‘Set the tone’: Giants ramp up physicality with full pads

Jones and the other quarterbacks have thrown the ball throughout the spring and the first week of camp. But with the players in full gear, the evaluation of the rushing attack becomes more credible.

“When you’re not in pads, running the ball is always a little tricky,” Jones said. “Coaches tend to call more pass plays because it’s a more real look. We put the pads on, and we start running the ball a little bit and get a sense for where we are with the run game, what we’ re good at and working through that stuff.

“We got some things we need to clean up and operationally, work smoothly as an offense. But it was a good first day of pads; something to build on.”

Tackling to the ground is prohibited, and no one hits Jones, Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito, the quarterbacks who wear bright red jerseys. But the players no longer must play the NFL’s version of two hand touch in practice.

“It’s fun,” running back Devin Singletary said. “It’s time for real football. I feel like we finally got to play some real football. I know the big guys up front were happy. The first day out is always fun. When you’re trying to run through a tackle it might get your heart rate up a little bit more. But after the first team period, you start to settle in.”

The team’s rookies also welcomed the opportunity to be more physical, as cornerback Dru Phillips noted when asked what makes a good run defender in the NFL.

“I’m glad we got pads on today, because now you can actually go put your body on somebody,” said Phillips, the team’s third-round draft choice. “I feel like coming in here that’s one of the main reasons why they got me here is my physicality. Today something just sparked in me. If I go shoot, I’m going to hit somebody. My first rep in the backfield, coach was like, ‘You didn’t do enough.’ I thought it was a little thud-up, so then the second one I kind of went too hard. I think the main thing is really just the will, you want to go do it. If you have that mentality, it’s going to happen every time.”

The players most significantly affected by the introduction of pads are the offensive and defensive linemen. For months, they are unable to fully hit the player in front of them. That changed in the one-on-on blocking drills and the team periods of practice when some serious pad slapping was heard.

Asked if the competition between the lines ramps up with the pads on, defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches said, “if it doesn’t, there’s a problem in the house. That’s what we live for. Who in here lives for meetings, who in here lives for just the weight room? You live for being able to go out there and compete putting on the helmets and shoulder pads and just showing your toughness and how you can help your team perform and be better.”

How did the first real hit since January feel?

“It felt like it’s been a while,” said the player everyone calls Nacho. “I’m not gonna lie, I felt like it’s been longer than it needs to be.

“But honestly, it was a lot of things that you can learn from. I felt like everything that I didn’t like about today is fixable. That’s one thing that I can look forward to rather than me being frustrated and feeling like it’s out of my control.”

Right guard Jon Runyan, Jr., a five-year veteran and first-year Giant, was excited to both deliver and absorb some real contact.

“It’s what you look forward to when training camp starts,” Runyan said. “The past few days, there haven’t been a lot of runs. It’s hard to get that cohesion going up front. The first day of pads, a little humidity out there and it starts wearing down your body. There’s a little different tempo compared to the first four days. When there’s no pads, there’s a lot more hands, a lot more heads out. This is a lot more shoulders in there getting low, driving. It’s a different type of finish. It’s making you grow, making you a stronger player.

“This is where you start building for the preseason, the regular season. Day one felt good and hopefully we just use this to keep growing.”

*Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence (illness), center John Michael Schmitz (shoulder), safety Tyler Nubin (calf) and linebacker Tomon Fox (hamstring) did not practice.

*Daboll was asked about wearing pads for the first time prior to practice:

“Normal practice,” he said. “We will work on first and second down. We will work on some backed-up situations. There will be some one-on-ones with the offensive line, defensive line and then some other group receiver, DB (defensive back), linebacker stuff. It will be good to get out there with some pads on.”

*The Giants will be in pads again tomorrow.