Giants training camp, 8/5: ‘Good work’ for Giants at Fan Fest, more takeaways

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants ran through a practice filled with scrimmage type situations during Friday evening’s Fan Fest at MetLife Stadium. The stadium’s lower bowl was fairly well occupied for the team’s second Fan Fest in as many years.

“Got a lot of good work out there,” said head coach Brian Daboll. “Lot of good things, tried to put the guys in a lot of different situations ... tried to make it as game-like as we could.

“I thought both sides competed well.”

Injury notes: Rookie guard Marcus McKethan injured

• Rookie guard Marcus McKethan was carted off the field during the scrimmage with an apparent right leg injury. McKethan was drafted in Round 5. Daboll didn’t have any information on the extent of McKethan’s injury. A number of teammates stopped by the cart before it drove away to offer well wishes to McKethan.
• Cornerback Adoree’ Jackson left the field near the end of a drive of nearly 20 plays. Daboll said Jackson “just tightened up a little bit” with a cramp.
• Wide receiver David Sills worked on the side Friday, along with newly-acquired defensive back Nate Meadors.

Fired up for Fan Fest

Giants’ safety Xavier McKinney was asked Friday afternoon if he was looking forward to the Fan Fest practice.

“Obviously, it’ll be our first time everybody as a group, out there in the stadium. It’s going to be fun. I know the energy is going to be up, we’re excited, and we’re ready to kind of get that little first glimpse of how we’re going to be playing and know what we’re going to be doing,” McKinney said. “So, it’ll be fun, and we’re looking forward to it.”

After the event, here is what Daboll said about the atmosphere:

“It was good to get the fans out there. Great support. It was a little different energy, a little bit more tired ... thought it was exactly what we needed in terms of tempo of practice, the amount of plays we had.”

Quote of the day

— Saquon Barkley on whether he feels urgency to help Daniel Jones after being hurt so much the past couple of years

Quarterback stats

These are entirely unofficial, but here are the stats I have for quarterbacks on Friday night. A handful of these plays may have been negated by penalties, but I’m including every throw I charted.

• Daniel Jones: 15 of 26
• Tyrod Taylor: 8 of 13
• Davis Webb: 7 of 15

Jones had an uneven first session, going 5 of 12 and throwing two balls that could have been intercepted. Adoree’ Jackson knocked a pass away from Kadarius Toney, and Tae Crowder dropped an interception on a throw intended for Saquon Barkley.

Daboll said that overall he felt the decision-making by all three quarterbacks was “pretty good.”

In terms of Jones in particular, Daboll said “I thought he operated well.”

A noteworthy thing about the offense was that the Giants ran a pretty vanilla, simple attack. A lot of the motion we have seen in training camp was absent.

Conditioning needed

The Giants’ first teams were on the field for a pair of drive totaling 34 plays. Daboll said those long drives were orchestrated intentionally.

“Little bit hot. Little bit humid. What we needed,” Daboll said. “I thought it was a competitive practice. I thought the guys were a little bit more upbeat. It’s natural — fans out here, music going. Certainly there’s a lot to improve on I think. We’re moving in the right direction, but we’re a ways away.

“We have to improve our conditioning level. That’s why we did those two long drives — everyone could get a feel for where they’re at individually, but collectively that’ll be a point of emphasis this week.”

As mentioned previously, Jackson left before one of those drives ended with what Daboll said was cramping.

Live tackling

The Giants did a period of live tackling with the third-team offense and defense on the field. Daboll said that was to help those players prepare for Thursday’s preseason opener vs. the New England Patriots, since they will likely play the bulk of the snaps.

“They’ll probably play a lot in the preseason,” Daboll said. “Didn’t want it to be the first time they had live contact.”

Offensive line thoughts

Daboll said he thought the offensive line was “jelling ... they’re coming together.”

“You’ll get the truest test of an evaluation from the offensive line in live reps where you can bring a quarterback down, you can bring a running back down,” Daboll said. “But I think the guys are communicating well, they’re working together, still got a long way to go, but I think they’re moving in the right direction.”

Kayvon Thibodeaux making an impact

The No. 5 overall pick has not made a ton of splashy plays so far in training camp, but it is pretty easy to see that he is hard for offensive linemen to handle. How’s that? Thibodeaux has drawn numerous holding penalties thus far in training camp. Friday night, he drew one from rookie right tackle Evan Neal.

“He’s tough to block,” Daboll said. “He’d done a good job these last few practices of getting his feet underneath him. He’s got a variety of pass rush moves. Again, he’s a rookie ... good young player, he’s got a lot to work on. I hope he draws more of ‘em.”

Roster moves

The Giants added offensive tackle Will Holden on Friday and waived linebacker Niko Lalos. They also waived defensive back Jarren Williams from injured reserve. Holden, with only a few hours to digest the playbook, was taking third-team reps at right tackle Friday night.

Quick hits

• Placekicker Graham Gano made a 30-yard field goal.
• Undrafted free agent safety Yusuf Corker intercepted a Davis Webb pass, grabbing a deflection by UDFA cornerback Darren Evans in the end zone and returning it roughly 60 yards.
• Doss dropped a pass from Webb that would have been a touchdown. Doss also had a catch on a deep ball by Webb.
• Wan’Dale Robinson caught a third-down pass from Jones over the middle and turned it into a gain of roughly 32 yards.
• Undrafted free agent tight end Andre Miller, aligned at fullback, caught a touchdown pass from Jones on a fourth-and-1.
• Collin Johnson had a catch of roughly 45 yards on a deep ball from Tyrod Taylor nullified by a holding penalty.
• Leonard Williams was a force during first-team work, spending considerable time in the backfield.
• The Giants’ snapping woes continued as Garrett McGhin fired a snap well wide of Webb at one point. Backup center remains a question mark.