Giants looking forward to hearing the roar of a MetLife crowd
Giants head coach Joe Judge speaks to the media before practice during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J., on Tuesday. Credit: Brad Penner
A year ago the Giants had to acclimate to playing games in the eerie silence of empty stadiums.
"It was definitely different," tight end Evan Engram said on Tuesday. "I never really fully got used to it."
This year, they’ll be back in front of fans. That, too, will be an adjustment. And the process of it will begin Wednesday night when the team holds a practice in front of fans at MetLife Stadium. Besides the two home preseason games it is the only opportunity fans will have to see the Giants work this summer as training camp practices have been closed to the public. The Giants distributed 50,000 tickets to the event, and while there is sure to be a percentage of pass-holders who do not come, the night figures to be a raucous reunion between fans and the team.
"It’s going to be pretty fun," defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said. "Obviously, we missed the fans last year. They bring a different type of excitement, a different type of juice. Playing in front of them is just an honor, really."
It will be the first time the Giants do anything as a team in front of fans at MetLife Stadium since the pandemic began. That means this will be the first time players such as Blake Martinez, Logan Ryan and James Bradberry feel a New York football crowd rooting for them. It will be the first time Joe Judge coaches in front of Giants supporters who are there in person.
"I get to experience what the Giants fan base is all about," said Bradberry, who has represented the team in the Pro Bowl but has yet to play in front of its supporters.
Excitement for that aside, the crowd will bring something else with them. Noise. And while it will be uplifting to hear the roar from the seats, it could also be disruptive for the football.
Nick Gates, the Giants’ starting center, was new to the position last year so he has never had to snap the ball on a silent count. Like never in his life. On just about every play the Giants ran in 2020 he could whisper to communicate with his fellow linemen and hear quarterback Daniel Jones’ cadence clearly.
"It was nice for me last year to not have fans and us to be able to just talk things out and get comfortable with everybody," Gates said. "Now we have the fans, so we’ll do the silent count more as we get used to that."
The Giants blasted some music from loudspeakers during Tuesday’s practice to replicate crowd sounds, but the real test of that skill will come Wednesday, then in the preseason games, and then, of course, in the regular season when the buildings are really packed and at full volume.
It’s not just an issue for the offense, either. Bradberry said the secondary will have to go back to relying on hand signals, a communication system it didn’t need last year.
"We have to get used to using them and being kind of subtle with it so the offense doesn’t pick up on it," Bradberry said.
Asked if he is concerned about all of the changes to the ways the Giants will communicate on all sides of the ball this season, Judge smiled.
"That’s why we’re practicing," he said.
More to the point, that’s why they are practicing in front of fans on Wednesday.
Notes & quotes: TE Rysen John was activated off COVID-19/reserve and LB Ryan Anderson was activated off NFI on Tuesday. The Giants waived TE Tommy Stevens . . . WR Kenny Golladay (hamstring) has not been practicing but has been able to catch passes from the quarterbacks from a stationary standing position. "Kenny’s doing a good job working and getting back and as soon as we can get him on the grass, we will," Judge said.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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