Giants news, 8/8: Giants respond to challenge for ‘aggressive’ practice

Good morning, New York Giants fans!

Giants rise to Brian Daboll's challenge before 'aggressive' practice | Giants.com

This was unlike the workouts in the spring and early in training camp that featured passing and more passing. On a steamy morning, Brian Daboll ran a fully padded practice with a heavy concentration of red zone runs. The offensive and defensive lines went at each other with near-game intensity. Saquon Barkley carried the ball several plays in a row more than once. And because conditioning is an emphasis this week, Daboll intermittently ordered the players to sprint to the other end of the field and resume there.

"It was a mosh pit," left guard Shane Lemieux said. "We got a good defensive line and defense right now. It's good fits, and it's good competition. Every single play we're fighting. We're getting better, and times like this, days like this are going to make us better in the long run."

RB Saquon Barkley finds the end zone in Sunday’s practice

Giants training camp, Week 2: 6 risers and 3 fallers | Big Blue View

Whose stock is up or down after two weeks of training camp? Two undrafted tight ends, two draft picks, and two wide receivers have been players that stood out for BBV's Ed Valentine. On the other hand, Darius Slayton's stock continues to tumble.

Richie James could make Darius Slayton a Giants salary cap cut | New York Post

It could come down to if Daboll and his staff prefers James, 26, or Darius Slayton, 24, entering his fourth season and set to play on the final year of his contract. From a financial standpoint, the new front-office regime is going to have to see more from Slayton to justify his nearly $2.6 million salary cap hit for 2022. James comes in at $1 million against the cap. For a team that is less than $5 million under the cap, saving more than $1.5 million by going with James over Slayton is hardly insignificant.

Odell Beckham Jr. remains available; when will he sign a new deal? | ProFootballTalk

Beckham is not expected to be ready for the first half of the season and appears ready to wait to pick a team until October or November, giving him a chance to land with a contender that potentially develops a need at the position, due to injury. Of course, Beckham would be under contract by now if someone made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Carl Banks breaks down one of the highlights that went viral over the weekend from the Giants Friday night scrimmage

Giants sign OT Eric Smith, per reports | Big Blue View

The New York Giants are signing offensive tackle Eric Smith, according to a report from Jordan Schultz. Smith originally came into the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Miami and was signed by the Miami Dolphins following the 2017 NFL Draft. Smith initially made the Dolphins’ 53-man roster as a rookie, but landed on the IR early in the 2017 season. This is the second time Smith has been a Giant—he was claimed off of waivers from the New York Jets in 2019. He played in two games for the Giants.

It’s too early to panic, but Giants’ pass protection isn’t helping Daniel Jones’ evaluation process | SNY

“I think you’ll get the truest test of an evaluation from the offensive line in live reps where you can bring a quarterback down and you can bring a running back down,” Daboll said. “Could he have brought him down, could he not have brought him down? Was there a fault in protection? Was there a miss-hot? Was there a miss-sight? I don’t overreact to those types of things. We’ll watch the tape and see what went wrong and what went right.”

Former Giant John Ross hoping for a return to the NFL | ProFootballTalk

Wide receiver John Ross was one of the more disappointing draft picks of recent years, but he’s hoping his career isn’t over just yet. Ross is close to getting cleared from the knee injury he suffered last season with the Giants and anticipates signing with some team around the start of the season.

2-round 2023 NFL Mock Draft: Quarterbacks dominate top 3 with Will Levis joining the fray | Pro Football Network

With the 7th overall pick, the Giants are mocked to select Georgia’s Kelee Ringo, who might end up being the runaway CB1 of the 2023 NFL Draft when the season ends. He’s a special mover for his 6’2″, 205-pound frame, and brings play strength you don’t often see at the position. In the second round, the choice is Minnesota center John Michael Schmitz.

Coach Brian Daboll on who will play in the first preseason game Thursday in New England

This week’s opponent

Patriots training camp 2022: In-stadium scrimmage gives clues as to who'll make the 53-man roster | CBSSports.com

On Friday, it was Matt Patricia who was manning the Team Blue sideline and calling the offensive plays for Mac Jones and Brian Hoyer. Meanwhile, it seemed like Joe Judge was calling plays on offense for rookie Bailey Zappe on Team White. This is just the latest piece to the puzzle that continues to point to Patricia being the de-facto OC in New England.

6 takeaways from the Patriots’ Thursday training camp practice | Pats Pulpit

Bill Belichick explains moving third-year man Bill Murray from the defensive to the offensive line.

“Thought he’d be a good fit over there,” Belichick said. “He has a lot of good traits we look for in an offensive lineman. We’ve talked about it before at other points in time during his career, and just felt like this is a good opportunity for him. We’d be able to give him reps, we felt like we’d given him enough of a look on defense to know where he is, but also to know if we had to move him back, that he would be able to do that. We’d have enough time to do it.

Around the league

Browns' Kareem Hunt requests trade, Cleveland tells RB it won't trade him | NFL.com

Cleveland Browns running back Kareem Hunt has requested a trade, NFL Network's James Palmer reported Sunday morning. Palmer added that the team has told Hunt it will not grant the request. Prior to Hunt's ask for a trade, the running back had spent several practices sitting out of team activities, but he returned to full participation on Sunday.

Deshaun Watson nixed settlement offer from NFL | CBSSports.com

Although the NFL wanted to see Watson suspended for a full year, the league was willing to trim that number down in a settlement. According to published reports, the NFL's final settlement offer was Watson would be suspended for 12 games and would also be fined $8 million to $10 million. Watson's side reportedly shot down the offer because it wasn't willing to accept any deal that was going to suspend the quarterback for more than six to eight games and unwilling to accept a heavy fine.

Pro Bowl tackle Duane Brown visiting Jets | NFL.com

Pro Bowl tackle Duane Brown is visiting the Jets on Saturday, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. Brown, 36, spent the last four-and-a-half seasons in Seattle and is the top remaining offensive lineman on the market. A first-round pick of the Texans in 2008, Brown has made five Pro Bowls, including last season, and was a first-team All-Pro in 2012. Brown started all 17 games for the Seahawks in 2021, but they replaced him with first-round selection Charles Cross.

Matt Rhule won't decide Panthers' starting QB until after Week 2 preseason game vs. Patriots | NFL.com

Panthers head coach Matt Rhule on Saturday tabbed his team's Aug. 19 preseason tilt against the host New England Patriots as a proving ground in the QB battle between Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold.

"I'm not putting a timetable on the quarterback position until after we get back from the Patriots week," Rhule said. "The Patriots week is a true litmus test for us. That will really show us where guys are."

In case you missed it

• Marcus McKethan injury: Giants place rookie guard on IR with torn ACL
• Big Blue View mailbag: Guardian Caps, Evan Neal, surprises, more
• How long does it take for offensive tackles to adjust to the NFL?
• NFC East notebook: Eagles’ QB Jalen Hurts having uneven training camp
• The Giants’ Fan Fest experience

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