Giants Day 1 Practice Report: Defense ahead of offense

The first practice of 2013 Training Camp is in the books for the New York Giants. While everyone else around the Meadowland Sports Complex -- and here at the Econo Lodge overlooking the Izod Center -- prepares for Saturday night's Bob Jovi concert at MetLife Stadium, here is your practice report.

First and foremost, there were no injuries -- that we know of. So, no matter what else happened, there is that bit of good news.

The 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills shows that the defense, as head coach Tom Coughlin said he expected, is ahead of the offense as camp gets underway.

"There's some good, some bad. But we threw a lot at them," Coughlin said. "The reactions were probably better on defense than they were on offense to start with, but that's nothing unusual. We're glad to be out here, glad to be working."

Cornerback Prince Amukamara intercepted a long, overthrown pass by Eli Manning for Rueben Randle. There were several other tipped balls and a handful of errant throws. The play symbolized one thing Coughlin took away from practice Saturday.

"Defensively, they covered the deep ball well," Coughlin said. "I thought the throws were pretty darn good, but I like the way we were in position from the corner spot on the deep ball today and that was a good thing."

Practice Notes

Linebacker Spencer Paysinger seemed to have a good day. He tipped away a pass for Brandon Myers and appeared to flash into the backfield on a couple of running plays.

Rookie quarterback Ryan Nassib appeared to have a nice practice, throwing several on-time, on-target passes.

Starting center David Baas did some on-field work, but did not participate in the 11-on-11 drills.

First-round pick Justin Pugh and third-round pick Damontre Moore spent several snaps lined up across from each other. In one of the day's more physical plays Pugh buried Moore into the ground when the defensive end attempted an outside pass rush. That came a play after what looked pretty much like a defensive jailbreak on a run call to Pugh's side.

Linebacker Aaron Curry made a nice play on an out route for tight end Chase Clement that he swatted away. He did appear to cramp after that, however.

Interestingly, defensive ends Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka seemed to flip-flop from side to side based on the defensive call. Tuck, a left end his entire career, spent most of his time on the right side of the defense.

Among those returning punts were Rueben Randle, Jayron Hosley, Aaron Ross, David Wilson, Victor Cruz and Jerrel Jernigan.

Steve Weatherford had a so-so day, hitting several very short punts during the early portion of practice.