Kenny Golladay: Giants offense will need time to build chemistry
Giants wide receiver Kenny Golladay leaves the field with an apparent injury during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Aug. 3. Credit: Brad Penner
Kenny Golladay’s return to the field along with some other offensive playmakers who had missed significant time in training camp generated plenty of excitement this week. The wide receiver who was the centerpiece of this year’s Giants free agency haul was quick to downplay expectations, however.
"People have been in and out of the lineup, so it’s going to be a little, probably, slow to get off," he said of the offense. He also said missing so much time building chemistry with quarterback Daniel Jones was "a bump in the road."
Oh.
The reality is the Giants think they know what they can do once Golladay, KadariusToney, Saquon Barley and Kyle Rudolph are fully incorporated into the team. But after only a few days of actually having those pieces together they don’t really know.
"You have a feel going in, now you just want to see it on the practice field, you want to see it next week," offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said. "We have a notion about what these guys are, we have a vision for what they are and how they fit in, but we need some time on task."
That will come in the next few weeks as the players get healthier and start to play together, and as the coaches learn how best to deploy the talent the front office acquired for them.
Golladay did offer one piece of optimism.
"We’ve got some workers on this team," he said. "If we put the work in, I feel like we can be really special."
Maybe not right away, but at some point.
Notes & quotes: Andrew Thomas was in pads but did not line up with the offense in the early parts of practice open to the media on Thursday. The Giants said it was load management that kept the struggling left tackle out of the mix. Whatever the reason, it allowed them to consider the option of having Nate Solder at left tackle and Matt Peart at right tackle as they start to determine who will fit best where on the offensive line. They’ve followed that process on the interior, too, with center Nick Gates taking some reps at guard.
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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