Tom Coughlin said he’s been thinking about how he will distribute the playing time against the Bills in Sunday night’s Hall of Fame game preseason opener in Canton ever since the schedule came out. He’s going to wait to see who is available after the next two practices Tuesday and Thursday before making any announcement.
“There are five games, and you approach it in different ways whether you have four or five, but this is going to benefit us,’’ Coughlin said. “We’re going to get some more opportunities in this offense.’’
Coughlin confirmed his new offensive coordinator, Ben McAdoo, will call in the plays from the sideline and not the press box. McAdoo has never before been a play-caller in the NFL, so this is new for him.
The offense enjoyed its best showing of the summer during Sunday’s practice, with cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie saying, “They tore us up. … They’re coming along fast.’’ The offense was not as crisp on Monday, with the defensive unit clearly not wanting to get outplayed for a second consecutive day.
Other practice notables:
– Rookie WR Odell Beckham Jr. was nowhere to be seen. Instead of watching practice, Beckham was sent into Manhattan to have his nagging strained hamstring checked out to see if anything can be done to hasten the healing process. Beckham tweaked the hamstring during the spring workouts and hurt it again early in camp. Rookie TE Xavier Grimble also went into the city to check on his injured hamstring.
– The first minor scuffle of camp featured FB Henry Hynoski and LB Jacquian Williams, with a few wild punches thrown and Hynoski getting his helmet ripped off.
– The afternoon got off to a rousing start for the defense, with CB Zack Bowman running stride-for-stride with WR Rueben Randle and turning Eli Manning’s deep pass into a leaping interception. Bowman not only made the grab at the top of his jump but also held onto the ball as he hit the ground. On the next play, CB Ross Weaver had excellent coverage on Randle as another deep ball by Manning fell incomplete.
– It was a promising day for the tight ends. Veteran Daniel Fells, looking for a spot on the roster, broke free from LB Jameel McClain over the middle and was the recipient of a strong strike by Manning for a touchdown. A bit later, TE Larry Donnell used every bit of his 6-foot-6 wingspan to haul in a Ryan Nassib pass in front of S Kyle Sebetic. Donnell then tumbled to the grass, but didn’t lose control of the ball.
– WR Preston Parker made a nice back-shoulder catch of Manning’s pass.
– In a 7 on 7 drill, CB Prince Amukamara blanketed Randle as Manning had nowhere to throw on an incompletion. In the team period, Amukamara was one step behind as Victor Cruz broke free on the left sideline, made the catch and turned up-field, with Amukamara clearly upset with himself.
– This is what you call all-out coverage. Cruz made the catch on a quick crossing route and ran out of bounds on the left sideline. Antrel Rolle followed Cruz all the way out of bounds, all the way to the far fence, where Cruz finally stopped running and waved to the crowd.
– G John Jerry made a crunching block on LB Justin Anderson to free up RB Michael Cox for a gain.
– It was a good sign for Mario Manningham that he was able to reach back, make a catch and then protect the ball as he hit the ground. Manningham is coming off knee surgery and has slowly started to show signs of returning to form.
– Charles Brown, playing right tackle, moved too soon for a false start as Jason Pierre-Paul reacted to the movement and burst across the line.
– Rookie DE Kerry Wynn tackled Cox, which is a no-no and prompted an angry shout from Tom Coughlin to knock it off.
– There have been a noticeable increase from recent summers in the amount of screen passes attempted by the Giants. The West Coast offense often used screens extensively; last season the Giants were the worst screen team in the league. “There have been a lot of years where we have been very good at the screen game, and the good thing, the way everything is being introduced, is it is in balance,’’ Coughlin said. “It all comes in phases. You are seeing screens because there are screens perhaps once a day that are installed. You see them not necessarily being emphasized, but as a part of the overall package as we put these installs in.’’