Eli Manning completed all of his passes in 11-on-11 drills on Tuesday’s morning practice despite not knowing if he’ll play on Thursday.
The New York Giants took to the practice field at 10:45 a.m. ET on Tuesday in their last practice before their preseason opener Thursday night against the Cleveland Browns.
It was a relatively light practice as the team was not in full pads. Pat Shurmur allowed his players to rest up before they take the field Thursday night.
Giants are not in pads today as they're just two days away from their preseason opener. pic.twitter.com/bzda22fQTr
— Jason Leach (@JasonKLeach) August 7, 2018
Although it was a light practice, there were several notes to come away with in Tuesday practice.
Eli Manning was red hot
Eli Manning had one of his best practices of training camp as he connected on all seven of his pass attempts during 11-on-11 drills. All seven of his completions went to seven different receivers including a touchdown to Evan Engram.
Davis Webb was also accurate in practice as he connected on seven out of his eight pass attempts in 11-on-11 drills. Rookie Kyle Lauletta connected on five of his six pass attempts, but his one incompletion was intercepted by safety Sean Chandler.
No linebacker can cover Saquon Barkley
The dynamic skillset of Saquon Barkley was once again on display on Tuesday during one on one cover drills. Twic, Barkley was matched up against inside linebacker Alec Ogletree and twice he beat him easily to come up with the reception.
Ogletree matched up against Barkley in 1 on 1 drills. @EliteSportsNY #GiantsPride #NYG pic.twitter.com/6l97GxooNO
— Jason Leach (@JasonKLeach) August 7, 2018
Ogletree is an athletic inside linebacker, so for him not to be able to cover Barkley doesn’t bode well for other backers in the NFL. Barkley is going to play a huge factor in the Giants passing game this season.
Ogletree once again matched up on Barkley. Barkley runs routes like a receiver. @EliteSportsNY #GiantsPride #NYG pic.twitter.com/kAYJ8qPzsG
— Jason Leach (@JasonKLeach) August 7, 2018
1st team offense went against 3rd string defense
Perhaps in an attempt to make sure practice didn’t get too physical or any scuffles happened on Tuesday, Shurmur had the first team offense go against the third team defense in practice and had the first team defense primarily go up against the third team offense.
It was another shrewd and methodical move by Pat Shurmur as he prepares his team for Thursday and the 2018 season.
Odell Beckham Jr. was once again fielding punts
Once again, Odell Beckham Jr. was fielding punts at practice along with Hunter Sharp, Kalif Raymond and Sterling Shepard. It’s beginning to become apparent that Shurmur may use Beckham to return punts in tight games similar to how the Pittsburgh Steelers use Antonio Brown. It makes sense because when the ball is in Beckham’s hands, good things happen.
