Monday's New York Giants practice should simply be titled 'The Corey Washington Show.' Taking advantage of a depleted wide receiver group, the hero of Saturday's preseason victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers put on a spectacular show at Quest Diagnostics Training Center.
Washington worked with the first team, and caught passes in front of Prince Amukamara on three straight plays during the first 11-on-11 session, which is the no-huddle portion of practice. As it turned out, the undrafted free agent from Newberry College was just getting warmed up.
In a later 11-on-11 session, Washington again got the better of Amukamara. This time he went streaking down the left sideline to haul in an Eli Manning pass with a reaching grab despite tight coverage from the Giants' cornerback.
Washington finished his stellar day with an outstanding leaping grab over Zack Bowman on a ball from Curtis Painter that seemed to get hung up in the breeze just a bit.
"He's been one of those kids, you throw it up he goes and gets it," head coach Tom Coughlin said after practice.
Injury Report
Ten Giants missed practice. Here is the list.
John Conner (concussion), Victor Cruz (offseason knee surgery/rest day), Xavier Grimble (hamstring), Marcus Harris (hip), Peyton Hillis (foot), Trindon Holliday (hamstring), Jayron Hosley (foot), Jerrel Jernigan (knee), Mike Patterson (shoulder), Jon Beason (PUP).
Before the alarm bells go off do not worry about Cruz missing Monday's practice. This was a simple maintenance day for Cruz, who had knee surgery at the end of last season. He will practice on Tuesday, according to Coughlin. The coach also expects Jernigan and Harris to practice. Conner was outside working on the bike during practice and it seems as though he may not be sidelined long. Perhaps the player on the list to be concerned about is Patterson. The veteran defensive tackle has not practiced since prior to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game due to his shoulder injury.
Practice Notes
Here are some other observations from practice.
- First-round pick Odell Beckham Jr. practiced for the first time since injuring his hamstring the first day of training camp. He did only individual work, but did make the spectacular one-handed catch below.
- Rueben Randle had a spectacular catch of his own. Running a deep corner route, Randle hauled in a Manning pass one-handed in-between Amukamara and Stevie Brown. Later, Randle tried to reprise his one-handed catch on a slant across the middle. The results? A ball that glanced right into the waiting arms of Antrel Rolle for an interception.
- This was an up-and-down day for Mario Manningham. He dropped the first two passes thrown to him, the first a perfectly thrown deep ball by Curtis Painter against tight coverage by Bowman. The second was a sideline route. Manningham came back with a pair of catches later, one on a slant thrown a bit high and behind him.
- Speaking of Painter, he took the reps with the second team today while Ryan Nassib took third-team reps. Coughlin downplayed that after practice, saying "they'll work back and forth like that." This, however, is the first time in training camp that Painter has clearly taken reps ahead of Nassib. Painter went 7-for-7 Saturday night in leading the game-winning drive vs. Pittsburgh, hitting Corey Washington for a 3-yard touchdown.
- Josh Brown went 3-for-4 in field goals, missing what looked like a 45-yard attempt.