Ben McAdoo: New coach “can’t wait” for padded practices

Despite his reputation as an iron-fisted task master, training camp practices under Tom Coughlin in recent years have been the antithesis of physical. They may have been mentally draining for players, but Coughlin did as much as an NFL coach could do to lessen the physical demands on his players.

Expect that to change beginning Friday morning at 10:40 a.m. ET when the Giants take the field for their first training camp practice with Ben McAdoo as head coach. The Giants won’t wear full pads until their fourth practice, which will be next Tuesday, but McAdoo made it clear Thursday he wants to see physicality from his players.

"I hope it's real physical. When we have the pads on we want to practice with a smart tempo, but we're out here to be a physical football team, a heavy-handed football team,” McAdoo said. "Player safety is my responsibility, but we've still got to go out and play and practice the game."

McAdoo said the Giants will try to be “smart” during the first few practices, but he expects players to “crank it up” once pads come on next week.

"We circled the first day we're going to get the pads on. Can't wait for it. That's when you start finding out about the group of men in the room,” McAdoo said. "The game looks a little different than it has in the past. But still at the end the teams that are standing at the end are the physical teams, the heavy-handed physical teams."

In terms of “standing at the end,” McAdoo said the goal is still to “put the fifth (Super Bowl) trophy in the case.”

Getting through training camp with the key players on the roster healthy would be a good start.