Big Blue View
New York Giants players report for training camp on Tuesday, with practice starting on Wednesday. Here are some of the things I am thinking about as a new season of Giants football, the first with 18-year veteran head coach John Harbaugh at the wheel, dawns.
The John Harbaugh “This is the New York Giants” speech to his team on their first day together has drawn criticism. I think that criticism is stupid and misguided.
The Giants are one of the league’s iconic original franchises. They have won eight championships — four Super Bowls and four titles in the pre-Super Bowl era.
Harbaugh was reminding players of what the franchise has been, of the legacy they should embrace and strive to emulate. He wasn’t simply blowing rah-rah smoke.
Players and assistant coaches have all lauded Harbaugh’s daily messages to the team. To take one small snippet, without hearing the rest of Harbaugh’s message, and twist it into something “cringey” or to be made fun of is nonsense.
I am extremely curious to see how much of a shock Harbaugh’s training camp, which promises more physicality and less coddling than many NFL players have become accustomed to, is to the players. Media, too. It certainly promises to be interesting.
Tight end Isaiah Likely was with Harbaugh for the past four years with the Baltimore Ravens. He says he has been “institutionalized”.
“With Coach Harbs, this is all I ever know,” Likely said. “Whatever he’s doing at practice, I’ve been doing it for the last four years in a row. So, whatever you all see out there is what you’re going to get every time.”
We saw some indications of Harbaugh’s ways in the spring. Draft picks took snaps during rookie mini-camp, something Giants’ draft picks had not done in several years. Spring practices ran as long as the Collective Bargaining Agreement would allow. The Giants did 9-on-7 run drills without pads, an unusual sight. First- and second-team players took more reps than we have become accustomed to seeing.
The West Virginia schedule is an indication things will be different. The Giants will practice for four days, take Sunday off, then practice six consecutive days. I can’t remember the last time a Giants team did that. And I’m not Dan Duggan of The Athletic, who probably has that detail tucked away in a years-old notebook somewhere.
We probably already know about 75% of the 53-man roster, maybe a little more than that. There are competitions for both roster spots and playing time that will be worth watching. Here are the five battles I think I am most interested:
