Giants set to kick off community outreach
The Giants will change things up in their training camp routine Saturday night, when they finally get to put into motion one of coach Joe Judge’s central themes.
For the entirety of Judge’s first season, the global pandemic prohibited the Giants from reaching out to the community, something Judge stressed at his introductory press conference would be a team focus. The Giants did plenty of outreach in 2020, but it was all forced to be remote access only.
That will change this weekend, when the Giants practice at Eddie Moraes Stadium in Newark — a newly-renovated 4,500-seat facility formerly called Ironbound Stadium that was closed by the federal government in 1987. This is part of the NFL’s “Back Together Saturday’’ initiative.
The practice is not open to the general public, but the Giants invited high school football teams from Newark and surrounding communities, plus nearby Pop Warner and other youth programs, so a crowd of about 2,000 is expected. Judge and a handful of Giants players will address the youngsters.
The Giants could soon be adding a new quarterback.
They had Sean Mannion in for a visit and workout Friday, and he likely will be signed in the coming days. That would give the Giants four quarterbacks on the roster: Daniel Jones, Mike Glennon, Clayton Thorson and Mannion.
Why make this move? Judge wants to add an arm as his team puts on the pads in training camp and the Giants get set for joint practices with the Browns and Patriots, plus the three preseason games.
RB Saquon Barkley has reached the stage of his rehab at which the Giants are trying to have him simulate as many practice situations as possible when he works with trainers on a side field.
“Right now, that’s where Saquon is, and a couple of players are in that mode of mirroring our practices to bring them back,’’ Judge said. “Also, the trainers may on certain days have different plans for them based on de-loading them or may ramp up a little more based on what the rest of the team is doing and their status.’’