Giants' O-line working to cut down passes batted down by D-line
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones takes a snap during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Aug. 18, 2020. Credit: Brad Penner
Daniel Jones dropped back to pass, scanned the field, found his target, and released the football.
It never made it there.
In a flash it was in the hands of defensive lineman B.J. Hill, who had jumped up and intercepted it, and he was running toward the opposite goal line with Leonard Williams escorting him.
Tuesday's standout play by Hill was an illustration of what has become one of the more troubling consistencies in training camp so far. Jones has looked sharp delivering passes to his receivers and running backs, but he’s had quite a number of them spiked back in his face by defensive linemen who are batting them down at the line of scrimmage. It happened twice in last week’s scrimmage, and it has become a near daily occurrence.
Offensive line coach Marc Colombo said there's an easy fix to that.
“The rule of thumb is if they try to jump up for a ball, stick your hands in their chest and you have to thump them,” he said on Wednesday. “You put that on film a couple of times it will keep them from jumping up there.”
That’s part of the nastiness that Colombo is trying to instill in his unit.
“We can always play more physical,” he said. “The first part of that is making sure we get into these fits right in the run game, we’re physical in the passing game with our hands. We’re still working those details out right now. Once you learn how to do it right, that’s when you can impose your will on the defense. We’ve done a good job with the physical nature of it, we need to clean up the technique part of it.”
So maybe the Giants' offensive linemen will start dumping their defensive teammates to the ground when they are about to launch up and deflect a pass. And maybe they’ll do that against the Steelers on Sept. 14 if those players try to do the same thing. The visual of a few defensive linemen thrown on their backside will go a long way.
Colombo admitted that those batted passes in practices are a two-sided event.
“Our defense does a great job of getting their hands up in the throwing lane,” he said. “They are coached really well. They’re big, they’re physical, they can push the pocket. It’s a really great challenge for this offensive line.”
One that can be overcome with better technique.
“I feel like we have to anchor sooner,” he said. “It’s really about anchoring, being a little more firm in the middle, that will help that so they can’t push the pocket and get their hands up that way.”
And a little bit more saltiness, too.
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.
