In the better late than never department, here are some notes from the actual on-field football action during Friday’s New York Giants OTA.
Three of the four team periods the Giants held with offense and defense working against each other were red zone sessions.
Because of the lack of contact allowed at these practices, and also because head coach John Harbaugh has said clearly he does not want defensive backs competing at the catch point in these workouts, these are heavily skewed toward the offense. Defensive backs can’t re-route receivers at all.
Again this week, Ben Sauls and Jason Sanders were the kickers on the day media was able to watch. To be honest, neither was impressive, both going 3 of 5 on their attempts.
Sauls yanked a kick right, then a couple of kicks later missed one well left. He was working with snapper Zach Triner and holder Jordan Stout, and it is fair to wonder if that tandem is still adjusting to Sauls being left-footed. They took some extra reps on their own later in practice.
Sanders spent seven seasons kicking in good weather for the Miami Dolphins. Watching him kick Friday made me think about former Giants kicker Graham Gano telling me one time that Meadowlands winds make it important for kickers to learn to keep the trajectory of kicks as low as possible. Sanders kicks the ball very high. The wind caught one of his kicks and pushed it well left. On Sanders’ longest attempt (we were on the opposite end of the field and could not judge exact distance) the wind absolutely knocked the ball down as it clearly fell a couple of yards hsort.
