NY Giants Training Camp: What We Learned on Day 6

East Rutherford, N.J. - The New York Giants went through their longest–and perhaps hottest–day of practice Tuesday in what was yet another run-heavy day for the offense.

The big news was the injuries. The one that could potentially be significant is the right leg injury suffered by defensive lineman D.J. Davidson during the third team period. That would be a tough break for the young defender, who has missed time in two of the last three seasons with injuries.

Receiver Malik Nabers’s injury was to his shoulder, and it’s believed that he was going to have further tests done. The very, very early word is it’s not thought to be serious, but with that said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nabers misses a day or two of practice after the team returns from its day off on Wednesday.  

As noted, the Giants ran a second straight day of run-heavy drills. This time around, I thought the defense held up better in stopping guys from getting too far beyond the second level. But the bigger picture is that this allows for the run defense, which has not been very good of late, to work on its angles and, to a degree, its tackling.

Cornerback Deonte Banks is starting to concern me. I mentioned on X that he had two DPIs called against him. Both were somewhat concerning, as he showed no instinct or awareness of the ball's location and failed to turn around and look for it.

On one DPI against Beaux Collins, Banks kept running with the receiver and tried to stick his arms in the receiver’s way. 

All he had to do on that play was to recognize that the receiver was slowing down in his route to get in a position to make the catch. That should have been Banks’s clue to turn around and look for the ball. Instead, he kept running and flailing his arms, hoping to maybe knock it away. And he drew a quick flag for that.

He did the same thing on a pass intended for Jordan Bly. If you’re the Giants' coaches, you have to be mildly frustrated with Banks seemingly making the same mistakes in coverage.

Jaxson Dart had a bit of an up-and-down day on Tuesday. As has been the case now for the last several practices, Dart has been put into the lineup in place of Jameis Winston when the offense has gotten into the red zone. On one of his final series, Dart had a 4th-and-goal from the 5-yard line, but they couldn’t get the snap off due to some confusion in getting lined up. 

That was followed by an ill-timed shotgun snap, which pretty much sent the Giants' offense backward.

The good from Dart was a perfectly placed, back-shoulder deep throw to Lil’Jorda Humpnrey for the touchdown. Dart is going to have his ups and downs, but for the most part, he is putting a lot of positive stuff out there for the coaches to evaluate. 

Unofficially, I had Dart 2 of 5 on the day, with one dropped ball by receiver Zach Pascall.   

The offensive line had at least a couple more false starts again today, which didn’t please head coach Brian Daboll.  

Rookie defensive lineman Darius Alexander got a handful of first-team reps on the defensive line as Dexter Lawerene continues to sit out of the team drills. Alexander, I thought, had a mixed bag considering this was probably his most expensive work with the first-team defense.

Alexander, remember, missed the spring with an undisclosed injury so he has a lot to catch up on.

“Production in practices and how he handles his responsibilities,” said head coach Brian Daboll when asked what he’s looking for Alexander to show him. 

“If you have the B-gap, be in the B-gap. If you have awareness on a down block, know how to take on a down block. If you’re supposed to stunt on a stunt, on a pass rush, then make sure you stunt. If you’re supposed to run a twist, run a twist. Do you know what to do? Are you doing what you’re coached to do? And then, can you ultimately go out there and do it at a high level down in and down out?”

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