New York Giants Training Camp: Day 6 Practice Report

The New York Giants held their first complete full-padded practice of training camp Thursday at UAlbany. As far as coach Tom Coughlin was concerned, the 88-degree temperature and sunny skies were exactly what the Giants needed.

"Nice warm day. We needed it badly," Coughlin said. "Good work out here. Guys competed well, we made a little progress today. Two more good days like this will really help us."

Here is your Day 6 practice report.

MMA Mania

The first two skirmishes of camp broke out Thursday afternoon.

• Cornerback Brandon Bing had to be declared the winner of his shoving match with wide receiver Brandon Collins, the first of the day. Bing reached up and ripped Collins' helmet off.
• Tight end Martellus Bennett drew Coughlin's ire for getting into a shoving match on the final play of practice. Couldn't tell precisely if he was wrestling with Mathias Kiwanuka or Jason Pierre-Paul. Either way, TC was not happy about it.

Injury Report

• Cornerbacks Jayron Hosley and Dante Hughes were both carted off before practice concluded. Coughlin said both were suffering from dehydration, not injuries.
• There is nothing new to report on cornerback Terrell Thomas' right knee, Coughlin said. The Giants are awaiting the results of Thomas' visit to Dr. James Andrews. "I'm going to stay positive until somebody tells me different," Coughlin said.

Players Who Impressed

• Domenik Hixon, trying to come back after having successive seasons taken away by torn ACLs, continues to move well and show no fear. He made a few catches Thursday, none better than his final one of the day during a two-minute drill. Matched up against Prince Amukamara Hixon went deep down the left sideline, leaped and outfough a perfectly-positioned Amukamara to come down with a juggling catch. "You know he's going to try to make a play," Coughlin said. "This guy is something else. He has no fear."
• Will Hill, an undrafted free agent safety, continues to impress. Hill was in excellent position to make plays a number of times Thursday. The 6-foot-1, 207-pound Hill has a chance with Thomas' injury forcing Antrel Rolle to play some slot corner, and with Tyler Sash facing a four-game suspension for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy.
• Joe Martinek needs to be able to lead block and pick up the blitz if he has any shot at making the roster. Martinek is under-sized for a fullback, but did a good job Thursday in both capacities. On one play, he stone-walled a blitzing Hughes. Of course, he couldn't stop the other guys breaking in on Ryan Perrilloux for a sack, but he did his job.

Players Who Struggled

• I hate to do it because it seems like I'm picking on the guy, but Ramses Barden goes here. Barden had a drop today, gave up inside position to Justin Tryon on a third-and-two situation in-route, allowing Tryon to bat the ball down, and could not separate from Michael Coe on a go route down the left side.
• Janzen Jackson is really struggling to master playing cornerback. The Giants signed the undrafted free agent as a safety following rookie camp, but have moved him to corner. Right now, it's not looking like a good fit.

Play Of Camp

• One day after Coughlin offered him some unsolicited praise, wide receiver David Douglas made an absolutely spectacular play. He beat Jackson by a step down the right sideline on a go route and made a one-handed diving catch. Of course, it would have been an easy play if Perrilloux could put the ball on target, but the degree of difficulty made the play special.

Middle Linebacker Competition

• Mark Herzlich, trying to unseat incumbent Chase Blackburn, made a beautiful play in pass coverage. He dropped quickly enough to tip away a Carr pass on a 12-15 yard in route by Randle. Blackburn is not giving up the job quietly, though. He was in the backfield at least twice to blow up running plays.
  

Practice Highlights

1-on-1 Drill

• Bruce Johnson was just a hair late on an out to Hixon, missing an interception and allowing a completion.
• Reuben Randle beat Johnson, who slipped, on a go route.
• Rolle, in the slot, picked off an out route from David Carr intended for Chris Hopkins.

7-on-7 Drill

• Only one main highlight here. Second-round draft pick Reuben Randle got behind Johnson on a deep route, had to come back for an underthrown ball, and out-wrestled the cornerback for possession.

11-on-11

• Victor Cruz made a leaping catch over Rolle on a seam route.
• Tight end Larry Donnell made a leaping catch between two defenders on a sideline route, then had Hughes rip the ball out of his hands when he came down.
• Can't highlight this as one play. The Giants ran three screens to running backs during 11-on-11 work that were set up beautifully and would have popped for big gains.
• Lawrence Tynes made five-of-six field goals. His lone miss was a 46-yarder that was knocked down by the wind. It was his longest attempt, and only miss of camp thus far.

Notes

Linebacker Jacquian Williams did a little bit of work with the safeties today. The injury to Thomas, the suspension of Sash and the move of Rolle down to slot corner has the Giants experimenting with players to fill the role Deon Grant played the past two season.