Yah, that’s what I thought of the assembly last night. It’s not fair to call that a game.
The Jets first team played against the Giants second team to start the rehearsal, so it wasn’t very competitive. The Giants second team offense couldn’t do anything. The Giants second team defense did manage to get Rodgers off the field on the first possession, before yielding a TD drive on the second. Rodgers dropped a perfectly placed ball to Wilson that even Deion Sanders would have had trouble defending.
The Jets second team defense collected a pick 6 when David Sills didn’t come back for the ball. Yes, Sills did collect some nice receptions thereafter, but this WR room is too deep and he will be cut.
The most important takeaways from the Meadowlands meeting, in no particular order:
1) Schoen and the front office need to scrub the waiver wire for backup Offensive Line help. The Giants second string OL is not inspiring confidence. Wyatt Davis suffered an injury and Josh Ezeudu is Dr. Jekyll (run blocking) + Mr. Hyde (pass protection). Assuming Tyre Phillips is unavailable (I liked him last year), that means the Giants swing Tackle is vapor. Make sure to pray nightly for Thomas’s and Neal’s health.
2) I like DeVito. When he’s not running for his life behind a garbage set of backups, he shows poise, some accuracy, and an understanding of the game. There was an exchange where I think Bob Papa said that DeVito would make a credible third (QB) roster spot worthy of protecting, and Banks replied (with 2021 nightmares still present) .. maybe even second roster spot. Either way, if the Giants risk waiving for the practice squad, Giants Nation (including us) believes he’ll be scooped up by one of 38 other QB-starved franchises.
3) Jalin Hyatt. Perhaps the single most important play of the entire evening for me was watching Hyatt stutter and blow past Sauce Gardner. This was the beginning of the game (Tyrod Taylor) when the Jets 1’s were out there. The Safety was late getting there and if the ball was led properly, Hyatt would be somewhere on I-95 in Maryland still running with the ball. Also note Gardner is holding Hyatt (twice!) – that’s a chunky pass interference call missed by the officials. If I’m Daniel Jones, who is already a workaholic, I take Hyatt aside and spend 15 minutes every day after practice working with him on these deep routes to get the timing down to match Hyatt’s jet propulsion.
4) Gano is money. He hit from 56 and 57.
5) TE. Notice how, early in Q1, the Giants are calling Cager and Myarick? This offense is going to have plenty of Waller and Bellinger.
6) Simmons sighting. He was in for 5 plays. Dropped into coverage on a 6th play called back for a penalty. The guy has physical gifts that need to be harnessed. Didn’t sack Rodgers but got pressure. Wink will have him in the box.
7) Two weeks from football. Cuts coming. This Dallas game is very big. It represents the best opportunity to take one of the 4 games from DAL/PHI. With other early games against SF SEA MIA BUF awaiting, it’s important to grab a Win to not get submerged early by the toughest part of the schedule. That’s 5 playoff teams in 6 weeks. But the Giants are a playoff team too. Make your mark. Early.