East Rutherford, NJ—The NY Giants and New York Jets held their first joint practice in 17 years on Wednesday at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford.
Both coaches Brian Daboll and Robert Saleh want to make it a yearly date between the cross town rivals.
After viewing the G-Men practices for weeks, there is a different vibe and it is contagious. The energy level of the coaches, support staff, and personnel has transitioned huge results on the field.
“I think it’s important to be able to practice with one another. We’d like to do this for a while without anything happening like that again,” Daboll told the media on Thursday.
Giants O vs Jets D:
Daniel Jones was surgeon when it comes to completing passes. Jones looked very comfortable in the pocket, most didn’t traveled 10 yards down the field and none stretched the defense deep. All but two of his 15-16 passes were completed. With more RPO’s incorporated in the offense Daniels is able to hit his spots quickly while keeping his eyes downfield. Jones just have to be mindful of ball security while moving around in the pocket.
David Sills V looks like the wildcard in the offense. He caught half of Jones’ completions. All were underneath or intermediate routes. Sills runs very precise routes and is able to immediately stick his foot in the ground and go up the field.
Running back Saquon Barkley have been impressive through these past weeks—his burst and acceleration are back. He looks healthy and definitely ready to carry the load. This new offense utilizes all of Barkley’s skill sets. Barkley has help in the backfield with tough nose running backs Antonio Wiliams and Gary Brightwell vying for some touches.
“Those guys are fired up,” said Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard. “It’s like who’s going to be the little brother. You know what I mean? So, we’re getting prepared for them.”
The Gang Green defensive front are studs. They have a bull rusher in Quinnen Williams, a offensive lineman nightmare in Carl Lawson (coming off Achilles’ injury), and a 1st rounder in Jermaine Johnson. They sub a lot and everyone that lines up is just as nastier than next with a high motor.
If the Giants can keep Daniels upright and a nice clean pocket to step and throw, the G-Men will make some noise this year. The offensive line is coming along and playing well together. One lineman that have been very productive is Andrew Thomas, who’s been rock solid at left tackle and Evan Neal is developing nicely on the other side of the line.
Both coaches were pleased with the outcome of Thursday’s combo camp, and will definitely illicit feedback from the players. There was no fighting, and nothing distracted the players from their main objective: improvement, both as teams and as NFL players.
“A lot of respect for Brian Daboll and we want to make a habit out of this and not just because we are playing each other preseason. We would like to break up camp. We’re too close for us not to work. If we as a team can make it work, we can both help each other a lot,” Saleh said.
There were some friendly jawing on the 7-on-7 but for all intense and purposes both teams conducted themselves as professionals. That is all you can ask for.
