NY Giants Defense Has a Day Against the Jets Offense in Joint Practice

The New York Giants and New York Jets shifted their joint training camp practice to East Rutherford, where the Giants are based, for the final and hottest of the two days between both clubs.

I spent this practice watching the Giants’ defense go against the Jets’ offense. Brandon Olsen covered the Giants offense vs. the Jets defense, so we’ll have a separate report for you on that.

Receiver Jalin Hyatt, cornerback Dru Phillips, and guard Evan Neal all returned to practice after missing several days with undisclosed injuries. However, cornerback Deonte Banks and tight end Chris Manhertz were both held out of the second day with their own undisclosed issues.

Also missing practice was right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, whose wife gave birth to their second child late early Wednesday morning. Rookie Marcus Mbow received a healthy dose of snaps with the starters in Eluemunor’s absence, the rookie also sharing snaps with Stone Forsythe.

Despite the sweltering conditions, the players held up well with no apparent heat-related issues. But at one point early on, safety Tyler Nubin seemed to hurt something as he went to the side, shedding his shoulder pads to get stretched out. Nubin never made it bad to practice. Raheem Layne took over for Nubin once he left.

Receiver Malik Nabers (toe) continues to be sidelined, but you can tell he’s anxious to get out there because he showed up in full gear for the practice and was very active in talking with his teammates.

Meanwhile, left tackle Andrew Thomas, who remains on the PUP list, was out at practice as well as a spectator and in street clothes. At this point, it looks like Thomas won’t be activated until the roster cutdown date, leaving him just a few days to get into football shape. 

On the field where the Giants’ defense was facing the Jets’ offense, there was one incident where it looked like things might get a little heated after Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke stuffed a Jets runner for no gain. That situation was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it one.

But over on the other field, tempers flared when Jets defender Will McDonald tackled Giants running back Tyrone Tracy, Jr. to the ground, breaking the agreement between the two clubs not to engage in tackling to the ground. 

McDonald’s action ticked off Giants offensive lineman Greg Van Roten, going to the ground, and then rookie Marcus Mbow joining in. At the same time, Giants guard Jon Ruyan Jr had his helmet ripped off his head by Jets defender Qwan’tez Stiggers, but Russell Wilson and Aaron Stinnie got between the two before things could escalate.

On defense, outside linebacker Brian Burns had himself a day. Burns lived in the Jets’ backfield on every pass rush he was asked to do, to the point where I lost track of the number of times he penetrated. Burns’s presence caused Jets quarterback Justin Fields to be a bit jumpy in the backfield, and he wasn’t nearly as sharp with connecting with receivers as he had been on Tuesday.

“I’m just trying to take my game to a level it’s never been. That requires me doing things I never did,” a still-fired-up Burns said after practice. 

“I’ve been working with (defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence) Dex quite a bit, talking to Dex a lot (about) just how to manipulate body positions and try to use my length and power more and not just my speed and finesse. That’s been good to me so far, so I’m going to keep working on that.”

Burns added that he’s just being himself this year and not letting outside factors mess with his head.  

“When I get in my head and things – I mean that’s anybody but when I get in my head and things of that nature and I think too much, that’s not me being me, so just allowing my instincts to kick in is where I’m thriving at right now,” he said.

In a lighthearted moment of sorts following the practice, Burns and rookie Abdul Carter were among those players scheduled to speak at the podium.

Carter got to the podium first and was all set to speak, but Burns, who wasn’t that far behind, nudged the rookie out of the way so he could go first. He told Carter, “Either move or go.”

Carter naturally yielded to his veteran teammate–and eventually got his turn to speak.

–In the one-on-one drills, I had the Giants winning nine out of their first 10 reps, with the tenth rep being a draw. The Jets then went on a little streak of their own –I had them winning the next five reps–before Abdul Carter broke the streak. 

Carter split his two reps, barely losing the first one against Max Mitchell. Dexter Lawrence was no match for Josh Myers. Brian Burns split his two reps, as did Chauncey Golston and Kayvon Thibodeaux split his two reps. Overall, I think it’s fair to call it a draw. 

–Good day for cornerback Paulson Adebo, who had three pass breakups on balls thrown by Justin Fields to Garrett Wilson.

–Dane Belton continued to get a lot of work, not just in the three-safety sets, but also in the nickel, sharing reps with Dru Phillips, who seemed to be on a pitch count after getting dinged in the preseason opener.  

–The Giants’ run defense had a solid day, particularly with shutting down lanes inside of the tackles. Most of the Jets’ more successful rushes went to the outside, where they were able to seal off an edge to spring the runner. That said, there were also some runs to the outside in which the Giants did a great job of stringing out the play and not allowing the Jets’ runners to turn upfield.  

-Burns wasn’t the only Giants pass rusher to dominate.  Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Chauncey Golston, and Dexter Lawrence were also creating havoc upfront to force the Jets quarterbacks to throw early. Unofficially, Carter, Thibodeaux, and Lawrence all had sacks during the team drills. 

–Some creativity in this one from defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, who called for some slot cornerback and safety blitzes. Micah McFadden was also sent in on a blitz and would have had a sack as he came in untouched.

–In the final team period, the Giants’ defense swarmed all over the Jets, keeping them out of field goal range, which was the objective.  

-One thing I noticed that I think a lot of people will appreciate is that rookie Darius Alexander is never far from Dexter Lawrence’s side when they’re on the sideline. Lawrence is constantly talking to the rookie, presumably providing greater detail about what just transpired. That’s a good thing to see, as some rookies don’t always seek out their veteran teammates out of concern; it makes them look like they don’t know what’s going on. 

The Giants will practice solo on Thursday with a walkthrough. There will be mo media access for that. They’ll host the Jets in the second preseason game on Saturday night.  

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