Takeaways from New York Giants practice on Wednesday

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants practiced in shells on Wednesday as they prepare for Saturday’s preseason finale against the New York Jets. Here are some of the takeaways.

Injury updates

Wide receiver Cole Beasley returned to practice on a limited basis. Beasley, who has been dealing with a left leg injury, did individual drills. Safety Jason Pinnock returned to practice, also doing only individual drills. Also, backup offensive lineman Tyre Phillips advanced to doing team drills on Wednesday, one day after returning to practice on a limited basis.

The following injured players did not practice:

RB Gary Brightwell, LB Cam Brown, DT Ryder Anderson, CB Cor’Dale Flott

Tight end Darren Waller and wide receiver Parris Campbell received veteran rest days. Offensive lineman Marcus McKethan, linebacker Darrian Beavers, and defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson, all of whom are coming back from knee injuries, were also given the day off.

PRAYERS UP FOR TOMMY SWEENEY!

Love for Aaron Rodgers

Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale on Tuesday called the New York Jets’ quarterback, whom the Giants will see — briefly — Saturday night, “one of the titans of the league.” Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka said Rodgers is “the pinnacle of what quarterback play looks like.”

Martindale said he would be “jacked” to face Rodgers if he were rookie cornerbacks Deonte Banks and Tre Hawkins “because it’s one of the best of the best.”

Quote of the day

“I play favorites all the time. I favor the guys who are making the most plays.”

— Special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey on whether or not he advocates for certain players to make the roster.

Practice notes

• Sterling Shepard is often referred to as an “energy” player, and he was certainly energetic on Wednesday. Even when passes to him were incomplete. During a 1-on-1 red zone rep against rookie Tre Hawkins, Shepard beat the rookie but was clearly a yard or so out of bounds when he caught the ball (right in front of the media). That didn’t stop Shepard from trash talking the rookie that he could get open against him “all day.”
• For the second straight day, the Giants used a heavy volume of run plays during 11-on-11 periods. There were also cards, used to indicate plays and formations, used at times. Again, that is two days in a row.
• The offensive line rotation continued. I did not see Mark Glowinski take any reps at left guard, but Ben Bredeson bounced back and forth from left to right, rotating with both Glowinski and Josh Ezeudu. Bredeson also took a few second-team center reps. The musical chairs extended to backups, as well. Shane Lemieux played guard and center. Matt Peart and Julien’n Davenport played both left and right tackle. Phillips played tackle and guard. Flexibility is obviously a priority.
• We talk a lot about whether the Giants use Saquon Barkley properly in the passing game. Wednesday, they ran a TRIPS formation, three receivers to one side, with Barkley isolated wide to the opposite side. Daniel Jones threw Barkley the ball, and he dropped it.
• Darius Slayton had one of the big plays of the day, catching a deep ball from Jones. I could not see who the cornerback was as it was on the opposite end of the field.
• Wide receiver David Sills, who might be on the outside looking in when roster cuts are made next week, beat cornerback Darnay Holmes to haul in a deep ball from Tyrod Taylor.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This will be the final in-person practice report for this year. I will not be in East Rutherford on Thursday, and regular-season rules begin next week for media. That means only the first few minutes of practice can be viewed rather than the entire session. Hope you have enjoyed these, and learned from them.]