New York Giants news, 6/20: Camp Quotebook

Good morning, New York Giants fans! Mandatory mini-camp is over, but we have just begun reporting on and analyzing the information gathered from three days of watching the Giants practice. Let's touch on some of that information in today's notebook.

Camp Quotebook

Assistant coaches were all available to the media on Thursday. Here are quotes from some of them.

Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell when asked about the news 'tools in the toolbox' he has at his disposal this season:

"I definitely think those tools allow us to do a lot more different things that we have done in the past. We will definitely find out in the fall camp that…I was very excited about what we were able to install, some of the things we were able to do, the information they retained and executed at a high level. So yeah, it will be fun. I think it will be a lot of fun. ... I like those new tools we’ve got."

New running backs coach Craig Johnson on the dynamics of an entirely new offensive coaching staff working together to install a new offense:

"I think all of us have our little ideas about what we want to do and Ben has been great as a coordinator. He asks our opinion. He doesn't say, ‘This is my offense,' it's ‘This is our offense.' So he asks for a lot of our opinions as far as, ‘What do you think about this scheme? How do we want to run the outside more than the inside? What about this package?' He's done a good job of that so all of us feel like we have ownership in it and I think anytime you have that in any business you always feel comfortable because they're asking you so since you're giving input you better make sure the product is pretty good. I think we're all working at that and I think for all of the coaches here with the new terminology, it's a great challenge. I don't think any of the players would say that it's the same old stuff. We have definitely had a good playbook thrown at us and we really have embraced that challenge."

New quarterbacks coach Danny Langsdorf on building a relationship with Eli Manning:

"I think there is definitely a trust factor that you've got to gain. I wasn't here to bring up a bunch of stuff in the past, we've got enough changes philosophy-wise offensively, that's where we really put all of our attention going forward. I didn't have to bring that up or harp on last year at all, he knows that he's got to cut down the interceptions. Those things kind of go without saying. I didn't have to spend a lot of time with that stuff. We really focused this spring on kind of moving forward and how can we improve and just try to work on getting better each day."

Offensive line coach Pat Flaherty is the only offensive position coach back in the same spot he had last year. Here is Flaherty on all of the changes around him, both in the coaching staff and player personnel:

"Change is going to happen, we all know that. I like it, I really do. I mean, do I miss, you always miss people that you've been around for a lot of years, sure. But we all understand in most businesses that there is going to be change on sometimes a daily basis, most of the time on a yearly basis and that's the profession that we're in right now. So it's a challenge because we have a mixture of youth and some veterans that come in from other teams that have to learn a whole new offense, as myself. Any time you have that type of... when you're a competitor as you are as a player and a coach you kind of grab a hold of that and it's fun. It is."

Roster Moves

The Giants made a couple of roster moves on Thursday. They signed defensive tackle Everett Dawkins and tackle Demarcus Love and released defensive tackle Eathyn Manumaleuna and tackle Steven Baker.

Dawkins, 6-foot-2, 298 pounds, was a seventh-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings a season ago. He began the season on their practice squad, then was signed by the Dallas Cowboys and played one game before being released. He ended the season on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad. Dawkins was recently released by the Bucs.

Love, 6-4, 315 pounds, was a sixth-round pick by Minnesota in 2011 and has never played in a regular-season game. He was active for three games last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but did not play. The Jaguars released him earlier this month.

Around The Inter-Google

New tight ends coach Kevin M. Gilbride Jr. says the tight end position is "fully open right now to all five guys."

John Jerry missed OTAs and mini-camp with a knee injury, but the Giants expect to have him in training camp. Flaherty said Jerry would have an opportunity to start if Chris Snee is not healthy.

Former Giant Aaron Ross has signed a contract with the Baltimore Ravens.