One thing is clear at Giants camp: New head coach Joe Judge has a hard-driving coaching style.
We learned on Monday that Judge was making players and coaches run laps when mistakes were made on the practice field.
On Tuesday, Judge ramped up the old school intensity.
He went after running back Saquon Barkley, coaching him hard in front of everyone, setting a tone that he will even go after the team’s highest-profile player.
“We coach everyone the same,” Judge said post-practice. “We’re trying to demand the best out of everybody and make them improve every day. We’re not letting details slip.”
Things got even more intense: In one physical drill, defenders lined up at the goal line with offensive players lined up several yards out. The goal was to meet in the middle and try to get into the end zone. Wide receiver Austin Mack went against cornerback Corey Ballentine and the two viciously collided. Ballentine fell to the ground holding his right shoulder, and a cart was called out. Somehow, Ballentine was able to shake it off and eventually made his way back to practice.
This was one of those times where if we were live-tweeting practice you all would have been led to believe that Corey Ballentine's career was over and his arm might be in need of amputation only to learn minutes later that he is fine.
— Tom Rock (@TomRock_Newsday) August 18, 2020
“Listen, we can’t get the guys ready to drive on I-95 by riding back roads,” Judge said. “If we think the Pittsburgh Steelers are coming in here to hug us, we’re all sadly mistaken.”
“We have to train these guys in a physical manner to make it safe to play the game the way it needs to be played,” he said. “I’ve been doing that drill for the better part of a decade. It’s a safe drill, it’s a controlled space, it’s how we can teach guys to safely have collisions because that’s what the game is, a collision game.”
It is worth nothing that the Giants were one of the worst tackling teams in 2019.
Defensive end RJ McIntosh and rookie guard Shane Lemieux also threw punches at each other. Things were broken up before it escalated into something bigger.
Sixth-round rookie LB Cam Brown got cursed out by linebackers coach Bret Bielema late in the workout for lack of hustle and had to run two laps while the rest of the team practiced. Running back Wayne Gallman also had to run a lap.
Asked about making players and coaches run laps, Judge said the following:
“Everything we do has a purpose…at practice we have to understand there’s consequences for mistakes”
Judge isn’t playing around. Will the players all fully buy in as the season goes on is something to watch.
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