The New York Giants donned pads in training camp for the first time during Monday’s session, and first-year head coach Joe Judge did not waste any time making it clear that mistakes will not be tolerated.
What makes Judge’s stern stance so unique, though, is that his no-tolerance policy involves members of his coaching staff as well.
At one point during Monday’s 90-minute session, offensive players, along with the offense's coaches, were spotted running laps around Field 3 at the Giants complex.
Sterling Shepard, the Giants’ longest-tenured player, joked that the last time he saw coaches running laps with players was “probably middle school.”
Judge, who served in various roles on Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots’ coaching staff from 2012-19, clearly shares his mentor’s rigidly no-nonsense approach. The rookie head coach explained to reporters after practice why he had his assistants hoof out punishment laps.
“There are consequences on the field for making mistakes,’’ Judge said, per the New York Post. “In a game, it’ll cost you 5, 10, or 15 yards. In practice, there needs to be consequences so we learn how to deal with our mistakes.’’
Judge also stole another page from Belichick’s coaching playbook Monday with his decision to not have players’ names on the backs of jerseys.
“We know who they are,” Judge quipped.
While the players, including Shepard and standout running back Saquon Barkley, cautiously welcomed Judge’s rigid approach — at least publicly — one outspoken talking head issued a doom-and-gloom prediction about how the rookie head coach’s antics will play out.
“This isn’t going to end well,” tweeted Shannon Sharpe, the former NFL star who currently serves as co-host of “Skip and Shannon: Undisputed” on FS1.
While it remains to be seen whether Sharpe is correct in his assessment, it’s clear that Judge intends to do things his way in his first season with the Giants.
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