The Giants' sixth OTA took place on Friday, the final one before mandatory minicamp next week. There are four more OTAs before the team wraps up the offseason program the week of June 10.
Here's what I saw from the sideline:
- The first portion of practice was red zone one-on-ones between the wide receivers and cornerbacks. The offense was very precise during most of the drill, completing several passes for touchdowns. Bennie Fowler ran an inside slant for a touchdown on the third play of the session. Corey Coleman made a great jumping catch on a fade route. On the very next play, Russell Shepard won on a fade. The defense rebounded and made some nice plays in the middle of the session, but the offense finished strong with more touchdowns. I was impressed with the precision of the offense, especially on fade plays, which can be tough to complete.
- There was another long two-minute situational period in today's practice script. The offense got the ball on their own 25-yard line, with one timeout and 1:54 left on the clock and needing a field goal to win the game. The first-team offense converted a key third-and-10 when Eli Manning hit wide receiver Golden Tate for a first down. On the very next play, Manning hit a wide open Sterling Shepard down the right sideline for a big gain inside the 20-yard line. There might have been a blown coverage on the play. Manning then drained the clock, setting up a chip shot field goal with five seconds left.
- The second group had similar success, steadily marching the ball into the defense's territory, with the big play coming on a Daniel Jones-to-Garrett Dickerson completion over the middle that brought the ball to the 33-yard line. One more completion and a few runs later, the team was ready to kick the short field goal with five seconds left on the clock. The third-team defense forced four incompletions and quickly won their scenario.
- The defense found more success later in practice. Linebacker Tae Davis had a nice day. After deflecting a pass to force an incompletion in two-minute, he intercepted Manning over the middle, and might have returned it for a touchdown.
- It was a monster day for the Jenkins defenders. Both defensive tackle John Jenkins and edge rusher Alex Jenkins were living in the backfield. During the "perimeter" period, John Jenkins had a pressureon three of the four plays he was on the field. During blitz portion, Alex Jenkins was in position for a sack on three straight plays.
- DeAndre Baker got a lot of work as first-team cornerback opposite Janoris Jenkins. Baker is less and less noticeable at practice, which for a cornerback is a good thing since that usually means he isn't giving up a lot of catches or committing any penalties.
- Safety Jabrill Peppers notched an interception in the final "Move the Ball" period at the end of practice. Manning tried to squeeze the ball into Rhett Ellison over the middle, but Janoris Jenkins looked like he got a hand on the ball and deflected it to Peppers for the interception.
- Daniel Jones' was accurate and on-time with his throws. It looked like things were slowing back down for him again. He was consistent throughout.
Enjoy your weekend, everyone, we'll be back with more from the field next Tuesday for mandatory minicamp.