John Harbaugh Pleased with the NY Giants' Progress

Head coach John Harbaugh kept his players plugging along on a sun-drenched afternoon for football practice Friday and insisted his New York Giants were progressing nicely.

Of course, there had to be a couple of caveats - one positive and one negative. On the bright side, first-round linebacker Arvel Reese signed his rookie contract, meaning the entire draft class has taken care of its business.

But on the flip side, veteran kick returner/wide receiver Gunner Olszewski suffered what appeared to be a non-contact leg injury late in the session and had to be carted off the field. The initial diagnosis was a torn Achilles tendon, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, who said more tests were on the way.

"[We] did have the unfortunate incident at the end with Gunner," Harbaugh said. "We'll find out what the situation is with that. That was a non-contact change-of-direction kind of a deal there in the grass, so that was disappointing.

"But beyond that, just so proud of the guys and so appreciative of the effort, coaches and players. Really like the mindset of this football team," he continued. "We've got another week behind us.

“We'll have two more weeks to go. We'll have the Phase 2 final week, third week next week, three days into four days, and then we'll have the mandatory minicamp after that. Then, the guys will get away for about five weeks and be back for training camp."

The offense came up with several sparkling plays in practice, although the pass rush had more than its share of pressures on the quarterbacks. However, there are no pads on in these spring sessions, so the offensive line doesn't have much to work with when trying to keep defenders out of the backfield.

The quarterbacks effectively spread the ball around during the 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills in the red zone. Tight ends Theo Johnson, Isaiah Likely, and Chris Mantertz each came up with touchdown catches, although third-round receiver Malachi Fields made a more impressive scoring play - stabbing a pass despite blanket coverage by corner Greg Newsome II.

Not to be outdone, the secondary knocked down a handful of passes, including two by slot corner Dru Phillips and one by second-round cornerback Colton Hood.

"Three really good practices this week, capped off by another really good practice," Harbaught said.

"Really appreciate the way the guys are working, the energy they're putting forward, the attention to detail, and how much they're improving day-to-day into the football team that we've been trying to build."

Host Paul Dottino will sort through the practice and discuss the team's status with the fans, who may join the Big Blue Breakdown Live! via chat or calls tonight at 8 p.m. ET.