For NFL players, the alarm had been going off all spring and into the summer during the lockout. 

But wait no longer, the Giants won't be hitting the snooze button any more. 

"We're back to playing football," Giants offensive lineman Adam Koets said on Wednesday, three days before the first practice of training camp. "So it all kind of goes a 100 miles per hour now."

Koets, who tore his ACL shortly after signing a two-year extension last November, split time between New Jersey and his home state of California training and rehabbing his knee.  

As players returned to the facility, their take on the absence of offseason workouts with the team tended to be twofold. 

"It has its benefits in the fact that you get to do some of the things that you want to do, focus on some of the things that you need to," Koets said. "Especially coming back from my knee, it was a good chance for me to focus on my rehab and that type of stuff and work on some strengths and things that I want to get better at. You definitely have to be more disciplined, and it's a day to day thing planning on your own and stretching."

Second-year linebacker Adrian Tracy agreed. 

"It was kind of a Catch-22, some good things, some bad things," said Tracy, who returned from training in Virginia. "Most importantly, just missing the guys. Being around them so much last year and then go four months without seeing them on a regular basis is a little different. But it's good to be back, see some familiar faces and get reacquainted."

For Tracy and Koets, it's the longest time they can recall not being around a locker room on a regular basis. 

"Your body, when you've been playing so long, it's like on a schedule," Tracy said. "It's telling me now it's time to get back into it and be ready to rock."