Injury news was the story of Tuesday afternoon's New York Giants Training Camp workout at the University at Albany.
- Center Shaun O'Hara went to New York to have an MRI on his injured ankle, and Mike Garafolo was first (at least that I saw) with the news that there is no serious damage. That's good news for the Giants, who truthfully don't have a dependable backup center.
- Second-year wide receiver Hakeem Nicks went down right at the end of practice with what the Giants are terming a "hyperextended knee." Honestly, I saw Nicks come up hobbling after an incompletion pass from Eli Manning, but I did not see him carted off the field. Gotta learn to look a little closer while I'm leaving the field.
Here are a few notes from action on the field during the afternoon practice.
- We got our first look at Lawrence Tynes kicking with new holder Matt Dodge, the rookie punter. Tynes went 9-for-9, beginning at 20 yards and finishing at 47 while battling a pretty severe cross-wind. I'm no expert, but the holds all appeared clean and Tynes struck each ball well.
- Maybe I'm the only one who cares, but safety John Busing, a four-year veteran who was not signed until Saturday, finally had his name on the back of his jersey during the afternoon practice. Now we know how long that takes -- about three days.
- Nice practice for Terrell Thomas. He picked off a badly underthrown deep ball from Manning intended for Nicks (Eli's worst throw of camp thus far, in my estimation), then later batted away successive passes for wide receivers Duke Calhoun and Victor Cruz.
- A nice afternoon practice for Ramses Barden, catching everything that came his way, including a leaping grab of a pass from Jim Sorgi about 20 yards downfield in between D.J. Johnson and Busing.
- Speaking of Sorgi, he really has not been terribly impressive the first few days of camp. Lots of questionable throws to heavily-covered receivers.
- Osi Umenyiora showed that he is still, well, Osi Umenyiora. Same as he ever was, both good and bad. He blew past David Diehl for what would have been a sack on one play. Great. On another play, he came charging upfield hell-bent on another sack ... except that the offense ran a draw right into his vacated spot for what looked like it could have been a significant gain. Not so good. Some day, maybe he will learn to respect his run responsibilities.
- I mentioned it this morning, but I will do so again since an obvious pattern has emerged. Ahmad Bradshaw took snaps ahead of Brandon Jacobs again this afternoon, though both guys are working with the first unit. Every time the Giants' first offensive unit has lined up since camp began, Bradshaw has been on the field before Jacobs. Read into that whatever you want.