WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. - The New York Giants got a full dose of training-camp chaos on Tuesday, and it ended with Jaxson Dart turning a late “win or lose the game” situation into a taunting penalty, a longer kick, and a made field goal from Ben Sauls.
Head coach John Harbaugh’s end-of-practice setup had the offense trailing by six with :42 left and the ball around the opponent’s 20-yard line. The first-team offense had already struggled in the red zone, going 11 plays over three possessions from the 10-yard line or closer without scoring.
Then came Dart’s moment. On third-and-goal from the 3, he held the ball, kept waiting, and eventually scrambled in for a touchdown.
The play sparked jawing, and Dart threw the ball at cornerback Greg Newsome. That drew a 15-yard penalty, backing up the “game-winning” extra point into a 48-yard field goal attempt for Sauls, who knocked it through.
Harbaugh wasn’t hiding his displeasure, even if he kept his answer measured.
“I think it’s a 15-yard penalty for taunting, so we backed up the extra point and had to do it again. Did you see that? That’s how we handled it,” Harbaugh said.
He also made clear he didn’t need to deliver much of a lecture to Dart afterward.
“I think he understands that for the game-winning extra point, we don’t want it to be a 50-yard extra point,” Harbaugh said. “Do you think I need to say anything in that case? Pretty clear cut, right?”
Elsewhere on the field, a few players put together strong days.
Jarrod Gray drew attention while working one-on-one with a coach on NFL blocking techniques. The Aussie rugby star, signed through the International Pathway Program, was getting instruction from former Giant Chris Snee, now in the team’s front office. For an offensive lineman, that kind of solo lesson counts as a good day.
Rookie cornerback Colton Hood also flashed. He stopped Eric Gray for what looked like a short loss in run support, then held up on a red-zone fade by Beaux Collins, ripping away a Jameis Winston throw for an incompletion.
Sauls earned a place in the plus column too. He pushed two kicks left, which had been an issue in spring practices, but still finished 10 of 12 overall.
Jermaine Eluemunor had a productive first look at the Giants’ 1-on-1 pass blocking drills in camp. He handled Abdul Carter on one rep, steering him around the pocket, then absorbed Brian Burns on the next and shut him down.
Not everyone left feeling good about the day.
Winston followed a rough Monday with another uneven outing Tuesday. His throws were off target again, and his worst one appeared to be an end-zone interception, likely by Jason Pinnock, after Winston put the ball right to him.
There was also a lighter side to the day away from the field. Media members were handed boxed lunches before practice at The Greenbrier, and apparently not every box survived intact - the chocolate chip cookies inside some of them were gone after a reporter with “quirky” eating habits raided several lunches.
One more rookie note stood out during the 1-on-1 work: Sisi Mauigoa got a back-to-back look against Abdul Carter, even though players never usually get consecutive reps in that drill. On the first snap, Carter tried to power through and was stopped. On the second, he sold outside, crossed Mauigoa’s face, and blew past him.
In Other News...
Giants Enter A Crucial Camp Stretch With Two Early Problems
Training camp has reached the point where the Giants are less concerned with warm-up work and more focused on the grind that comes with real football. This is their sixth practice, and with John Harbaugh stressing the importance of the week as the most padded stretch of camp, the tone has shifted toward getting the roster physically ready for the season while also cleaning up the kind of details that tend to linger if they are ignored.
D.J. Reader framed the moment in simple terms, noting the need to prepare the body for what is coming next, and that message fits the broader picture well. The Giants are trying to trim the penalties and get the offense moving with more consistency, all while heading into a run of public practices from Aug. 5 through Aug. 8 that should offer a clearer look at where the team stands. [Read more 🡒]
Odell Beckham Jr. Just Got His First Real Chance To Matter
Odell Beckham Jr. got a noticeably larger look with the offense during practice, a small but meaningful step in a camp where he had not yet been featured like this. He was on the field with the group doing the most important work, catching passes from Jaxson Dart and drawing more targets than he had earlier in camp while showing the route-running polish that has always been part of his appeal.
The timing mattered, too, because the Giants were working through a receiver group missing some pieces. JuJu Smith-Schuster was sidelined with knee swelling, and Malik Nabers was still out of team drills, leaving the offense thinner than usual and opening the door for Beckham to handle more of the load. How much that turns into in the days ahead is still the real question, but it was the kind of practice snapshot that can quietly change the conversation around a veteran trying to carve out a role. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Reopened A Frustrating Problem In John Harbaughs First Test
The first padded practice of training camp was supposed to be a clearer look at how John Harbaughs tougher approach might reshape the Giants, but the early returns were familiar in the wrong way. New York was flagged 14 times, with most of the damage coming before the ball was even snapped, the kind of offsides and false-start mistakes that can stop a practice cold and undo any momentum a coach is trying to build.
Harbaugh came in with a reputation for demanding order and attention to detail, and the Giants had reason to hope that sharper practices would clean up one of their old irritants. Instead, the penalty problem has shown up again right away, leaving an early camp issue that runs directly against the tone this staff wants to set and giving the team another item to sort through before the pace picks up. [Read more 🡒]