Land of the Giants: And so it begins

by Ed Valentine on Aug 2, 2009 7:00 AM EDT in New York Giants News

via blog.nj.com
Players report for training camp today at UAlbany. All we can do is hope the season ends with a picture similar to this one.

New York Giants' players report for training camp today.

I will begin filing whatever reports I can following the first practice on Monday morning.

If you are heading into Albany any time this month to watch any of the workouts, drop me an e-mail at bigblueview@gmail.com. I'd love to say hello.

Here are a few links for your reading pleasure this morning.

The Record's Ian O'Connor says the Giants are expecting more than ever from Eli Manning this season.

Eli Manning sat down with Jerry Reese a few months back, and no, this was not a shocking case of the teacher’s pet being summoned to the principal’s office. Reese lets Tom Coughlin coach their football team, but the general manager has had his share of conversations with the Giants’ biggest star.

Only this one was a little different.

"I wanted to tell Eli to his face what we expected," Reese said.

And so tell it to Eli’s face the GM did.

"We’re going to put it on you," Reese told Manning. "We’re expecting you to bring some of these young guys along. One of the things that stood out about your play at Ole Miss was that you made everyone around you better. You won tough games in the toughest league in college football while you were playing with guys like me out there at wide receiver.

"We liked that about you before we drafted you. We want to see that from you this year." ...

Manning assured the GM he can count on his right arm.

"And I have no doubt that we can," Reese said. "It’s not just about Eli; it’s about the entire team. But if you’re a leader of one of our units, and Eli is the leader of our offense, then we expect you to stand out.

"Eli expects that from himself. He’s a motivated, driven guy. He’s experienced it all, he’s very confident, and he’s more mature now. He’s a Pro Bowler. We’re not waiting on him to develop anymore. He’s a full-grown quarterback, and so a lot of the onus will go on him."

Here are training camp primers from the two heavyweight Giants' beat reporters -- at least in my view -- Mike Garafolo and Ralph Vacchiano.
Giants.com's Michael Eisen also weighed in with a camp preview.

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Eli

Every year Eli Manning makes some kind of improvement. To be fair to him, he never had his star TE (Shockey) and WR (Burress) to work with in the offseason. And we also heard about the stories of limited practice facility bombs because of the height of the structure. Not so this year with the new facility. So this year offers more. He has 100% offseason continuity with his WR corps into training camp. And the move by Reese to put more responsibility on Manning is perfectly timed. Reese has asked for more and I would not sell Eli short on delivering it.

by andy f. on Aug 2, 2009 7:44 AM EDT reply actions

So they expect more out of the guy

that takes his team the playoffs every year, wins a bowl, and follows it up with a 12-4, his best season statistically too?

I like a dat. Eli is officially the man. Not even a single skill position veteran in there. No Tiki, No Toomer, No Burress, no Shockey (that’s a good think tho). Not saying any of the other guys didn’t help. They did of course.

But no big mouth veterans in there. Not all of them were like Shockey, but even guys like Toomer and Tiki I bet always had their say in the huddle. Now? Everyone needs to pay attention to Eli. That’s a good thing.

by FreeBradshaw on Aug 2, 2009 10:38 AM EDT reply actions

+1

I agree completely.

Homer: Aw, twenty dollars! I wanted a peanut!
Homer's Brain: Twenty dollars can buy many peanuts!
Homer: Explain how!
Homer's Brain: Money can be exchanged for goods and services!
Homer: Woo-hoo!

by bigbluethruandthru on Aug 2, 2009 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm not worried about the receivers so much.

It’s the D. I’m really concerned about. Boley, Bernard, and Robbins are starting camo in the shelf and I wonder how soon they can begin to be effective. I mean we did make a big splash on new defensive players and 2 of the new guys won’t be able to contribute right away.

by Lucky7 on Aug 3, 2009 10:20 AM EDT reply actions