Giants rookie mini-camp takeaways: Taking it slow as rookies get first taste of NFL

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Giants’ rookies were like race horses at the starting gate on Friday as rookie mini-camp got underway at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center. They were raring to go, but head coach Brian Daboll and the Giants were holding them back.

“It’s just an introductory phase for them to see how we operate, start learning basic terminology, figuring out where everything is. It’ll be a good start,” Daboll said. “We don’t really throw a lot at them right now … we’ll just take it slow. They have a lot to learn.”

Daboll said all of the rookies are “going to see how far they really are behind the veterans in terms of the knowledge, the fast pace of how we do things” once they begin mixing in with veterans during the remaining offseason Phase 2 practices.

Wide receiver Malik Nabers, the Giants’ first-round pick, admitted it was “hard” to be reigned in during Friday’s practice.

“Coach told me I wasn’t going to be participating in everything and I told him why,” Nabers said. “That competitiveness in me is always going to show.”

“Definitely a little bit tough to hold back,” said second-round pick Tyler Nubin, a safety. “But, obviously being smart, it’s a long season, so there will be time for that. But I’m just enjoying doing as much as I can today for sure.”

Malik Nabers: Football ‘saved my life’

Nabers has a big smile. He calls himself “a funny person to be around.” He like to joke around with head coach Brian Daboll, though he won’t share any of the jokes Daboll tells him.

He is, though, serious about football. He says it “saved my life.”

“It was the only thing that I felt like I could do with my life. It was the only thing that I felt like when I looked on what I wanted to do in the future. It was the only thing that I had plans to do,” he said. “It saved me and my family’s life. It put my mom in the house that she wanted. It changed my life forever.”

Nabers played collegiately at LSU, the same school where former Giants’ star Odell Beckham Jr. went to school. Has Beckham had any advice?

“Just continue to be who I am,” Nabers said. “Who I am it got me here today.”

Dru Phillips ‘at home’ in the slot

Ever since the Giants drafted Phillips No. 70 overall, there has been some debate about how the Giants would align their cornerbacks. Both Phillips and incumbent slot cornerback Cor’Dale Flott have the versatility to play inside and on the boundary.

Phillips made clear on Friday where he wants to play.

“Preferably nickel,” he said. “I remember when I was growing up, people thought nickel was almost like a bad thing because you kind of just throw a guy in there. But, it’s definitely how the game’s going now and how there’s so much passing in the league and also when I was in college.”

Phillips said the nickel, or slot, is where he always wanted to align.

“When I went to Kentucky, I always wanted to play nickel the whole time, but I didn’t really get an opportunity until my junior year,” he said. “But once I got that opportunity, I kind of, embodied it. I felt like it’s who I was. It’s what I did best.”

If Phillips beats out Flott for the nickel role, that leaves the question of who starts on the boundary opposite Tae Banks unanswered. That could be Flott, Nick McCloud, Tre Hawkins III or a veteran who is not yet on the roster.

Tyler Nubin wants to lead

Nubin was selected by the Giants with the 47th overall pick to help fill the void left by Xavier McKinney, one of the team’s better defensive players and a leader on the field.

“Right now I’m just trying to learn as much as possible, be as vocal as I can, try to put myself and everybody else in positions to succeed,” Nubin said. “So just being able to learn and be a sponge and soak up as much as possible and be able to give that to other guys, that’s my main goal right now.

“I think everybody can be a leader on a football team, no matter who you are. So I think, like I said, I’m going to try to learn as much as I can, soak up as much information as possible so I can be able to help myself and my teammates out.”

A slimmer Daboll

The Giants’ coach has lost a noticeable amount of weight since the end of last season. He said he took part in an organizational weight loss competition — that he did not win. The coach would not divulge how many pounds he shed, but he did poke fun at his physique.

“It’s like throwing a chair off a yacht,” Daboll said. “That’s where I’m at.”

A former Division III defensive back, Daboll said he was “trying to get in shape” to cover Nabers.

That, he added, is “not realistic.”

Roster additions

The Giants added two veteran players to the roster this week, claiming quarterback Nathan Rourke off waivers from the Jacksonville Jaguars and signing accomplished wide receiver Allen Robinson as a free agent.

Daboll was vague about how Rourke would fit into the quarterback depth chart. Rourke’s presence gives the Giants four quarterbacks on the 90-man roster.

“Thought it was a good claim. Joe [Schoen] put a claim in, we got him. Have another arm,” Daboll said. Did some good stuff in the CFL and watched his stuff at Jacksonville, he was at the Patriots. Thought he was a good player to add.”

Daboll said the Giants signed Robinson after the 30-year-old worked out for them.

“Had a good workout. Has been a productive player for a while. We’ve had good conversations. Ended up choosing to come here. Happy to have him,” Daboll said.

Shaka Toney tryout

Edge defender Shaka Toney, who was suspended for all of the 2023 season due to a violation of the league’s gambling policy, was among the players trying out on Friday. Toney, a 2021 seventh-round pick by the Washington Commanders, played 26 games over two seasons before being sidelined last season.

A total of 75 players took the field for the Giants on Friday. There were six draft picks, eight undrafted free agents, two players (Kaleb Hayes and Dyontae Johnson) from the 2023 practice squad and 59 tryout players.