Giants news, 8/19: Kenny Golladay shines at Thursday practice

Good morning, New York Giants fans!

Giants’ RB Saquon Barkley ‘fed up’ with criticism of his running style | Big Blue View

In an ESPN article last month, an NFL offensive coach was critical of Barkley — something that clearly the Giants running back clearly seemed to be aware of.

“We call ‘em All-Pros with clickers in their hand,” Barkley said. “Running back is a tough position, but it’s easy to be there and watch football and watch on TV or even watch film and stop the clip and say he should have made that cut. I’ve been playing since I was 8 years old. By no means am I the perfect running back. I still got so much work to do. But I know that’s been a conversation or the thought or been a thing out there that’s said about me — he doesn’t know what he’s doing, he’s just dancing back there. I’m really kind of fed up with people who never played the position and try to speak on how to run the football.”

Kenny Golladay has Giants practice everyone’s been waiting for | New York Post

This was the practice everyone was waiting for: WR Kenny Golladay looked like a game-changer, securing multiple difficult catches in team periods. The best was a 40-yard bomb on which he had to adjust in the air to an off-the-mark throw by Daniel Jones and hang on to the ball as he crashed to the ground.

Giants’ QB Daniel Jones says he had ‘non-football related’ neck surgery this offseason | Big Blue View

New York Giants Twitter has been on fire lately, asking about the mysterious scar on quarterback Daniel Jones’ neck. On Thursday, Jones said the scar is the result of “a non-football related procedure done on my neck” and not anything to do with last season’s neck injury. Jones missed the final six games of the 2021 season with a neck injury. He played in the first preseason game last week against the New England Patriots, reporting no neck issues after being on the field for two offensive series and taking a few hits.

“Neck’s great,” Jones said. “It was all good, didn’t have any kind of issues at all so it was good,”

Why Daniel Jones Might Make A Leap — And Why Trey Lance Might Not | FiveThirtyEight

538’s Josh Hermsmeyer offers that one reason for optimism with Daniel Jones is the expectation that head coach Brian Daboll will import an offense similar to the one he ran in Buffalo with Josh Allen in 2020 and 2021. The Bills emphasized pass-friendly concepts like play action and pre-snap motion those years, both of which are a sort of “easy button” for the QB. Each tactic depends on fooling the opposing team instead of requiring the quarterback to be a hero.

Giants injury news: iOL Ben Bredeson leaves practice with injury | Big Blue View

New York Giants reserve lineman Ben Bredeson left practice with an apparent elbow injury Thursday. Bredeson, 24, has stepped into a larger role as a reserve guard and center in recent days. He had been a consistent presence with the second string offensive line through the early part of camp, but rotated onto the field with the starting offensive line after LG Shane Lemieux left the first preseason game with a toe injury. Bredeson then moved over to center with the second unit later in the game and has since emerged as solid depth at the position as well.

Former player Chris Long critiques the play of rookie RT Evan Neal and EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux from last week:

Giants defensive coordinator Don Martindale downplays preseason heavy blitzing | ProFootballTalk

Last Thursday, when the Giants and Patriots squared off in their first exhibition contest of the 2022 preseason, the Giants’ defense dialed up plenty of blitzes. Did they overdo it?

Defensive coordinator Don Martindale, smirking, said on Thursday, ”We’re on to Cincinnati,” a nod to Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s 2014 mantra after an ugly Monday night loss to the Chiefs.

NY Giants roster: Latest 2022 projection in Preseason Week 2 | The Record

The Record’s Art Stapleton notes that the Giants have holes to fill and depth to replenish while seeking upgrades to improve the foundation in Brian Daboll’s first season as head coach. The most likely way for general manager Joe Schoen to better this roster is via the waiver wire and one-for-one player trades, potentially swapping from a position of strength with a team whose strength matches the Giants’ weaknesses.

Cover1’s Erik Turner, who regularly breaks down film of the Buffalo Bills, takes a look at the Giants offense from the first preseason game

Manti Te’o thought New York Giants might select him in 2013 NFL draft | USA Today

As Te’o slipped down the board in Round 1, the New York Giants came up to pick at No. 19 overall. In that moment, he thought that’s where his fall might end.

“I remember going through the draft and I knew that the Giants really liked me but I just wasn’t sure,” Te’o recalled. “They didn’t pick me up and I was like, ‘uh man, I’m not going to get picked.’”

Instead, the Giants selected Syracuse offensive lineman Justin Pugh at No. 19. Te’o eventually went to the San Diego Chargers at No. 38 overall (Round 2).

This week’s opponent

La'el Collins out of camp with a personal issue | ProFootballTalk

Bengals right tackle La'el Collins has not practiced much in training camp. He was out again Wednesday, missing practice with what Zac Taylor said was a personal issue about which he wasn’t comfortable commenting. Collins signed a three-year, $21 million contract with $5 million guaranteed with the Bengals after seven seasons with the Cowboys, who cut him during the offseason. He began training camp on the non-football injury list with a back issue.

The Magic and Mythology of Joe Burrow’s Deep Passing Game | The Ringer

The third-year Cincinnati Bengals quarterback enters this season with plenty of expectation. But his combination of touch, vision and sheer ability has his receivers confident that he’ll find them any time, anywhere.

Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase atop ranking of NFL QB/pass-catching duos | Cincy Jungle

Burrow and Chase are THE best combo in the entire NFL, according to NFL Network’s Maurice Jones-Drew. Chase broke several rookie receiving records in his first year with Burrow. He had the most receiving yards in a single game (266 yards) and total receiving yards in a single season (1,455). They also managed to turn the worst big play offense from 2020 into the best big play offense in 2021. They combined for 13 touchdowns and Chase’s big plays often provided necessary momentum early in the season. The duo were also able to help fuel a Super Bowl bid that no one saw coming.

Around the league

Browns QB Deshaun Watson suspended 11 games, fined $5 million | NFL.com

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has been suspended for 11 games during the 2022 NFL season and fined $5 million for violating the NFL’s personal-conduct policy per the terms of a settlement reached between the league and the NFL Players Association, the league announced on Thursday. Additionally, Watson must commit to mandatory evaluation and treatment.

Per the NFL, Watson’s suspension will take effect following the final roster cutdown on Aug. 30 and he will be eligible for reinstatement on Nov. 28. Watson would first be eligible to play in Week 13 against the Houston Texans, his former team.

Haslam: Did we give Deshaun Watson a second chance because he's a star QB? Well, of course | ProFootballTalk

“Is he never supposed to play again? Is he never supposed to be a part of society? Does he get no chance to rehabilitate himself? That’s what we’re gonna do,” Haslam said. But then Haslam acknowledged the obvious: This isn’t about Haslam’s support of second chances, it’s about Haslam’s desire to have a franchise quarterback. “You can say that’s because he’s a star quarterback. Well, of course,” Haslam acknowledged.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles noncommittal on Tom Brady’s return | ESPN

Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles was noncommittal Thursday when asked by reporters about a return date for quarterback Tom Brady, who has been away from the team since Aug. 11 to tend to what has been described as “personal things.”

“We’ll see,” Bowles said Thursday. “We’ll talk about it next week. Not concerned about it right now. We’re trying to practice against Tennessee and play a game. I said ‘sometime after Tennessee.’ There’s no definitive date for me. But we’ll check on it, we’ll keep in touch and we’ll find out.”

Melvin Gordon says the Broncos want second-year back Javonte Williams to be 'the guy' | CBSSports.com

Despite Gordon's return, it doesn't seem like there will be the same shared workload this coming season between the two backs.

"I think they have a plan on what they want heading in, but as far as the rotation goes, I really don't know," Gordon said. "I think they want 'Vonte' to be the guy, but we do rotate. He'll take the first series and then the second series with the [No. 1 offense], I'll take. Sometimes we switch, but you know kind of how it is.

Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy impressed by rookie RB Isiah Pacheco's work ethic | NFL.com

"He's a very confident young man," Bieniemy said. "Now you're talking about a kid that plays hard. Pacheco plays hard. The thing I need Pacheco to do, and first of all, he's doing a great job, he has tremendous work ethics. As a young back, this is probably one of the toughest things that they need to learn, is allowing the game to come to him, learning how to be a patient runner, OK? Understand exactly what's going on up front so now he can have a better feel on how to spread his shoulders up, press it and then read it out from there. But as far as work ethics, [he] works hard."

In case you missed it

• Giants training camp takeaways, 8/18: Saquon Barkley’s running style, Daniel Jones’ neck, more
• Joe Schoen: Giants ‘open for business’ as season approaches
• 6 recently released players Giants could consider

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