T-Rock's Take on the Giants

Well, let's just say the Giants had a better afternoon than Billy Wagner and the Mets.

Osi and Tuck returned to their active roles and were stationed at the ends of the defensive line. Pierce was still sidelined with his back (although he performed in a few drills) and that meant the LBs were Blackburn flanked by Kiwanuka and Kehl. Corey Webster also participated.

Oh, and just to get it out of the way: Plaxico was on the field and did not practice and Shockey was not on the field.

The focus of the practice seemed to be on press coverage -- how to apply it and how to avoid it. There were a number of drills in which defenders were locked up on receivers. In fact, one of the more entertaining drills to watch was one where LBs and safeties had to cover RBs out of the backfield one-on-one. On the first play of the drill, Brandon Jacobs ran a go route past James Butler and Anthony Wright put the ball right over the safety and into his hands. Ahmad Bradshaw made Jonathan Goff look slow on a go route, but Wright overthrew him by a smidge. Later in the drill Kiwanuka covered Jacobs on a crossing route and did a nice job of knocking the ball away. Would it have been holding? It looked like maybe, but Jacobs shouted "Nice coverage!"

Darcy Johnson made a sweet catch in 7-on-7s, splitting the seam and hauling in a pass in double coverage. In the same 7-on-7s, Manningham dropped a pass from David Carr in the back of the end zone that would have been a really tough grab -- but one that probably should have been made.

Carr looked a little more comfortable this afternoon, but if it were my call to decide who goes to Albany based on what I've seen so far, it would be Manning, Wright, Lorenzen and Woodson.

In 11-on-11s, Kenny Phillips made a dazzling play on a deep ball from Manning to Moss. It was unclear whether or not Phillips made the interception or if the ball popped out as he rolled on the ground. I'll put a star next to the play below when I chart the snaps and call it an incompletion, but if you want we can throw the red flag on it (credit MG for the flag line).

They finished practice with a 2:00 drill that went basically nowhere with the second stringers and Wright at QB.

Okay, click below for the play-by-play. Next practice is tomorrow morning's finale, then it's time for summer vacation!