OTA No. 6 Practice Report: Tight End Matt LaCosse Doing It Again

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Matt LaCosse has been a spring and summer standout for the New York Giants for the past two seasons. Each time, though, injuries have derailed the former undrafted free agent from Illinois. He caught three passes in two 2015 games, and spent all of last season on IR.

Friday, LaCosse was at it again.

The 6-foot-6, 250-pound tight end caught, by my count, three touchdown passes during the red zone portion of Friday’s OTA. Two of those were fade patterns where we went up, caught the ball and deftly got his feet in bounds.

LaCosse would appear to have the numbers stacked against him this time around. First-round pick Evan Engram, free-agent signee Rhett Ellison, and holdovers Will Tye and Jerell Adams are all ahead of him on the depth chart.

Still, the Giants are giving LaCosse a third chance. Friday, he took advantage.

Here is more from Friday’s OTA.

Who Wasn’t There

Odell Beckham Jr. had lots of company among players not in attendance at Friday’s voluntary workout. Justin Pugh, Jonathan Casillas (attending his daughter’s kindergarten graduation), Olivier Vernon, Owamagbe Odighizuwa, Janoris Jenkins and Nat Berhe were not in attendance.

Coach Ben McAdoo didn’t want to discuss those who were missing.

"We already did the attendance song and dance last week," McAdoo said. "Let's skip that this week."

Injury Updates

• Tight end Rhett Ellison was again sidelined with what he said was a calf injury.

“Right now we are just being smart with it. We have been running on it and we are just being real smart this time of the year,” Ellison said.

• Cornerback Eli Apple did not work because of a hamstring injury suffered last Friday. He doesn’t appear to believe it’s anything serious.
• Wide receiver Brandon Marshall did not practice. McAdoo simply said Marshall was “sore.”
• Safety Darian Thompson (foot) and quarterback Geno Smith (knee) did more Friday than they had a week ago when media had access to practice. Thompson took some defensive reps, which he did not do last week.
• Wide receiver Kevin Norwood left practice with an apparent ankle injury. Norwood appeared to step on the foot of a defensive back after making a catch.
• Linebacker J.T. Thomas, continuing to work his way back from a knee injury, did some running on the side.

Practice Highlights

McAdoo called Friday an “encouraging day.” McAdoo ddi, however, caution that it was too early to really evaluate players.

“This isn’t the time necessarily to evaluate,” he said. “It’s about teaching, it’s about learning.”

Here are a few highlights.

• With Apple not practicing and Jenkins not attending, some young Giant corners got extra reps. Michael Hunter, who was a standout last week, had nice play early in practice when he batted down a deep ball intended for Darius Powe. Donte Deayon took first-team reps in the slot and drew praise from McAdoo. The coach said Deayon “did a nice job out there today. He’s been doing a nice job all offseason.” Mykkele Thompson continued to work at corner. He dropped an interception after getting two hands on a deep ball from rookie quarterback Davis Webb.
• There were no changes to the offensive line configuration, aside from Adam Gettis filling in for the absent Pugh at left guard. John Jerry was at right guard and Bobby Hart at right tackle with the first team. D.J. Fluker worked at right guard and Adam Bisnowaty right tackle with the second group.
• The Giants blasted crowd noise from speakers during an 11-on-11 portion of practice. Let’s just say I was happy to see that part of the workout end.
• Webb threw a pair of touchdown passes during a red zone 7-on-7 drill, one to LaCosse and the other to a crossing Kevin Snead.