Giants ready to put hurt on opponents
If the Giants play how they practice this season, their opponents are going to need some extra cold tubs, but the officials may also need a few extra flags. If it’s possible, Big Blue’s defense has brought even more swagger and attitude to the first two training camp days in full pads thanks to second-year linebacker B.J. Goodson, who seems determined to imprint his number 93 on anyone who dares cross his path.
And then there’s rookie second-string right tackle Adam Bisnowaty, who validated his reputation as a nasty, competitive S.O.B. in the middle of Thursday’s near team-wide melee, but simultaneously adds a refreshing fire to the line of scrimmage.
Now the Giants just need to strike the balance in the culture coach Ben McAdoo is cultivating, which is easier said than done: Be mean, be nasty, and attack — but do it with discipline. Stop at the whistle. Bury your opponent but don’t cross the line. Dominate but don’t disrespect. Oh, and don’t injure your teammates.
“We need that physicality,” McAdoo said. “We’re going to turn into a heavy-handed, physical football team. We just have to do a better job of handling the extracurricular activities after the whistle.”
Olivier Vernon honestly seemed the only one truly guilty of doing something dangerous on Thursday.
Bisnowaty and defensive end Romeo Okwara jostled after consecutive snaps and needed to be separated. A couple snaps later, Bisnowaty took exception to an extra shot on the ground from defensive end Avery Moss and returned the favor. And so as Bisnowaty walked away, several defenders charged in defense of Moss, and Vernon crushed Bisnowaty in the back, creating a near-brawl on the far side of the close practice field.
“Practice is practice,” Vernon said. “You’re going to get things like that. You know, we just keep moving forward from that. We’re still teammates at the end of the day.”
The fracas then spilled in several different directions, most notably with starting right tackle Bobby Hart and defensive tackle Damon (Snacks) Harrison going at it in a heavyweight argument. Left tackle Ereck Flowers got involved. Jason Pierre-Paul, who spent parts of practice abusing Hart in drills, grew agitated.
Listen, this is football. Adrenaline pumps. Fights happen. And that’s why starting left guard Justin Pugh felt comfortable making a joke of what he would tell Bisnowaty about fighting.
“I would tell him to grab the facemask and go upper cuts — don’t throw straights because then you hurt your hand — but, that’s me,” Pugh said with a laugh. “No, no, no, all jokes aside, at the end of the day, we’ve got to protect each other and be safe.”
But as Pugh added: “In all seriousness with the fights, we’re a team here, we’re the New York Giants, we do things a certain way. So, it’s going to happen. We’ve got to make sure we respect the guy across from us and make sure that we’re doing the right things to represent each other, the team, and not put ourselves in a bad position. Because the worst thing that can happen, we lose a guy for an extended period of time.”
And so the Giants’ players face a challenge, no doubt about it, in trying to live up to McAdoo’s expectations for physicality while not going too far. But remember, they are also a team with a chip on its shoulder after a 38-13 playoff elimination in Green Bay.
They are searching for an extra gear. Sometimes that results in conflict. Sometimes it just results in big hits.
Goodson destroyed Orleans Darkwa on a pass completion in Thursday’s practice, leaving the running back shaken up. And while Darkwa didn’t complain much — “You’ve got to be ready for it” — he showed a tinge of the understandable aggravation that comes with absorbing a blindside burial.
“It’s training camp, you know? He’ll win some, he’ll lose some,” Darkwa said with a smirk, adding: “B.J. there, it’s his first year as a starter, so maybe he’s trying to make a point. I don’t know.”
“It’s a thud tempo, and B.J. is good at thudding,” McAdoo said. “The backs need to feel it. The linebackers need to feel it. There has to be contact there.” he Giants’ defense truly is menacing, though, and now could be fierce at all three levels from the defensive line, to Goodson manning the middle, to All-Pro safety Landon Collins, who also thumped Paul Perkins on Thursday. As long as the offense pushes back — and the Giants limit the extracurricular pushing — the Giants could be on their way to satisfying McAdoo’s expectations for their identity in 2017.
“We’ve just got to make sure we protect each other, because we’re family,” Pugh said. “Come September when we play Dallas, we’re all on the same team, we’re wearing the same jersey. That’s the thing we have to keep in mind.”
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