Unfortunately, yours truly will not be in attendance at today's afternoon workout, an open session at New Meadowlands Stadium in which those with a ticket will be allowed in for free.
I will, however, be paying close attention to all the tweets, updates and interviews that come from the terrific core of writers who will be in attendance.
Here are the five things I will be paying the most attention to during the three-day mini-camp.
- The Offensive Line -- Specifically, this is the Will Beatty question. Throughout OTAs, there were a lot of surprising reports that Guy Whimper was often seen working in Rich Seubert's left guard slot, a hint that Seubert's job might be up for grabs. There were some disappointing reports, though, that Beatty was not taking first-team reps at either tackle slot. If the second-year player from UConn is going to get a real shot at a starting job, I would think we will see some indication of that this week.
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Middle Linebacker -- Who will take the majority of reps with the first unit? Jonathan Goff? Gerris Wilkinson? Fourth-round pick Phillip Dillard? My guess is that, initially, this shapes up as Goff vs. Wilkinson. That, though, is just a wild guess.
Here, by the way, is a great quote from Terrell Thomas about Goff. His teammates seem to want the young linebacker to loosen up a bit."Goff is a little bit dry, but we are working with him," cornerback Terrell Thomas said with a chuckle over Goff's personality. "We are making hip-hop playlists for him -- try to loosen him up a bit. He went to Vanderbilt, so you know we got to work with him. We got too much swag on our defense for him to be all stiff."
- Ramses Barden -- I watched him dominate corners like Stoney Woodson and DeAndre Wright during training camp in 2009, but neither of them made the team. Barden can manhandle lesser players simply with his size and strength. There have been lots of reports this off-season about Barden's progress. What I want to hear about is how Barden does lined up against Thomas or Aaron Ross -- bigger, physical, experienced corners he can't simply overpower.
- Jason Pierre-Paul -- The No. 1 pick obviously has a tremendous amount to learn, and is likely to be a situational type player for the Giants as long as their defensive ends are healthy this season. All I want to know is whether JPP looks overwhelmed by everything he doesn't know yet, or if he flashes enough to make you believe he can help as a pass rusher in 2010.
- Health Updates -- I know we won't be seeing Kenny Phillips on the field. It will be noteworthy, though, to see how many of the myriad of players injured at the end of 2009, are ready to take the field.
Mini-Camp Schedule
- Two practices Tuesday, including the open workout from 2:50 - 4:30 p.m. at New Meadowlands Stadium.
- Two practices Wednesday, from 9:45-11:30 a.m. and 2:50-4:30 p.m.
- One practice Thursday, from 10:05 - 11:35 a.m.