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00:04The offense strikes back.
00:07This is your New York Post sports post practice report.
00:10Still, to this day, I'm still messing up saying that sometimes.
00:13What do we do?
00:14Practice number seven, day eight for the New York Giants.
00:18The third day in pads, offense, defense.
00:21It looked like one of the best or most balanced practices.
00:24I'm Brandon London.
00:25This is a special episode, a collaboration episode.
00:28We have Ed Valentine from Big Blue View here today to give his view of what he saw at
00:33practice today.
00:35Ed, I mean, you're the guest.
00:36Thank you, sir, for coming in today.
00:38We will start with you.
00:39Where do you want to start with what type of notes or observations do you have from another
00:45pad of practice from the Giants?
00:47First, thanks for having me.
00:48Yes, sir.
00:48Appreciate the opportunity.
00:50I thought this was the best day for the offense.
00:54Okay.
00:55All right.
00:55Elaborate.
00:55Definitely the best day for the offense.
00:57I would not say that they dominated in any stretch.
01:01And today was a little different.
01:02We saw a lot of first team versus second team offense, you know, and, you know, first team
01:08defense versus second team offense.
01:10So we saw some things mixed up today.
01:12But there were more plays, there were fewer penalties.
01:18Odell Beckham had a nice day.
01:20Yes, he did.
01:20We'll talk about that.
01:20Which I'm sure nobody wants to talk about Odell.
01:23Why?
01:24Why?
01:24It gets no retweets.
01:25But I did think this was a better day for the offense.
01:30Just in terms of the number of plays that they were able to make down the field.
01:34I think there was a session late in practice where Jameis Winston threw touchdowns on three
01:39straight red zone plays.
01:53Yes, he did.
01:54Paul talked about that.
01:55And he said that the coordinators wanted to script some things.
01:59They wanted to get certain looks rather than be one offense versus two or three defense or
02:04vice versa.
02:05He said that they were still running their plays, their offense, their defense.
02:09But that was a chance for coordinators to script some stuff so their offense or their
02:13defense can get certain looks.
02:15Obviously before we talk about OBJ and the day that he has, you're going to see Jackson
02:19Dart through two picks.
02:21I'm sure you've seen it by now, it's on Twitter, people are talking about it.
02:24We can talk about the type of picks and me and you had an off-camera conversation already.
02:29First, there was one across the middle, a little behind, Darnell Moody, it gets tipped,
02:34it gets picked.
02:35I believe Lane was the one who picked that off.
02:38The second one, deep crossing route to one of his favorite receivers of camp, Calvin
02:43Austin III.
02:45He looked like he was just trying to fit something in.
02:48And so as a wide receiver, I put him down with, with one on him, one interception on
02:54him.
02:55Two, I call it a camp interception.
02:57What sayeth you?
02:59We had a little bit of this discussion during practice, as you said, and I was thinking about
03:05Eli Manning in training camp years ago because Eli used to throw a lot of balls that would
03:12get intercepted or knocked down or not look great.
03:15And part of that was to learn, to learn whether Brandon London could make that play.
03:21To learn whether his new wide receiver could make that play or would make a play on a 50-50
03:27ball or would knock down a ball that maybe Eli shouldn't have thrown.
03:31Or maybe as he got older to see if he still had the juice to squeeze a ball in.
03:36Yes.
03:36Yeah.
03:36And we talked about that.
03:38Maybe the second one was Dart just seeing if he could squeeze that ball in.
03:42The first one, a little bit behind Darnell Mooney.
03:46I don't know if you call it a drop, but it's, it's the seventh day of training camp.
03:51Your timing's not always going to be perfect.
03:53A little bit behind him.
03:54Mooney batted it up in the air.
03:55Defense did what it's supposed to do.
03:57Absolutely.
03:58Yeah.
03:58And again, I'll put that one on Jackson Dart.
04:01Obviously, he took accountability for throwing the ball at Greg Newsome yesterday.
04:04He'll probably step up, take accountability for throwing that interception.
04:08Receiver-wise, we're still going to call that a drop in the room.
04:12You put your hands on it, and that's the Plaxico Bird method right there.
04:16I just come from that wide receiver room where if we get our hands on it, it touches any part
04:20of our body, we've got to come down with that.
04:22But again, like you said, that second interception, again, it's still an interception.
04:28You're going to still see it in meetings as an interception.
04:30But if I'm Calvin Austin and I'm having the camp that I'm having with Jackson Dart so far,
04:37I want him to try and fit that in.
04:40If I'm Brandon London, Jalen Hyatt, Daylon Cambry, a bubble guy, and I get a chance to
04:45go with an Eli Manning or a Jackson Dart, the QB1, I want you to throw that football and
04:51try to fit it in because I have to try and do everything I can to come down with that
04:57football.
04:58So we got that out the way.
04:59We gave our big blue view of what we saw on the two interceptions.
05:03Now I see you smiling.
05:05It's time to talk about Odell Beckham Jr.
05:09Coach Harbaugh spoke about him, Craig Newsome kind of talked, and Odell talked at the podium
05:15as well.
05:16Here's what Odell had to say about his day.
05:19It's all in my room at the hotel, you know, there's absolutely nothing to do here.
05:23Beautiful place, but nothing to do here.
05:26And a quote that I kind of shared with the team was, yesterday's touchdown doesn't win
05:29you today's game.
05:31And I felt like I came out yesterday and I was like, I want to have my best day.
05:34And I felt like I had a good day, right?
05:38Some things to work on, to learn from, okay, to get better.
05:41And I was like, all right, I want to have an even better day tomorrow.
05:43And I feel like the whole team kind of is carrying that mentality.
05:47But personally, for me, it is just about stacking those days and just finding ways to build
05:53confidence, build confidence, you know, from within the team and myself included.
05:58You were off doing an interview during that time when he was at the podium, but he basically
06:03said he's been waiting for this opportunity.
06:05He's getting more opportunities.
06:06He's getting more targets.
06:07He feels comfortable.
06:08I mean, from what you saw from Odell, not only today, but the last two days, does it
06:15look like he could carve out a role and targets in this offense this year?
06:22Absolutely.
06:23I mean, the thing about it for Odell is more than anything else, Odell Beckham has to show
06:30that he can show up every single day, that he can practice every single day.
06:34And so far, he has done that the last two days.
06:38I know people want to want to make a huge thing out of the fact that that he's gotten
06:43first team reps the last couple of days.
06:46And he has.
06:48And today, he made a lot of plays.
06:50First team, second team, some catches from from Brandon Allen, 13 quarterback.
06:55He made plays.
06:56This was easily his best day.
06:58But let's not go so far as to say, hey, it looks like Odell's a starting wide receiver
07:03because we also saw Jalen Hyatt get first team reps today.
07:08We saw Xavier Gibson get first team reps today.
07:10They are mixing and matching.
07:12But I will take nothing away from Odell because Odell has looked better.
07:18We were talking about it in the media tent a little bit.
07:21But he's shown more than I think any of us after a year away and not being productive
07:27in 2024.
07:28He's shown more than we thought he would.
07:32You mentioned the interview that I was doing.
07:34It happened to be with our Darius Washington.
07:36Okay.
07:37Former Baltimore Ravens defensive back who played with Odell in 2023.
07:42And I asked our Darius about Odell and whether he was still the same player that they saw
07:50in 2023, which was really Odell's last productive season.
07:53Yep.
07:54And he said he looks better.
07:56Wow.
07:56He said he looks better.
07:58He looks healthier.
07:59He looks more comfortable and happier.
08:04What our Darius said is sometimes Odell gets in his own head.
08:08And he said that Odell just seems to be happy and relaxed and playing and looks better than
08:14he did the last time they played together.
08:17When it comes to getting in our own head, that's every receiver.
08:19Because, I mean, you run a route, you don't get the ball.
08:22You're thinking in your head, was that a good enough route?
08:24Was I locked up?
08:26Did I get jammed up?
08:27Was I in my spot?
08:28And we've seen it.
08:29Everyone on the beat, they've seen it.
08:31We had our Ryan Dunleavy here for the post yesterday.
08:34And he's talking about Odell is getting open, but you're not getting targets.
08:38So that's the thing.
08:39In order to evaluate wide receivers, you have to get the ball thrown to you.
08:43No one is, you can't tweet that, hey, Odell was open.
08:46Hey, Odell ran a nice curl route.
08:48That's not retweetable.
08:49No one's going to care about that.
08:51They want to talk.
08:51Everybody wants to highlight plays when it comes to this guy.
08:55And he had a catch and run off of a shallow cross today where he turned on some jets.
08:59Had some nice catches.
09:00And he just looks comfortable within this offense.
09:03But he has since day one.
09:05He came in the spring.
09:07The mittens, again, I said it yesterday, the mittens haven't gone anywhere.
09:10He's going to catch the football.
09:13Just to move on when we're talking about this offense, and I should have told you this before
09:18we walked over here.
09:18I think I see a camp battle or a camp position battle at the TE2 position between Tanner Connor
09:29and Theo Johnson.
09:32Is that the bubble guy in me trying to create an opportunity for Tanner Connor, who is catching
09:40the ball very well?
09:42You're stirring stuff up, Brandon.
09:44You're stirring stuff up.
09:45But what I will say is Tanner Connor has been very impressive.
09:52Tanner Connor is making a bid to force the Giants to make a decision.
09:58Okay.
09:58All right.
09:59All right.
09:59And now what I will say is Theo Johnson is an incredibly frustrating player simply because
10:07he's so big, he's so talented, he moves so well, he gets himself open.
10:12And today we saw him make two very difficult catches with Tyler Nubin all over him.
10:21All over him.
10:21But you throw the ball to Theo Johnson when he's wide open and he somehow manages to leave
10:27it on the ground.
10:28And that is very frustrating.
10:31And for me, look, right now as I sit here today, I would say Theo Johnson, fourth round
10:37pick, been here for a couple of years.
10:39I would say he's making this team over Tanner Connor.
10:42But the reality of it is we have never been through a John Harbaugh training camp, a John
10:49Harbaugh cut down to a 53-man roster.
10:52John Harbaugh is not going to be beholden to Theo Johnson if he doesn't do his job in training
10:57camp.
10:57He's not going to be beholden to Jalen Hyatt if he doesn't make plays in training camp.
11:01He's not going to be beholden to any of these draft picks.
11:04He's going to take the players who do the best job.
11:09And that's why I said there's some sort of camp battle going on because I feel as though
11:14Tanner Connor has put himself in the position to be talked about to make this team.
11:19Now, we've got to see what he does in the preseason games.
11:22But if he's catching passes in the preseason games from Jackson Dart or Jameis Winston,
11:28whatever, if he's being consistent, I think there's a conversation that can be held there.
11:31The only thing, Theo, when they go that 12 personnel, the two tight ends, because Isaiah
11:36likely is a hybrid receiver slash tight end, Theo Johnson may get it, may get that starting
11:43nod because he blocks better than Tanner Connor.
11:45But when you talk about John Harbaugh, Coach Harbaugh not being beholden to some of these
11:51players, you said Theo Johnson, you said Jalen Hyatt, who he mentioned today has caught their
11:56eye or has caught their attention in making some plays.
11:59There's also a guy, a Taye Banks.
12:01So we'll flip and talk about the defensive side of the football.
12:04We can talk Taye and we can talk about the secondary as a whole, who I feel as though is
12:08having
12:09one of the better camps as a unit than what we've seen in years past.
12:13Greg Newsome today was talking about how Taye Banks is playing, did he say amazing?
12:19He did use the word amazing.
12:22He's doing a good job.
12:23We're seeing a lot from him, Colton Hood, also Paulson Adebo.
12:27We see plays made sometimes and we see balls caught on him at times.
12:31Right now, if I had to put you on the spot right now, one, who is your top four corners
12:38who are going to make the team, four corners, and then who are your top two starters?
12:42Well, it's Adebo, it's Newsome, it's Banks, and it's Hood is the top four.
12:50Starters now.
12:51Well, Adebo is a starter.
12:54I think Adebo is a starter for me.
12:56If there was a game this weekend, I think it's Greg Newsome.
13:02Greg Newsome?
13:03But why Adebo if you say that Coach Harbaugh is not beholden to certain players?
13:09He wasn't a John Harbaugh guy in free agency last season.
13:13Coach Harbaugh mentioned how he knows who Taye Banks is because he's from that DMV area down
13:19in Washington, D.C., played at Maryland.
13:21He said he was happy that he was on this roster when he took the job.
13:24So if Taye Banks, do you think Taye Banks could play himself into that starting unit?
13:30Absolutely.
13:31Absolutely, I think he could.
13:33Taye Banks, people have to remember, you know, Taye, maturity issues, whatever you want to say,
13:40the last couple of years, he struggled in the defensive scheme that was being run.
13:47It really didn't suit the way he likes to play.
13:51I mean, Taye was drafted to come here, play press, play man-to-man, get in somebody's face,
13:57be physical, and that's not what he was asked to do the last two years.
14:02And I do think that a lot of things that went on, you know, affected him,
14:07and we did see the maturity issues, sometimes in the effort issues.
14:11But we saw right from the beginning of the spring, we saw a better Taye Banks.
14:17Without a doubt.
14:18And that has continued.
14:20And you have to understand, if you put, if you do all the relative athletic score
14:26and all the measurements and all of that, if you put Taye Banks next to Malik Neighbors,
14:30They're probably top two.
14:32They are both.
14:33Their athleticism is identical.
14:36The skills, the physical ability with Taye Banks has always been there.
14:42So it's just a matter of getting the right scheme, getting the right system,
14:47getting him to learn to pay attention to the small details of how to do this.
14:52Because you know this, Brandon, there's very little difference in these players from,
14:59in all honesty, from the best player at any position.
15:04You know, there are superstar athletes, but for the most part, there's very little difference
15:09between the guys who start and the guys who wash out of the league sometimes,
15:15just in terms of athleticism and athletic ability.
15:18It's about attention to detail, study habits, footwork, doing all of the little things.
15:26Details.
15:26And being where you're supposed to be, when you're supposed to be there, all the time.
15:32And those are the kinds of things that you need to see from Taye.
15:34So he has the defensive coordinator in a Denard Wilson, who, again, Greg Newsome talked about.
15:41Each corner, their skill set benefits having a coordinator like a Denard Wilson.
15:48We'll talk about what gets your view on the defense as a whole and how that's shaping up.
15:53And then we'll give you a shout-out.
15:54Who do you think some guys that deserve some shout-outs that's been making plays that maybe no one's going
16:00to tweet about?
16:00But your overall thoughts on the defense, not only today, but how it's looked throughout the course of camp.
16:07Well, you've really got to go to the padded days.
16:10And I thought the defense, the first two padded days, really had an advantage.
16:16You still question when it gets to live games.
16:21You still question the defensive line, the run defense.
16:26But you're seeing such good play from Abdul Carter.
16:30You're seeing such good play from Kayvon Thibodeau.
16:33You know what Brian Burns is.
16:35You know what DJ Reader can do in the middle.
16:38And one of the things that's just – sometimes you hear coaches and GMs talk about certain players or certain
16:45things,
16:46and you feel like, oh, that's just hyperbole.
16:48But Joe Shane and John Harbaugh both talked about when they paired Arville Reese and Tremaine Edmonds,
16:56they talked about the size and the wingspans and the difficulty that that would create for quarterbacks
17:05and wide receivers to find passing lanes in the middle.
17:08And that plays true every single day.
17:12We've seen Tremaine Edmonds pick off passes that Jackson Dart tried very carefully to feather over the top of him.
17:21We've seen both of those guys knock down passes.
17:24That is absolutely something that's going to be a benefit to this defense,
17:30is just the size and the athleticism of those two guys in the middle of the field.
17:34We're seeing a really good battle for the cornerback jobs.
17:38I don't know what's – you know, we see every day we see Javon Holland and Tyler Nubin at safety.
17:44I don't know if a battle might eventually occur there.
17:50But, again, Nubin's a guy who – I love the kid coming out of school.
17:55Hasn't made the plays.
17:57But, again, I think this defense, as he said to me yesterday, he said,
18:02this defense asks me to do the things that I did at Minnesota.
18:06And that's what people want to see.
18:07And that's what people want to see.
18:08That's what people want to see.
18:09You know, not to be a conspiracy theorist or anything,
18:12if we were to talk about another position battle in camp,
18:17or maybe towards – as we get closer to the season,
18:20maybe a Jason Pinnock versus a Tyler Nubin.
18:23It all depends on which one, I guess,
18:28fills that need of what Denard Wilson wants to have at safety
18:31because Javon Holland is having himself a pretty solid camp
18:35and looks like he's worth that money that they used to bring him here in the offseason last year.
18:42I just want to talk about some guys who didn't practice today.
18:44Coach Harbaugh said each one of these injuries were minor,
18:47and had they had a game today, they would have played.
18:51Brian Burns didn't practice at all.
18:53Malachi Fields did individuals,
18:54but not any competition periods for the second time today.
18:59There was a third one, Bo Braid, maybe?
19:03Was it Bo Braid?
19:04Bo Braid, I think.
19:04Yeah, another one.
19:05And then 22, Drew Phillips went down today.
19:09We don't know what the injury was,
19:11but Coach also said it was minor
19:13and that they would evaluate it or keep an eye on it throughout the course of tonight.
19:18Before we close this thing out,
19:20again, we want to get your big blue view on some guys who are really starting to catch
19:27or has been catching your eye throughout the course of today and training camp.
19:31I'm going to cheat, all right?
19:32I'm going to cheat.
19:33If you ain't cheating, you're trying.
19:34If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.
19:35Or something like that.
19:36Something like that.
19:37Something like that.
19:37I'm going to cheat because I'm going to use a guy that John Harbaugh pointed out today.
19:41Okay.
19:41That's wide receiver, special teamer, second-year guy,
19:46former undrafted free agent, Dalen Cambry.
19:48Okay, let's talk about it.
19:49Dalen Cambry is a kid who, you go back and you look at his college stats
19:54and you say, well, how in the world is a kid who caught 10 passes
19:58in a four-year college career on an NFL team?
20:02He's here because as a college player,
20:05he was one of the best special teams players in the country.
20:07Interesting.
20:09And he played well on special teams last year when he got an opportunity.
20:12But he has made big play after big play after big play the entire time we've been here in West
20:20Virginia.
20:20And you don't often hear a coach say this, but Harbaugh said today he's making a move.
20:27He's making a move on a roster spot.
20:30And that just tells you that Cambry, and as you said, maybe Jalen Hyatt, some other guys, Braxton Berrios has
20:37done well.
20:38But Cambry has John Harbaugh's attention.
20:41And I think we'll see what happens when we get to more live special teams.
20:46But that's a really interesting one for me.
20:50And when you have a head coach who has a special teams background calling you out or giving you praise
20:57from the wide receiver standpoint of things, then all you have to do is handle business on the special teams
21:03side.
21:04And, sir, go ahead.
21:06You can rent your apartment, maybe be able to get yourself a mortgage,
21:09but you are going to be in north of New Jersey.
21:13You're going to make that team.
21:14Ed, appreciate you coming on with us today.
21:17This was fun, my man.
21:18Thanks for having me.
21:19That was another episode or another episode of the New York Post Post Practice Report
21:24for Brandon London, Ed Valentine.
21:26We will see you guys for practice number seven.
21:30Eight.
21:30Eight.
21:31We're in the dog days of camp, y'all.
21:33Excuse me.
21:35Let's do it!
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