Check out the best photos from practice
Head Coach Tom Coughlin
Q: Re: Larry Donnell?
A: He has tendinitis, so they put him in a boot.
Q: Is this something that happened last week?
A: It is ongoing. He had a little bit of that in college.
Q: Where is the tendonitis?
A: It is his Achilles.
Q: Re: Odell Beckham Jr.?
A: Odell is sore. Precautionary.
Q: Hamstring?
A: Yeah, not the same side.
Q: Re: Jon Beason's absence?
A: His flight was cancelled this morning from Charlotte. He will be here this afternoon.
Q: You brought in an offensive lineman (Jake Long) last week… What was the thinking behind that?
A: Just a visit. It was a good visit. He ate well. He had a nice time visiting with us.
Q: Re: Joint practices with the Cincinnati Bengals?
A: At one time, we did it a lot. I just think going out and having a couple practices against somebody else, [there will be] a little more intensity, especially going into that first game. Maybe have your ones take a few more reps than they normally would because of the way the game will be played. It will really benefit our team.
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Q: Jerome Cunningham looked like he took advantage of his playing time today? **
A: Yeah, he made a couple plays today. He has gotten plenty of playing time. Hopefully he will continue to benefit from it.
Q: How is the offensive line looking as you configure it?
A: It is obvious you throw an awful lot at them – the young guys are doing okay. Progress is being made and this is what [OTA's] are all about. Throwing them in there and letting them go. See how they do.
Q: Can you gauge where this offense is a year later?
A: We are way ahead in terms of that. The familiarity as the different installations go and the familiarity by the players, at least the guys that have been here, so what we are talking about here is obvious. There is an awful lot of information being thrown at them. They seem to being handling it well. Some of the new guys have done well with it. I haven't seen a lot of issues with that. It is natural. They have heard it. They have played it. They have been involved with adjustments. As we do more and more adjusting, they are picking that up as well.
Q: What do you like about adding Shane Vereen on the field and in the running backs room?
A: He is a solid, solid young man. A very positive young man who's happy to be here and looks forward to contributing. When we brought him in we thought here is a guy that catches the ball out of the backfield and would be another obvious weapon that would have to be defended as well as some of the other people we have here.
Q: What were your immediate thoughts when you heard of Steve Weatheford's accident?
A: Thank goodness that he is okay. That was a scary, scary thing.
Q: Did you say anything to the players about that?
A: No, I didn't. As a matter of fact, we were well into meetings when I found out about it. I am sure they all know about it by now.
Q: Does that put life into perspective? He goes from the birth of his baby girl to possibly losing his life?
A: Difficult thing to talk about. That is the first thing that popped into my mind as well. He rushed to get back here. Obviously the weather caused a different set of plans. Then there was another set of plans when he was in Washington. He is close to finally arriving here and he runs into the water.
Q: He could have stayed home for a few days after his wife just had the baby?
A: He has been home quite a while. They anticipated, so he was anxious. We shared the fact that it was a difficult thing under those circumstances to leave your wife and newborn, but he wanted to get back here and he wanted to get back on the field with his teammates. He was saying all along when the baby was born he would be on a plane the next day.
Q: How is Robert Ayers Jr. doing?
A: His ankle is swollen. He is still limping a little bit. Sprained ankle. Lateral ankle sprain. Quite a bit of swelling.
Q: Is Cooper Taylor getting an extensive look at safety because Nat Berhe isn't available or do you see something?
A: Those that are here are going to get a good look. There are not that many guys working right now and they all are getting a lot of reps. We are looking for Nat to get back in there and help balance it out.
Q: Re: Cooper Taylor?
A: He flashed a few times today and I was glad to see that. Big, strong man. If we can keep him healthy and he can stay out there.
Q: Has Damontre Moore caught up?
A: I don't think he is all the way caught up, but I was impressed. I was in the training room watching them exercise that shoulder and he has done well with that. I think he is starting to grasp – going back over, he has individual meeting times. He is catching up.
Q: Is Cullen Jenkins playing defensive end something you guys would do or are you doing that because you are short?
A: He is flopping around largely because of the [number of ends], but it is something that could happen.
Q: Are you alright with the offensive line you have now or are you going to add something?
A: We'll see what happens. We'll see how we finish the spring here and so on and so forth.
Punter Steve Weatherford
Q: When you look back at last night, has it sunk in yet?
A: The soreness is starting to sink in a little bit, but I am just feeling so blessed. Not even with the birth of my daughter, but just being here. I have always been an optimistic guy, but after the experience last night, there is no other way to explain than a blessing.
Q: Does it put everything in perspective?
A: I take pride in always taking a positive perspective, but when something like that happens you realize everyone is human. It was a big deal. I am very fortunate to be standing here. Very fortunate to be alive.
Q: Take us through your thoughts as you're driving right before the accident?
A: It was raining really hard and I was about three hours into a four-hour drive and I had about 55 miles left. I was passing Exit 8 on the New Jersey Turnpike. It was dry road conditions. I was running about probably 68-70 miles per hour. Right about the speed limit. I guess there was a drainage clog and all of sudden I ran into a pretty thick pool of water and I was in a rental car. I have hit bigger pools of water than that before, but I had been in SUV's so it didn't really necessarily scare me that much, but then once my entire car got into it, [then] I started to hydroplane. To be honest with you, I don't know how many times I spun around, but after maybe the second, third or fourth one, I started to see the median coming at me. I braced up and was incredibly blessed the air bag deployed. I have a couple cuts, burns and a busted lip, but I walked out of the car. The crazy thing was I put my blinkers on and pulled my phone out of my pocket and was just getting ready to call 911, not because I needed medical attention, but I knew it was a dangerous situation with a car just sitting on the New Jersey Turnpike. Before I could call 911, I look behind me and hear a splash and turn around and there is a Nissan Maxima that was hydroplaning as well and then ran into my car going faster than what I was. I sprint over to the car and try to look in the driver side. There were air bags covering it. Then I tried to open the door. It was bent. I tried to open the door behind that and that was bent up. Run over to the other side and finally the fourth door that I tried to open, I had to jiggle it a couple times and then put my foot on the car to pry it open. I peaked inside and the guy was completely knocked out and gushing blood from his nose. I was a little bit nervous at that point not to touch his neck, and so I was trying to jostle his shoulder to wake him up because if he can move we have to get him out of the car because it is about to be a pile up. After about 20 seconds he woke up and I was able to unbuckle him and pull him out of the back of the car and then he spilled himself onto the New Jersey Turnpike and then we got onto the shoulder and called the New Jersey state police and they were there in less than ten minutes. It makes you realize how fragile life is.
Q: While this was going on, was there any part of you that said you should have just stayed home and not be at practice on Monday?
A: I worked so hard between taking that flight at noon San Diego time and then getting all the way almost to Newark and circling and waiting for the storms to pass and then we were about to run out of gas and then we were directed to Dulles in [D.C.]. They said a bus was coming. I waited for two hours. It was a priority for me to be here at practice. I missed three of them last week. I haven't missed an OTA in ten years in the NFL. Granted my family comes first, but then I decided to rent a car. I knew if I kept waiting on the bus, I was going to be late to practice. Tom Coughlin doesn't get down like that. Rented a car and everything was going fine until I hit mile marker eight and that is when everything went down. I felt blessed before that, but really feeling the love now.