Practice Report (8/12): Offense, defense go back and forth

* Practice started with 1-on-1s between the offensive and defensive lines and receivers and defensive backs. Andrew Thomas was dominant at left tackle, winning or at worst fighting to a draw on every rep. On one play, an edge rusher tried to beat him to the outside, but Thomas rode him away from the quarterback and tossed him to the ground.

* Thomas and Brian Burns had a good battle, but when Burns had a chance to line up against different players, he was hard to slow down. He continues to show his full repertoire of pass rush moves in these drills, featuring spins, inside counters, rip moves and flat-out speed to the edge. When the Giants play with a lead this year, he is going to be a terror for opposing teams to block coming off the edge in passing situations.

* Dexter Lawrence charged into the backfield on his reps, with his power and quickness overwhelming the offensive line. DJ Davidson also had some good reps, winning with a long-arm move on his first attempt and getting a fast win with his quickness on his second.

* In wide receiver-defensive back 1-on-1s, a pair of safeties grabbed interceptions. Jason Pinnock got underneath a crossing route in the middle of the field. Dane Belton did a good job being physical in tight coverage to position himself for an interception.

* The offense also made some plays in the period. Wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins and tight end Jack Stoll both made contested catches for scores. Tommy DeVito found Allen Robinson for a perfect throw on a fade route at the pylon for a touchdown.

* Daniel Jones made the throw of practice for the offense. He dropped back and fired the ball at least 50 yards in the air to Jalin Hyatt for what would have been a touchdown. Hyatt ran past the defender but only had about a yard of separation. Jones put the ball perfectly over his shoulder for the score.

* Hyatt scored a touchdown later in practice on a quick pass from Jones during goal line drills. Tyler Nubin would get a takeaway for the defense a couple plays later getting in front of Lawrence Cager on a crossing route for an interception. Nubin also stuck his nose in there on a goal line run, where he would have stopped Devin Singletary in the hole short of the goal line. Tommy DeVito used some fancy ball-handling to fool the defense on a touchdown run.

* The defensive front was active throughout practice. On different plays I saw Azeez Ojulari, Kayvon Thibodeau, Elijah Chatman and Boogie Basham in the backfield for potential sacks. The defense had a strong day of practice against an offense that seemed to be working a lot on the play-action and short passing game.

* The practice ended with two competitive two-minute periods. On the first one, the offense needed a field goal to win the game and moved the ball just short of the 40, where Graham Gano would have had to make a 59-yard field goal. The second-team defense stymied the offense and stopped them on a drive where they needed a touchdown to win. The defense was helped by a drop on a deep pass that could have set up a touchdown.