see in your typical practice, but often times things become much clearer when another team becomes involved.
- It's important to note, however, that the structure of practice will make it impossible for me to see everything that's going on at the same time. The teams will be working on multiple fields at the same, with the Giants offense going against the Lions defense on one field while the Lions offense faces the Giants defense on the other. It gets even worse during individual periods where wide receiver/defensive back one-on-ones could be happening while the offensive lines and defensive lines are facing each other. With the offenses and defenses working separately, that would be four important drills happening simultaneously! It will be impossible to see everything, but I'll do my best for you. See you in Detroit!
