Giants training camp: Thursday takeaways — wide receivers shine

The New York Giants concluded a third straight padded practice on Thursday as the grind of training camp continued. Here are some of our takeaways from the workout.

New CB Leon Hall “a little nervous”

After nine seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, cornerback Leon Hall joined the Giants on Thursday morning. He admitted he was “a little nervous” about joining a new team and that leaving Cincinnati was “bittersweet.” Hall did not practice Thursday, but is expected to practice on Friday. (Read the full story)

It’s Sterling Shepard’s world

Rookie wide receiver Sterling Shepard seems to provide a daily highlight reel. Thursday was no exception.

The cornerback here was undrafted free agent Matt Smalley. Poor guy. He didn’t face this kind of talent at Lafayette.

Who needs OBJ, anyway?

Shepard wasn’t the only young Giant receiver to sparkle on Thursday. Quite a few of the young receivers who are competing for a roster spot or place on the practice squad were impressive during practice. Kadron Boone, Roger Lewis, Geremy Davis, Darius Powe and Tavarres King were among the receivers who all turned in one or more sparkling plays. Odell Beckham? Better hurry up and get back to practice, fella!

Below, clips of some of the best catches.

That’s Kadron Boone making a phenomenal one-handed catch despite tight coverage from Eli Apple. Unfortunately for Boone, he was ruled out of bounds by officials.

That’s Tavarres King diving to make a terrific catch, once again with Apple in excellent position.

If it takes the kind of catches Boone and King made to complete balls against Apple then the first-round pick will be just fine.

Schedule change

Friday’s practice, which will be open to the public, has been moved to 11:40 a.m. ET. That makes it the first practice of camp not starting at 10:40 a.m. So that gives you, and perhaps me, an extra hour to get out to Quest Diagnostics Training Center. Practice is only scheduled to last an hour, which means it will likely be a jog through.

Personnel notes

Tight end Matt LaCosse, who tweaked a knee on Wednesday did not practice ... Placekicker Josh Brown, who missed Wednesday’s workout for personal reasons, returned to practice.