GIANT NOTES
ALBANY – The first live drill of training camp arrived yesterday morning and contained the first semblance of a real injury when safety Sam Garnes went down with a sprained right ankle.
Garnes was hurt on the fourth play for the starting defense in a short-yardage drill. Ron Dayne was dropped for a 3-yard loss on a pitch-out and in the jumble of bodies, center Dusty Zeigler fell over Garnes’ right leg. He shouted in disgust, remained down on the grass and then tried unsuccessfully to walk. He was carted off and taken for precautionary X-rays, which were negative.
“It looks like a normal ankle sprain,” Fassel said. “Sometimes they can’t tell if it’s going to be a day, a couple of days, a week, but it’s not going to be long with Sam. They don’t think there’s anything broken.”
As usual, the defense dominated this live drill, as the starting offense produced one first down in six plays. The one first down was a thing of beauty, though, as Dayne burst up the middle for 18 yards, carrying Jason Sehorn several steps before Shaun Williams came in to stop the piggy-back ride and put Dayne on the ground.
The rise in contact also led to a rise in tempers. After Michael Strahan stopped Dayne for a 2-yard loss, defensive tackle Keith Hamilton and left guard Mike Rosenthal got into a scuffle, which was broken up only after Hamilton delivered a haymaker to Rosenthal’s mid-section. As fights go, it wasn’t much, but it was the first one of camp.
“Offensively we seemed to be a little bit high with our pad level, we didn’t seem to come off real crisp,” Fassel said. “Our defense beat ’em to the punch.”
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On punts, safety Omar Stoutmire is working as the fullback, or personal protector, for the punter, a job handled last season by Greg Comella. Practicing a fake, the ball was snapped directly to Stoutmire, who ran an option to the left and then pitched the ball to punter Rodney Williams. “We’ve got an athlete who can pitch it and an athlete who can catch it,” Fassel exclaimed while watching.
Cornerback Dave Thomas is relentless in pursuit of receivers who make a catch, as he always runs them down and then attempts to strip the ball away. Yesterday morning, Thomas chased down Comella, tried to cause a fumble and in the process tripped over his own feet and tumbled to the ground. Strahan, pursuing the play, giggled.
Linebacker Brandon Short (groin), defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin (groin) did not work in the afternoon, and LT Lomas Brown also was held out. Fassel is taking it easy with the 38-year old Brown . . . A morning highlight was a picture-perfect toss from Kerry Collins that hit Amani Toomer in stride, as Toomer beat Williams and Thomas. Cornerback Ralph Brown also made a diving interception off Jesse Palmer, attracting loud praise from Fassel . . . Former Giants safety Lyle West signed with the Chiefs.