New York Giants training camp: Practice 1

So, Jim already posted a couple of updates for you from the morning session. Thanks to him for that. My cell phone does not have Internet access (yes, I'm an old codger in some ways), so I can't update until practice is over.

Anyway, here goes my Day 1, Practice 1 report.  I will go thru some 'firsts.'

• First Eli Manning ugliness of training camp. His first two passes of the day were terrible. An overthrow of Domenik Hixon on a short ball, and the wobbler into triple coverage Jim already mentioned. That ball was not picked off, but it got worse for Eli. He made some good throws, but ended up with three balls intercepted this morning. Ugh! That is not what I wanted to see.
• The first drop of camp was by David Tyree, on a pass from Andre Woodson.
• The first touchdown pass of the morning was a long ball from David Carr to Sinorice Moss. Moss ran by everybody, and I couldn't tell who was supposed to be covering him. Moss also beat Terrell Thomas deep later on, but could not haul in a slightly off the mark pass from Eli. By the way, it was a rough morning for Thomas, who was beaten both short and long several times by several different receivers.
• The first false start of the morning came courtesy of Chris Snee. Apparently, Snee was not paying attention when a fan yelled 'no false starts' at him when he entered the field.
• Snee's false start was immediately followed by the first off side of camp, with Jay Alford jumping across the line. Both plays drew groans from the fans in the stands.
• The first interception of camp was a diving grab by Kenny Phillips of a wayward pass by -- who else? -- Manning. Phillips and Corey Webster later combined for the best play of the morning. Webster tipped away a deep ball from Eli intended for Steve Smith, and KP snagged it for his second pick of the morning.
• The first political appearance of the morning came when Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings strolled across the sideline about halfway thru camp. Wave goodbye, Jerry. You probably won't be seeing the Giants in Albany next year.
• The first explosion of camp from Tom Coughlin (at least that I heard) came the second time Andre Woodson and Adam Koets screwed up the quarterback-center exchange. "That's two ... get the ball back," yelled TC, who then told Woodson and Koets to stay after practice and get it right.
• One other first. Yours truly was the first reporter to hit the field this morning. I was here too damn early, as a matter of fact. That isn't happening again. I need my beauty sleep!

A few other impressions

• Ramses Barden was terrific this morning. He made three consecutive catches, two in traffic. On one of those, he got absolutely mugged by Aaron Ross but still took the ball away.  Ross may have wrestled the ball away when the two hit the ground, but on those plays it was easy to see why the Giants think Barden could be a short-yardage and goal line weapon.
• Stoney Woodson made a tremendous play on a long ball for Shaun Bodiford, tipping away a David Carr pass at the last second. A bit later, though, Woodson got schooled by Derek Hagan for a long touchdown from Rhett Bomar.
• Bomar threw the ball crisply, on both some short and long balls. IMHO he is wayyyyy ahead of Woodson in the fight for the third quarterback spot.
• It's difficult to judge running backs in these non-contact drills, but Ahmad Bradshaw looked really quick.
• Osi Umenyiora and Barry Cofield will not practice this afternoon.
• Fred Robbins is, of course, on the PUP list. With the huge ice pack he was wearing on his left knee, you would have to guess he won't be on the field any time soon.

I will have more for you later as I continue to try and get the lay of the land around here. This afternoon's practice goes from 3:15-5:15. I might try to get some pictures for you, even though I look silly with my little digital next to some of these professional photographers.

[NOTE: Don't forget to scan through the transcripts from all on Sunday's interviews on the 'Transcripts' page. Lots of good stuff in there.]