ALBANY – The Giants, for the first time all summer, were decked out in full pads for Wednesday’s practice but they barely got down to some real hitting. Their scheduled two-hour practice was shortened to one hour on the outdoor grass fields before rain and the threat of lightning forced them indoors.
Tom Coughlin was hoping the storm would pass and his team could resume the outdoor practice but when the storm front stalled, Coughlin has no choice but to ditch his plans. The Giants took off the pads and finished up their abbreviated practice with a walk-through on side-by-side basketball courts.
Did this frustrate Coughlin?
“What do you think?’’ he said.
With the new Collective Bargaining Agreement essentially making the grueling grind of training camp a thing of the past, the Giants will not be able to get back the lost time on the field. There are no longer two-a-day practices allowed. After four days on the field, players must receive a day off.
“The CBA says a day off, can we switch it?’’ Coughlin asked. “We had our day off and now we are half a practice and have to come inside. I thought we were able to go and then the rain was worst waiting the thing out. That would have put us back on the turf field and that wasn’t a good option. From what I understand the clock is even running on you when you have something like this happen. ‘’
Before the rain came, there were a few practice notables:
– The play of the day was provided by LB Mathias Kiwanuka, who snuffed out an Eli Manning screen pass intended for D.J. Ware. Kiwanuka penetrated into the backfield, reached out with his long arms to deflect Manning’s pass to himself for an interception that he would have returned for a touchdown.
– T James Brewer sat out, moving veteran Sean Locklear up to get some snaps with the first-team offense at left tackle.
– LB Michael Boley again sat out with a strained hamstring. An MRI exam revealed no structural damage but it sounds as if Boley won’t be back on the field very soon.
“We are going to have to get him right,’’ Coughlin said. “He is still sore and doesn’t feel like he can really explode.’’
– Rookie CB Jayson Hosley needed stitches to close a laceration near his knee that forced him out of Monday’s practice but he returned to the field for yesterday’s practice.
– RB Da’Rel Scott showed good hands reaching up to juggle and then haul in a high-velocity swing pass from David Carr.
– If sacks were allowed, LB Greg Jones would have had one on Ryan Perrilloux.