New York Giants News And Notes: Jake Ballard Fallout Continues

Good morning, New York Giants fans. Today is the final day of the team's mandatory mini-camp. The Giants will practice for only about 45 minutes before going their separate ways for the rest of the summer. Here are some of the stories making news today.

Defiant Reese won't explain loss of Ballard | New York Daily News
Jerry Reese thought Jake Ballard would clear waivers on Tuesday and said it was "disappointing" that the New England Patriots claimed the tight end. But he had no interest in explaining why the Giants waived Ballard in the first place in what Tom Coughlin called a "calculated risk" that went wrong.

"I could explain it but I don't want to explain it," Reese said Wednesday morning in an interview with Bob Papa and Amani Toomer on SiriusXM NFL Radio. "Because it’s really irrelevant at this point. All I want to say about Jake is he did a tremendous job for us and we hope he gets well soon. It’s really pointless for me at this point to try explain it to people.

"It’s rare that somebody takes a guy under these conditions off the waiver wire but it happened and we wish Jake all the best."

Giants' Canty responds to Packers' Rodgers over faking injuries
"I don’t really have a response to a QB being accusatory or anything like that," Canty said. "It’s unfortunate that a fellow player would think that about another player, and about injuries and another player.

"You try to have something called professional courtesy, you know? You don’t want to accuse somebody of something when you don’t know the full circumstances. But … that’s no excuse. He should understand. He knows first-hand what NFL players go through, and he should be sympathetic towards that, and I’m disappointed he made that comment."

Bill Belichick Refutes Breaking 'Unwritten Rules' in Signing Jake Ballard Away From Giants - New England Patriots - NESN.com
"There aren't any unwritten [rules]," Belichick said. "Any time you put a player on waivers, you know there are 31 teams out there that can take him if they want him. We all know that. There's no secrets about that."

Paul Dottino: Jake Ballard Claim Puts New York Giants In Tight Spot " CBS New York
The Patriots' claiming of injured tight end Jake Ballard sent a ripple through the Giants’ complex that will be felt at least until the team proves it has a quality replacement.

WR Jernigan primed to step up
Coming from a record career in college, WR Jerrel Jernigan had a limited role as rookie but looks to step up in his second season.

Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara impressing Tom Coughlin in first full offseason | NJ.com
Prince Amukamara is like a glorified rookie at this point, given how much time he missed with a broken foot after what was already an abbreviated 2011 offseason.

"Prince is making progress, yeah, he is," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said of last year’s first-round pick. "They’re letting him do up to a point and he’s out there competing. It’s a whole different year for him, really, since he has had that experience and a lot of that is behind him. He’s doing a good job. Hopefully, he’s going to continue."

Bigger Beckum feels 'great' after run | New York Daily News
Tight end Travis Beckum said his surgically repaired knee felt "great" on Wednesday, one day after he ran for the first time since he tore his ACL in Super Bowl XLVI. He admitted to feeling something "a little weird" on Tuesday just after he completed his running, but it was all cleared up by Wednesday morning.

"I guess that’s a good sign," he said.

Beckum said that what he felt was "not necessarily discomfort, just a feeling that I hadn’t felt in a while – kind of weird just because of the whole patella situation. I kind of felt something on my patella, right where my scar was. Today I didn’t feel that, so I’m assuming it’s just breaking up the scar tissue. My knee feels great."

Quick Hits from Giants Practice

A collection of tweets from Wednesday's practice.