The Giants are officially deep enough into training camp for the head coach to start his pre-practice news conference with the following statement: "It's Groundhog Day."
While every day may feel the same at this time of the year, no two of Brian Daboll's practices are alike. On Monday, the Giants put on the pads for the first time this season and emphasized the run game. Today, they worked heavily on third-and-long and simulated 2-minute drills.
"I think you just work to get better each day," Daboll said. "I don't think you can focus on what happened in the past. I certainly don't. Wherever I've been, whether it was productive, not productive, you know, you live in the moment with the people that you're working with. You try to do the best job you can with whatever role you're asked to do. Whether it's a player, a position coach, a head coach, we all have responsibilities. Focus on those; understand what we need to do to get better. Be clear with expectations and standards, and just take it day-by-day."
Here are the highlights from Tuesday's practice:
TOUCHDOWNS
*Daniel Jones kicked off a notebook-stuffing practice with a pair of early touchdowns during 1-on-1 drills, finding rookie Wan'Dale Robinson and Kadarius Toney for long scores. Jones later threw a touchdown in team drills to Richie James, who treated the crowd to a backflip in celebration, and another to David Sills to end practice.
*Tyrod Taylor showed his improvisation skills during a 2-minute drill when he couldn't get a clean handle on the snap. He picked up the ball, scrambled, and tossed up a touchdown to Darius Slayton, who made a leaping catch in the back corner of the end zone. Taylor threw two other touchdowns throughout practice, one to wide receiver C.J. Board and another to tight end Chris Myarick. One ref originally ruled the latter was out of bounds in the back of the end zone, but after a short conference, the crew ruled it was good.
*Wide receivers Keelan Doss and Austin Proehl hauled in scores from Davis Webb.
TAKEAWAYS
*Cornerback Adoree' Jackson came down with t2o interceptions, one during 7-on-7 drills and another during full-team reps near the goal line.
"I feel like every year is always an opportunity of a lifetime," said Jackson, who has taken on a larger role following the departure of veteran James Bradberry. "I feel like it's just the same thing for all of us out there. We always get an opportunity to present ourselves and play for one of the greatest organizations in the league. I think we just take it as a blessing and understand that we can be doing a lot of different things, but the Lord brought us here to be able play ball and we just want to go and do that for Him."
MORE TOP PLAYS
*The two best throws of the day came on the same sideline a few plays apart. First, Jones placed a perfect pass to Toney, who made an equally impressive catch. Taylor then made a very similar play to Slayton. Not to be outdone, running back Saquon Barkley also showed his hands on a sideline back-shoulder grab just short of the goal line.
*Cornerback Michael Jacquet III nearly made a spectacular interception but had to settle for the PD after the ball tipped a few times as he dove to the ground. Julian Love, Darren Evans, Aaron Robinson, and Khalil Dorsey also broke up passes.
*Wide receiver Collin Johnson went full extension for a nice catch on a pass from Taylor.
*Jones led a successful 2-minute drill, which eventually ended with Barkley getting enough yardage to put the team in field goal range in what was a one-point "game" with the clock winding down.
"We're doing the best job we can at trying to figure out the pieces we have around Daniel, what we can do well," Daboll said before practice. "We keep tinkering with that. That will be a constant until we get here into the start of the season. Daniel's been working hard, but in no way would I compare Daniel with Josh. That's not fair. He's his own person. He's working hard. Look, developing an offense or a defense or a team, let's just say a team when you're first starting out as a head coach, a new staff, new players, it takes a lot of work. And we're still very much still a work in progress.
Giants Fan Fest returns to Metlife Stadium
Free and open to the public, the Giants Fan Fest will feature a Blue & White intrasquad scrimmage, autographs by Giants Legends, and a fireworks show.