Live updates from Tuesday’s Giants training camp practice: Pads on Day 6

The five-day acclimation period is over, and full pads will come on for the first time in training camp Tuesday evening when the New York Giants take the field for practice No. 6.

Linebacker Bobby Okereke said that players need to apply “moderation” with the increased physicality and remember they are on the same team.

“Obviously, we all come out here, we have egos, everyone wants to prove something. But it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint. We’ve got to keep each other healthy, and we’ve got to all make it through 17 games. You can win the battle in a practice, but you want to win the war. So, you’ve got to keep each other smart and safe, but you also want to compete. It’s a fine balance.”

The Giants have already had a couple of friendly fire incidents during camp. Safety Gervarrius Owens missed a couple of practices after a collision between and fellow rookie defensive back Tre Hawkins III, wide receiver Cole Beasley missed a practice after being kicked in the quad, and David Sills escaped injury after a collision with a defensive back.

“You try like heck not to have those. You’re going to have some of them,” coach Brian Daboll said earlier in camp. “Everybody is trying to compete for a role. Some role, whatever it may be. But understand we only have a certain amount of guys and we certainly try to do our best to maintain their safety.”

What we will be watching tonight

Offensive and defensive line play. Of course.

You simply can’t get a real read on offensive or defensive line play in non-padded, non-contact practices. Even when teams wear shells, which the Giants have done the last couple of practices, there isn’t enough contact along the line to really see anything useful in terms of line play.

Full pads is a different story.

All eyes will be on two Giants in particular — second-year right tackle Evan Neal and rookie center John Michael Schmitz.

After a rocky rookie season, Neal lost weight and adjusted his stance. He says he is healthier than he was a year ago. We begin to get a real idea where Neal is in his development on Tuesday evening.

As for Schmitz, offensive line coach Bobby Johnson was clear in the spring that before the Giants could commit the starting center job to him they needed to see how Schmitz handled the physicality — and the difficulty — of blocking someone like All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.

“It’s gonna be an eye-opener,” Johnson said.

Schmitz told Big Blue View on Monday that he wasn’t aware of the curiosity about the Schmitz vs. Lawrence battle.

“I don’t really pay attention to that,” Schmitz said. “I’m really focused on what’s going on in here.”

Schmitz, though, is looking forward to getting into pads.

“I’m ready to compete with my teammates, not against my teammates,” Schmitz said. “Just love strappin’ up, puttin’ on the pads, and get to hittin.’”

Updates from camp

(note: We’ll have a full report after practice)

Notable starters

• LG Joshua Ezeudu
• iLB Darian Beavers
• Slot CB Cor’Dale Flott
• Safety Jason Pinnock

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Media availability

The evening schedule means early-afternoon Zoom calls with select players. We will have an update for you before practice should anything interesting come from those. Daboll will speak to media at 4:30 p.m., a half-hour before practice.

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Updates

Our full story on the move can be found HERE.

More coverage

• NFL insiders rank Daniel Jones 19th in the NFL
• Giants training camp: Tre Hawkins, Darnay Holmes, more takeaways from Monday’s practice
• Injury news: Backup center J.C. Hassenauer to have triceps surgery

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