NY Giants mandatory minicamp, Day 2: Defense wins the day, but OBJ makes a play

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The heavy lifting of the spring is done for the New York Giants, with just a light practice remaining Wednesday morning. Head coach John Harbaugh seemed pleased on Tuesday afternoon following the conclusion of a second straight 2½-hour mandatory minicamp practice.

“We got better throughout the course of the minicamp, all the way back to the first day back in the offseason program. We’ve improved dramatically,” Harbaugh said. “We have a long way to go, but now our arrow is pointed toward training camp.

“So we’ll have more of a mental sweat type of practice tomorrow, and then the guys will be away until training camp. But I’m proud of the guys. They’ve done a nice job.”

An Odell highlight

Odell Beckham Jr. took advantage of a busted coverage by the Giants’ secondary to haul in a long touchdown pass from Jaxson Dart, one of the highlight plays of the day for the offense. With no one near him as he caught the ball, Beckham backpedaled the final 15 yards into the end zone.

For what it’s worth, rookie cornerback Colton Hood was the closest defender to Beckham. There is no way to be sure, though, if it was Hood who blew the coverage.

Defense makes life difficult

It feels as if the Giants’ defense got the better of the offense over the course of the past two days. Again on Tuesday, the offense made a few highlight-reel plays, but the defense seemed to be the more impressive unit.

Edge defender Kayvon Thibodeaux called the front “seven scary.”

“We’re almost cursed with too much talent,” Thibodeaux said after Tuesday’s practice. “We have a matchup problem no matter what team we face.”

Thibodeaux said he asked defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson on Tuesday if Wilson was the best defensive backs coach in the league.

“I didn’t ask him that because I didn’t think it,” Thibodeaux said. “I asked him that because our DBs have been playing at a high level. And for me, I saw this same defense before. So now seeing these guys play at a pace that is, like, unbelievable, there’s no question how great of a coach he is.”

Here are a few defensive highlights:

• Tae Banks (yes, that Tae Banks) intercepted a Brandon Allen pass down the left sideline intended for tight end Tanner Connor.
• Safety Elijah Campbell intercepted an off-target Allen pass intended for Xavier Gipson. For what it’s worth, Allen was a bit of an interception machine over the last two days.
• The defense often made the quarterbacks leave the pocket, even in 7-on-7 drills with no pass rush. How is that possible? It’s because no one was open. On one 7-on-7 play, Dart was actually forced to hold the ball and not throw it. I don’t think I have seen that before in 7-on-7.
• Isaiah Hodgins prevented a Rico Payton interception of Jameis Winston by diving to break up a long pass along the right...