Giants’ offense off to slow start in first two days of training camp to start rebuild

Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney and Darius Slayton all dropped passes as the Giants’ offense sputtered on day two of training camp.

Daniel Jones hit Golladay with two throws downfield on a rope, his best passes on the day. But safety Julian Love punched the ball out from the blind side to negate the first completion.

Defensive linemen Dexter Lawrence and Jihad Ward blew up two other plays with sacks on the pass rush.

Speedy receiver Richie James impressed in some first-team work while rotating with dynamic rookie Wan’Dale Robinson. And James and Slayton both caught late, short TDs from Jones.

But backup QB Tyrod Taylor completed the throw of the day: a deep bomb down the left sideline to Collin Johnson.

Brian Daboll was vocal about disliking the timing of a late offensive play from his first-string unit and still needs to see more from Jones and that group.

At least the head coach said Wednesday that he recognizes how far his team has to go.

“I think we understand where we are at,” Daboll said at his opening press conference. “We are starting to crawl here, we are making progress, but we’ve got a long way to go.”

Daboll, who speaks to the media before practice, did offer some praise for Jones’ operation of the offense on day one.

“I thought it was good. I thought he was crisp in the huddle,” Daboll said Thursday morning. “He made some really tight throws, good throws. That’s why we worked redzone. Really wanted to get their legs back a little bit, and that’s an area that we’ve got to improve on.”

Daboll said the installation of the offense will take time, as well. Early on, though, he’s not seeing enough consistent results from the offense.

Corner Aaron Robinson also made two good pass breakups on Robinson and Golladay. Toney short-armed a pass from Jones with Blake Martinez bearing down in coverage. And Slayton dropped a wide-open pass from Taylor down the left sideline.

The pass was late, but he should have caught it and needs to catch those while fighting for a roster spot. David Sills, another guy on the bubble, made an impressive leaping TD grab with the third-string offense on a fade to end practice.

SAQUON: HARD WORK WILL PAY OFF

Giants GM Joe Schoen spent some time after practice chatting on the field with Saquon Barkley’s agent, Kim Miale of Roc Nation. Schoen helped draft another Miale client, wide receiver Gabe Davis, to the Buffalo Bills in the 2020 fourth round.

Barkley, 25, is playing on the fifth and final year of his rookie contract. By all accounts, he’s put in the work this offseason to have a big season. Even Daboll noted that the Barkley “came in in shape.”

But the Giants’ running back said he has no specific expectations for in-season contract talk. He’s focused on doing his part.

“You can’t really focus (on) that stuff,” Barkley said. “Obviously that stuff’s in the air. My thing is if I take care of the little things and God blesses me and nothing crazy happens, the rest is gonna take care of itself. I know where I’m at mentally. I know where I’m at physically. I know what I’m capable of doing. And I just gotta focus on taking care of my mind, my mental and try to be the best teammate I can be. That’s every single day, and when the time comes, it’s going to pay off.”

SEALS-JONES: WE’RE ALL COMPETING

Ricky Seals-Jones’ free agent signing in March added a talented veteran to the Giants’ tight end room. But so far, Seals-Jones’ first-team work has been noticeably limited.

He spent most of the spring with the reserves. And the past two days, rookie Daniel Bellinger has remained the clear No. 1 TE, with Seals-Jones, Chris Myarick and Jordan Akins rotating in.

Seals-Jones, 27, said he’s not concerned with the depth chart, though.

“My goal was to just come in and compete, no matter if I was coming in as third, second or first,” Seals-Jones said Thursday. “It doesn’t really bother me. I just do what I’m told, and at the end of the day it’ll work out if the best man plays. So we’re all competing and trying to make the team right now.”

Giants fans know Seals-Jones best from his acrobatic touchdown catch against Adoree Jackson in Washington’s Week 2 win over the visiting Giants last season.

He still has that talent. And he chose the Giants – on a veteran salary benefit split salary contract – because he was attracted to the offense and coaching staff.

“Especially Daboll coming from Buffalo, just how they spread the ball around,” Seals-Jones said. “[Dawson] Knox was big there. My tight end coach Andy [Bischoff] was in Buffalo and Houston, they had some of those guys go off. So it felt like a great fit [to] learn from those guys and go from there.”

Seals-Jones made 30 catches for 271 yards and two TDs last season. Washington wanted to get younger behind Logan Thomas at tight end, retaining 2021 draft pick John Bates and drafting rookie Cole Turner out of Nevada.

So Seals-Jones, a country guy from Sealy, Texas, left for a city and an experience he never envisioned having in the Big Apple. He’s grateful for the opportunity.

“Being from Texas coming to New York, I would never move to New York,” he said with a smile. “It’s too fast-paced for me, the city. So being here is great to see the city, be around up east and have fun with it … My job is to compete, do well in preseason and let the chips fall into place.”

PRACTICE NOTES: DAY TWO

Starting slot corner Darnay Holmes collided with a trash can during an early defensive back ball drill, was badly shaken up, and needed a trainer’s help off the field. Thankfully, he only missed one period of practice before returning to compete in 11-on-11 full team work … An unknown player required medical attention on a far side of the field after practice. The Giants had no update and would not disclose who the player was … After one day of full access, Daboll and the Giants restricted media on Thursday from filming or photographing any portion of a live team drill during training camp. Fans in attendance were still able to film and post videos from just a few feet behind reporters, however … The team waived linebacker Justin Hilliard, who was recently suspended two games for violating the club’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. They signed linebacker Austin Calitro to take his place, and he practiced Thursday.

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