Practice Report (8/13): Observations from the sideline

The Giants had their final padded practice at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Tuesday before their second preseason game in Houston on Saturday. The weather was quite comfortable with low humidity, a light breeze and temperatures in the high 70s.

* Instead of running 1-on-1s with the offensive and defensive lines, the lines practiced blocking and executing twists and stunts. The offensive line did well to stay coordinated in passing off some of the rush games. There were still pressures during the session from Boogie Basham, Ryder Anderson and Rakeem Nunez-Roches. It seems like the offensive line is already developing the chemistry to help handle those better in 2024. I’m looking forward to seeing the group do it in a game for the first time.

* Daniel Jones aired it out on just his second throw of practice. He hit the top of his drop and threw deep down the left sideline. The pass was placed perfectly in front of Darius Slayton, who ran under it and made the catch. Over the course of the last week, Jones’ accuracy on downfield passes has steadily improved and he is now routinely putting the ball where it needs to be on deep looks to players like Slayton, Jalin Hyatt and Malik Nabers.

* Two plays later, Jones made a precise pass over the middle to Jalin Hyatt. The second-year wide receiver was covered tightly by Deonte Banks, but Jones put the ball in front of Hyatt, who extended his hands up and out to make a tough catch on a ball with high velocity. After the play, Banks was looking at his hands, wondering how he didn’t knock the pass away.

* Jones finished the first period with another on-target pass to Wan’Dale Robinson, though Kayvon Thibodeaux may have had the sack before the pass was released. In the third team period, Jones layered a pass to Slayton over the linebackers near the left sideline for another explosive gain, though Ryder Anderson might have had a sack on the play.

* Tommy DeVito made a big-time throw of his own during the Giants third team period, finding Allen Robinson on a deep post that would have been a 40-yard touchdown catch. DeVito also hit rookie tight end Theo Johnson with a perfect throw down the seam.

* Allen Robinson was the player of practice. He had at least a half-dozen catches at all levels of the defense. Robinson might not have the stop-watch speed he once possessed, but his consistency running routes and catching the football has shown up throughout camp. He is an experienced veteran who could also be an asset to the young players in the room.

* There were no takeaways for the defense, but the defensive front did bother the quarterbacks in the pocket. Azeez Ojulari would have had a sack during the first team period, while Boogie Basham and Kayvon Thibodeaux had pressures in the next to last team period. Basham and Dexter Lawrence batted passes down at the line of scrimmage. Brian Burns and Darius Muasau had stops in the run game.

* John Michael Schmitz was back at center for a limited number of snaps with the starters during team drills, while Evan Neal played a handful of snaps with the second group. He did execute a nice block on the move to help free Devin Singletary on a run to the left.

* Rookie running Tyrone Tracy Jr. had to leave practice with an ankle injury.