Giants.com's John Schmeelk brings you Training Camp notes and observations straight from the sidelines:
Giants players were moving full speed for the first time on Saturday afternoon. Here are my notes and observations from practice:
• It was a windy and cool day on the field at the Quest Diagnostic Training Center, forcing the quarterbacks to really spin the ball through the wind.
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• On the first play of seven-on seven, quarterback Eli Manning looked for wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who was one-on-one with cornerback Janoris Jenkins. Eli floated the pass in the air, leading Marshall down the sideline. It was thrown slightly behind Marshall, but he did a great job adjusting and going up to get the ball over Jenkins, who didn't get turned around quickly enough to make a play on the ball. It is the type of play that demonstrates how Marshall's size can really make a difference.
• A few plays later, it was Jenkins who made the play on a Manning pass. As he covered wide receiver Sterling Shepard deep down the sideline, Jenkins got his head around, located the ball and went up and picked it off. It was not an easy catch. Jenkins hopes to be more consistent catching balls he gets his hands on this year and that was a good start.
• Tight end Evan Engram also made a very nice catch on a pass thrown behind him on a shallow crossing route. He had to completely turn his body and reach back to make the grab.
• A couple of alignment notes: Geno Smith was the second quarterback taking reps. B.J. Goodson was the starting middle linebacker. Darian Thompson was out there with the first team at safety next to Landon Collins. Orleans Darkwa seemed to be the primary number two running back. Much like in the spring, the tight ends rotated an awful lot.
• Once the team got into team drills, it was the Odell Beckham Jr. show. On a play action pass, he was sent across the field on a deep post. He beat safety Darian Thompson, and Manning put the ball right over his shoulder for an easy touchdown grab. Great route and throw. Beckham caught a couple of deep routes heading to the boundary later in practice. He had a monster practice and showed why he is so difficult to cover.
• Eli Apple was the only player to knock away a pass intended for Beckham. On a red zone play, Manning tried to find Beckham over Apple towards the corner of the end zone, but the cornerback got his hand up and knocked the ball away. The second-year cornerback would later play a slant very well, getting around Sterling Shepard to knock the ball away.
• The Giants will have one more unpadded practice on Sunday before taking a day off on Monday. On Tuesday they will wear their shoulder pads for the first time this summer as they work up to full pads and more physicality as the week continues.
