Giants news, 7/27: John Mara hasn’t let 2017 “nightmare” go yet

Good morning, New York Giants fans! The first practice of training camp is in the books, and Friday’s second practice is just hours away as this post hits the Inter-Google. We covered a whole lot of territory on Thursday, and you can visit our Training Camp Hub Page if you missed any of it.

Right now, let’s get to a few things we haven’t mentioned yet.

John Mara can’t forget 3-13 nightmare

We know that co-owner John Mara said he hopes negotiations with Odell Beckham Jr. will begin “pretty soon.”

Mara talked about several other things on Thursday, most notably saying that 2017 “was a nightmare for us” and that he hasn’t let it go.

“I haven’t gotten over last season quite yet,” he said. “I have to be honest about it, I did not see it coming. I felt very good this time last year. I think most of you (reporters) predicted that we were going to have a great season, some of you even predicted we’d go to the Super Bowl. I wasn’t quite buying into that, but I certainly did not see 3-13 coming. I don’t know that you ever fully get over that, but I think getting back into camp and seeing the players that we have on that field and getting ready to play games this year, I feel good about where we are. But I’m not going to forget about last season any time soon.”

Mara was asked about recent comments about some players made by former coach Ben McAdoo. He deflected that topic, but did reveal that he had “a very good conversation” with McAdoo a few weeks ago.

Quotable

— That’s Sterling Shepard talking about Odell Beckham Jr. Shepard also said “ there’s just something in him, he’s just hungry.”

GM Dave Gettleman speaks to players

Gettleman, battling lymphoma, is in remission. He has been around the Giants’ facility as much as possible, and spoke to the team on Wednesday afternoon.

“I had Dave speak to the players,” Shurmur said. “The players sort of left knowing that Dave was going through treatment. Dave’s treatment is going terrific – how he’s coming back. I thought it was important that he had a chance to visit with the team.

“I think they were glad to see him – excited to see that he’s working through the treatment. Things look good.”

Mara also spoke about Gettleman’s battle:

“Dave is doing great. It was reported yesterday, I think, that he’s in remission, and he was in the office yesterday, actually. I think he will be in later this afternoon, but he’s doing well. I don’t think I’ve ever been around a more upbeat person in my life, particularly going through what he’s going through,” Mara said. “But he’s very optimistic about his recovery and about his ability to work this year, and you know, we’re very excited about that. It’s the best news we’ve had in a long time.”