Complete New York Giants Training-Camp Preview

The offseason drought is over, New York Giants fans.

That’s right: On Thursday, July 30, Big Blue is set to open its annual summer training camp during a time of year when the humidity and heat should be off the charts for a team that collectively has a lot at stake.

In a moment, I’ll break down everything you need to know about this year’s training camp. First, however, know that I’ll be at each practice, regardless if it’s open to the public, and I’ll have observations, notes, quotes, pictures and a bunch of other stuff that I’ll be working into future Bleacher Report articles.

The Public-Practice Schedule

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

Here is the team's public-practice schedule, per Michael Eisen of Giants.com. There will be nine practices open to the public beginning Friday, July 31 and ending Tuesday, August 25; the schedule is subject to change based on weather and other factors.

• Friday, July 31: 2:30 p.m. 
• Saturday, August 1: 2:30 p.m.  
• Sunday, August 2: 2:30 p.m.  
• Monday, August 3: 2:30 p.m.  
• Thursday, August 6: 2:30 p.m. 
• Sunday, August 16: 5:50 p.m.  
• Wednesday, August 19: 5:50 p.m.  
• Thursday, August 20: 5:50 p.m.  
• Tuesday, August 25: 2:30 p.m.  

If you're planning to attend, you can find everything you need to know regarding parking and admission (both of which are free) as well as the planned fan promotions right here.

There will also be two open practices between the Giants and Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati ahead of their 2015 preseason opener. For more information on those practices, check out Bengals.com.

• Tuesday, August 11: 3 p.m. 
• Wednesday, August 12: 3 p.m.

What to Look For

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

The Giants need to win this year; it’s that simple. One more losing season, especially if the team continues its backward slide with its year-end record, and let’s just say that it’s going to be a very busy offseason filled with loads of change, from the coaching staff right on down to the roster.

To get each player’s mind right for what is to come, there is going to be competition—loads of competition—at virtually every unit on this roster. 

Those key battles will be discussed a little later in this slideshow, but for now, let’s run down the major storylines for the offense and defense.

Offense

It’s year two of the modified West Coast system, a system that saw starting quarterback Eli Manning post career highs in completions, passing yards and touchdowns last year—all that despite Manning having to learn a new system with new mechanics and overcome an ankle problem for which he had surgery.

This year, offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo has a better idea of each player’s strengths and weaknesses within this system.

He also has some new pieces he didn’t have for training camp last year, namely running back Shane Vereen, a legitimate receiving threat out of the backfield, and a revamped offensive line—more on that later in this slideshow.

When this season is over, the Giants hope to get last year’s 11th-ranked offense (367.1 yards per game) into the top-10 league-wide. 

An improved running game—last year’s unit finished 23rd (100.1 yards per game)—would certainly go a long way toward making that happen as would some solid play from the offensive line.

Defense

When it comes to the defensive side of the ball, head coach Tom Coughlin is hoping to catch lightning in a bottle for the second year in a row.

Last season, Coughlin hired McAdoo to turn around an offensive unit that team co-owner John Mara had described as bring “broken” during his 2013 season-ending media briefing.

McAdoo did his part, and now it’s time for the new defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, to do the same with last year’s 29th-ranked defense (375.8 yards per game).

The challenge for Spagnuolo, who of course won the hearts of Giants fans everywhere when he first came to this team in 2007 and built a Super Bowl-caliber defense, is that unlike his first stint, the Giants’ defensive talent is much, much different and loaded with more question marks than that 2007 group.

Spagnuolo will have to figure out who his starting defensive ends and safeties are. He’ll also have to identify who his slot cornerback is going to be, and he’ll probably want to have a contingency plan or two in place should the injury bug pick on a favorite target of the last four years, middle linebacker Jon Beason.

Spagnuolo has spoken several times about the importance of having an attacking and aggressive defense:

"

I think we all can agree in here that if you are going to be good on defense, it needs to be aggressive. If you look around the league – I was very fortunate to be a part of one the past two years down south on I-95 [Baltimore Ravens] that is aggressive and physical. I think all good defenses in this league function that way. We would like to get to that point as well.

"

However, after installing several components of his system over the spring, Spagnuolo was reluctant to predict what the finished product would look like:

"

I will let you know in a couple of months. … I will say this, I believe we are getting everything out of them right now…I think I mentioned this to you before that the main focus, one of the first things I said in the meetings, was to make sure the number one goal is that we are better today than we were yesterday. I think if we live by that and able to accomplish part of that, then we will be okay. 

"

Giants nation can only hope that he's right about that last point.

Injury Roundup

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

If the Giants had their druthers, they would be atop the NFL in most statistical categories.

One statistical category the Giants don’t want to lead the league in, yet one in which they have been the undisputed champs two years running, is in injuries.

It’s much too soon to tell what 2015 holds for Tom Coughlin’s team in terms of health; so instead, here’s a list of key players who are coming back from injury or who were unable to work much, if at all, during the spring.

RG Geoff Schwartz (ankle)

Geoff Schwartz, whose first season as a Giant was wiped out due to toe and ankle injuries, was limited during the spring, sharing snaps with last year’s starting right guard, John Jerry. 

That practice will likely continue, at least early in training camp, as Schwartz admitted to Nick Powell of NJ Advance Media that his ankle “is getting there.”

LB Jon Beason (toe)

Jon Beason, the Giants’ lone remaining defensive co-captain, hasn’t had much luck with staying on the field these past four seasons.

Despite the fact that the 30-year-old Beason has told the media on more than one occasion this spring that he feels as good as new, he provided some addition information regarding his situation.

During an interview with David Diehl and Ross Tucker on The Opening Drive, airing last week on SiriusXM NFL Radio, he admitted that the Giants are likely to continue limiting his practice reps during training camp, just as they had done during the spring.

WR Victor Cruz (knee)

Victor Cruz has been among the hardest-working NFL players over the last few months, this largely due to his desire to be ready for the start of training camp some eight months removed from knee surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon.

In an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio earlier this month (h/t Conor Orr, NFL.com), Cruz said, “I don’t think PUP is an option for me.” To prove his point, he posted a video of himself working against another person simulating a cornerback playing man coverage.

Still the Giants medical staff is going to have the last word as to whether Cruz starts camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Head coach Tom Coughlin, in his final press briefing prior to the six-week break before camp, left the door open regarding the possibility of Cruz starting camp on the PUP list.

“I’m not going to say. That is not the intent,” Coughlin said when asked directly about Cruz starting camp on the PUP list. “We aren’t going to throw him right out there; I can tell you that.”

LT Will Beatty (pectoral)

Left tackle Will Beatty is expected to be placed on the PUP list, where he will remain throughout camp and into the first few weeks of the season. During camp, Beatty’s status will be “active/PUP,” meaning that he will count against the 90-man roster.

When the roster cuts are made to get to 53 men, Beatty will be moved to the inactive/PUP list and will not count against the 53-man regular-season roster. He will also be required to miss the first six weeks of the season.

Beatty is projected to be ready to go by November.

WR Odell Beckham Jr. (hamstring)

For the second year in a row, receiver Odell Beckham Jr. had to be shut down in the spring because of a hamstring issue.

This time, though, it was his other hamstring bothering him, not the one that dogged him most of last spring and into last year’s camp.

The good news is that Beckham told the NFL Network that his latest hamstring injury “feels a lot better” (h/t CBS New York).

The Giants certainly hope that by Thursday, when the team lines up for its annual conditioning drills, Beckham is feeling a lot better.

TE Larry Donnell (Achilles tendinitis)

Tight end Larry Donnell was a surprise addition to the injury list in the spring, especially when he showed up on one of the days with his left foot in a boot. However, Donnell told me for Inside Football that he didn’t anticipate he would need surgery.

Jordan Raanan on NJ Advance Media reported recently that Donnell is out of his walking boot and has been working out in Alabama, so that’s a promising sign for his chances of being ready for the start of camp.

S Nat Berhe (calf)

The coaching staff had penciled in second-year safety Nat Berhe to take reps with the starting defense this spring.

Unfortunately, a calf injury put Berhe on the shelf for all the OTAs and the minicamp. However, the good news is that whatever was ailing Berhe seems to be in the past, as the former San Diego State defensive star was only too happy to share recently with his Twitter following:

"

Feeling beyond great right now

— Nat Berhe (@NatBerhe) July 12, 2015"

DE Jason Pierre-Paul (hand)

This injury deserves a slide of its own, so please flip the screen.

The JPP Situation

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Will he or won’t he?

That’s the question on everyone’s mind regarding defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, the Giants’ franchise player who is not only unsigned, but who has also had very limited to no contact with the team since a July 4 fireworks accident that cost him his right index finger.

Pierre-Paul, who was set to cash in on the $14.8 million salary that comes with the franchise tag, obviously isn’t going to be ready to practice with his teammates even if he did sign the tender.

By signing the tender, he could have at least gotten caught up on the classroom work he missed by sitting out most of the OTAs and minicamp so that when he received the green light from doctors regarding his healing hand, he’d at least have a better understanding of the new defense being installed by coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

It doesn’t seem likely that Pierre-Paul will sign the tender and neither will the Giants allow him to until they have a chance to meet with the player and do their own examination of where he is mentally and physically.

Even if Pierre-Paul were to report, by signing the tag, the Giants would then have the right to place Pierre-Paul on the non-football injury list (NFI) list, which would mean they don’t have to pay him until he’s able to contribute on the field.

Former quarterback Phil Simms, in an interview with SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio, opined that Pierre-Paul should trust the Giants to do right by him given their history with players who have experienced potential career altering experiences, such as running back David Wilson and safety Chad Jones.

“It’s easy for me to say, but if I had been JPP and his adviser, I’d say, ‘Go ahead, they are going to do the right thing by you,’” Simms said in a transcript obtained by Bleacher Report.  

“[Co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch] run this team the exact same way their fathers ran the football team: with great compassion, of course knowledge and business savvy and all of those things.

“That’s why I would have been different because I believe that strongly in the people that run the organization.”

Will Pierre-Paul take Simms’ advice? Probably not and that has head coach Tom Coughlin perplexed and frustrated.

"I don’t know what to expect anymore," Coughlin told Jenny Vrentas of the MMQB. "I told everybody I thought he would come to the mandatory minicamp. I thought he would be here for that. He didn’t come for that, either.

"Now that’s not all his doing. The agent has a big part in that, and it should be that the player takes a stand, but he’s obviously going to take the advice of his agent."

It will be interesting to see if this situation becomes a distraction, as Coughlin tries to ready the team for the 2015 season.

Key Battles

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

What’s an NFL training camp without a little bit of competition, right?

Well for a team coming off a 6-10 season, there is going to be more than just a little bit of competition, as very few players are safe.

The following are three positions where the competition figures to be among the camp's most intense.

Safety

The Giants have virtually no experience at this position, which is a concern considering that defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s defense has so many moving parts that are going to largely depend on players recognizing what they’re seeing pre-snap, adjusting and making calls to get others lined up.

“It doesn’t matter what system you are in; in my opinion, defensively, those two particular guys [at the safety spots] are really important,” Spagnuolo said at the end of the mandatory minicamp in June.

“The quicker we can get to the other nine trusting them, the better off we will be.”

One of the starters who is all but locked in at this position is rookie Landon Collins, the team’s second-round draft pick this year. Collins has shown progress in grasping a feel for what needs to be done, but safeties coach Dave Merritt said the rookie out of Alabama still has a ways to go.

“When you are trying to line up grown men who have wives and children at home and they need that call from you, it is a little different than lining up a freshman,” the coach said at the end of the mandatory minicamp.

“Right now, he is slow to go, which was expected, but he has to pick it up quickly for us to be successful.” 

The identity of the other safety is a tossup at this point.

Young veterans Nat Berhe, Cooper Taylor, Bennett Jackson and Jeromy Miles will all compete for that role, as will rookie Mykkele Thompson. All of those candidates except for Miles have yet to start a NFL game at the position, which is why this particular battle is so wide-open entering camp.

Offensive Tackle

New year, same story.

The Giants’ offensive line is unsettled, this time due to the pectoral injury Will Beatty suffered that will keep him out of action until at least November.

Because of that and because the Giants' depth at offensive tackle is not as deep, as expected, despite having numbers, the biggest question mark is whether they have guys who can actually play the position at a high enough level.

Currently, they have their No. 1 draft pick, Ereck Flowers, at left tackle. Flowers was drafted with the intention of moving him to that left tackle spot some day; unfortunately for all involved, that “some day” has become “now,” thanks to the Beatty injury.

Right tackle seems to be the bigger concern.

Currently, the team has veteran journeyman Marshall Newhouse at the position, but after seeing Newhouse struggle in the spring, the Giants have been actively looking elsewhere for help, most recently hosting former Rams offensive tackle Jake Long for a second visit, according to Jordan Raanan of NJ Advance Media (via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk).

Long, who also met with Atlanta and whom Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post reports will pop in to meet with the Broncos in the reportedly meet with Denver this week, is coming off two ACL surgeries.

If healthy, he could potentially move to left tackle for the Giants, which would allow Flowers to slide back to the right side.

If the Giants don’t end up signing Long, they’ll probably try some different in-house combinations while they wait for training-camp cuts to hit the waiver wire.

One such possibility for the Giants is Brandon Mosley, a 2012 fourth-round draft pick who has mostly worked at guard at the NFL level but who was a college tackle.

Another possibility would be for the Giants to slide right guard Geoff Schwartz to right tackle, a position at which he played 93 snaps last year before suffering a season-ending ankle injury.

Slot Cornerback

Much like the Giants’ safety position, the Giants do not yet know who their slot cornerback is going to be.

Unlike the safety position, the Giants at least have guys with experience at the position.

The primary candidates for the role include Trumaine McBride, the incumbent bearing the most experience; Mike Harris, who played the role last year when McBride was lost for the season with a broken hand; Jayron Hosley, the 2012 third-round pick who may get one more year to cement his status as a draft bust, and Josh Gordy, the unrestricted free agent the team signed in the offseason.

Although Spagnuolo told reporters in May that he wasn’t sure of the slot cornerback’s identity, McBride appears to be the incumbent based on the fact that he took most of the reps at that position in the spring.

Areas of Concern

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

The previous slide looked at some of the key position battles that will unfold over the next few weeks, some battles which also double as a cause for concern.

While there will be winners by default, there are still some broader concerns this team has as it begins training camp.

Pass Rush  

Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul’s shortsighted decision to handle fireworks has left the Giants with a group of veteran defensive ends (Robert Ayers Jr., Damontre Moore, George Selvie, Kerry Wynn) who last season combined for 15.0 sacks—just 2.5 sacks more than what Pierre-Paul alone posted.

In addition to the four veterans listed, the Giants are hoping that third-round pick Owa Odighizuwa can provide some firepower as a defensive pass-rusher.

Another, more realistic scenario, though, could see defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo make use of outside linebacker Devon Kennard’s pass-rushing ability.

Per Pro Football Focus, Kennard was the only one of the Giants’ outside linebackers last season to have any consistent pressure as a pass-rusher, earning a 3.2 grade.

Not coincidentally, Kennard also finished with the fourth-most sacks on the Giants with 4.5.

Team Health

This concern would be a joke if it weren’t for the fact that the Giants have been atop the league in injuries for two consecutive seasons. 

“(Head coach) Tom (Coughlin) has made some tweaks to the scheduling during training camp and going into the season, has consulted a lot with our strength and conditioning coaches and hopefully this can pay some dividends,” team co-owner John Mara told Steve Serby of the New York Post regarding how the coach plans to cut down on the number of injured players. 

“I think he’s going to give them some more down time, more time to rest and just try to be a little bit smarter about when we give them the heavy workloads in training camp and even during the season.”

Will that be enough? Mara hopes so.

“I mean, it HAS to get better, doesn’t it?” he asked.

One would think so; however, it’s not always how many injuries a team has; rather, it’s who’s ending up injured and how many games the player misses.

Of the 22 players the Giants listed as starters in their Week 1 game last season, they would go on to lose starters such as offensive linemen Justin Pugh and Geoff Schwartz, receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Victor Cruz and running back Rashad Jennings for parts of the season.

On defense, it was even worse. New York lost defensive ends Mathias Kiwanuka and Robert Ayers Jr.; defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins; corners Walter Thurmond, Trumaine McBride and Prince Amukamara; and linebackers Jon Beason and Jacquian Williams.

Starting cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was never himself, as he battled through injuries as well for the better part of the season.

The bottom line is that injuries are going to happen to every team. However, when the bug strikes down starters and key role players, that is when a team has no chance of coming out on top, and that is what the Giants somehow have to figure out how to address.

That’s a question that likely has no answer considering that the injury bug doesn’t discriminate between a starter and a reserve. So at best, Coughlin and the Giants can only hope to minimize the bug’s impact on the team. 

Unless otherwise noted, advanced analytics via Pro Football Focus.

Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced.

Follow @Patricia_Traina.