Three Giants players to watch this season not named Daniel Jones
Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers, left, stands with wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Thursday in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: Corey Sipkin
After not practicing Saturday, the Giants return to the field Sunday and will work out in pads early this week.
They reported to training camp last Wednesday, and now the intensity will be turned up.
One truth seems evident in the (very) early going: Daniel Jones’ recovery from the ACL tear he suffered in Week 9 last season seems pretty remarkable. He’s had a strong start to camp, though his most uneven day probably was Friday. Jones has appeared willing to run, still is fast and largely has found his targets. He had vowed to be back for the start of training camp, and he was.
Here’s a look at three other players who seem particularly poised to make a difference on the Giants’ offense:
WR Malik Nabers
This is an easy one. Nabers has been outstanding. So outstanding that coach Brian Daboll allowed the rookie to call a play during team drills. Not surprisingly, he dialed up his own number.
Nabers explained the play call this way: “Dabes asked me what play I wanted to call, and I said, ‘Well, let’s throw a “go’’ ball. And Daniel came up to me, like, ‘What do you want, you want to check out of the press [coverage]?’ I said, ‘Nah, just throw it up.’ He was like, ‘I got you.’ The chemistry showed.” (The pair connected on a deep reception down the right sideline.)
Jermaine Eluemunor speaks during Giants minicamp at the team's practice facility in East Rutherford, N.J., on June 12. Credit: Ed Murray
It won’t always be that easy, of course, but Nabers caught 21 touchdown passes for LSU. None of this seems too big for the rookie at this point.
This summer on “Hard Knocks,” we learned that wide receivers coach Mike Groh liked Nabers over Marvin Harrison Jr.
It’s early, but the Giants are thrilled with Nabers. (And Harrison has drawn positive reviews at Cardinals camp.)
Devin Singletary carries the ball during the Giants OTAs at the team's practice facility in East Rutherford, N.J., on June 6. Credit: Ed Murray
OL Jermaine Eluemunor
Eluemunor had the most painful first week of any Giant, taking a rib shot from Dexter Lawrence on the first day of camp. Eluemunor clearly was in pain but participated in position drills the following day. On Friday, Eluemunor was back in team drills, fighting off Brian Burns.
Tough guy.
“I’m willing to do whatever I need to do for the team,” he said Friday. “I’m really happy to be here. So I told Dabes and Joe Schoen when I came here, wherever they need me is where I am going to play.”
With Evan Neal still out, Eluemunor has been manning the right tackle position, where he has played previously.
“I try to learn every position on the offensive line when it comes to schematics and stuff like that, because I’ve had to move around my entire career,” he said. “I don’t want to be caught off guard with anything, so I try to learn every single position, other than center, so I know what I’m doing. That’s just what I’ve been doing this camp and OTAs, so it wasn’t too much of a difference for me.”
RB Devin Singletary
Singletary is one of the players whom Daboll knows best from their three years together in Buffalo. Back then, Singletary smartly was following the moves of now-retired Frank Gore, who was a willing mentor.
Singletary replaces Saquon Barkley in the backfield.
“He has very good discipline,” Daboll said. “He has the right attitude. He’s got tremendous will and got a lot of grit to him. He does what he’s supposed to do when he’s supposed to do it. There’s the dependability factor.”
Singletary has played in at least 16 games in four of his five seasons. As a rookie in 2019, he played in 12 games.
“He’s a very good leader in the running back room,” Daboll said. “He’s been around some good ones ahead of him, around Gore, who’s one of the best to do it at running back. He’s not over-the-top loud, but I’d say he’s respected by the people in the locker room. He’ll do a good job for us.”
Singletary has impressed his teammates, including offensive lineman Jon Runyan Jr.
“He does everything right, all the techniques,” Runyan said. “He’s full go until the echo of the whistle and he’s really exciting to have back there.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
