It's beginning to look a lot like training camp.
The first fully padded practice of camp was accompanied by hot weather in East Rutherford. Here are the players who stood out in Saturday's practice at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center:
CB DONTE DEAYON: Deayon, who will be featured in this year's training camp edition of "Giants Life" on Giants.com, had the lone interception of the day. The 5-foot-9 cornerback showed his vertical and jumped up to intercept the pass during the blitz period. Deayon almost picked off a second ball later on, but he couldn't quite hang onto it and had to settle for a pass defensed in the stat sheet. After making his way onto the roster as an undrafted rookie and appearing in four games last season, Deayon is looking for a larger role in 2018. He ended his college career ranked fifth on Boise State's all-time interceptions list and third on the Mountain West Conference's, both of which were topped by Giants safety Darian Thompson.
OLB LORENZO CARTER: Deayon's interception was the result of the work of two players, beginning with pressure up the middle from Carter, one of two third-round picks by the Giants this year. Carter got in the quarterback's face, while defensive tackle A.J. Francis pushed his opposing offensive tackle into his arm to force a wobbly throw.
"Growth, that was probably the biggest thing [since the spring]," fellow outside linebacker Kareem Martin said of the rookie Carter. "He got better everyday. By the end of it, I think he was at his best. He took the criticism and everyday he tried to work on something and not make the same mistake twice."
WR CODY LATIMER: Don't forget about Latimer in Eli Manning's array of targets. The former second-round pick by the Denver Broncos signed with the Giants this offseason to bolster an already deep group of offensive weapons. Latimer has just gone about his business at practice and had another productive outing on Saturday, catching a handful of passes from Manning during team and one-on-one drills.
RB SAQUON BARKLEY: The Giants worked in the red zone for the first time this summer with some seven-on-seven drills near the end of practice. While it was the first opportunity to see Barkley run with the pads on, the second overall pick made his biggest plays as a receiver and found himself in the end zone. Not a bad option to have in close quarters for a quarterback.
"He's a student of the game and if you're not asking questions, then you don't really care," veteran running back Jonathan Stewart said. "All credit to him because his preparation, just coming in here and just the mindset to be ready to pretty much soak up any and everything about this offense and about the professional level, that's that guy."
Next practice: Sunday, July 29 (2:45 p.m. ET)
