Moving Giants' Ereck Flowers to right side still an unknown

 Moving Ereck Flowers from left tackle to right tackle will not automatically make him a better player.

“In the old days, you had a big, strong right tackle and you had a pass protecting left tackle and every team had one good pass rusher,” Giants offensive line coach Hal Hunter said on Saturday. “I think one of the first teams that really broke that were the Indianapolis Colts when they had Mathis on one side and Freeney at the other. Now the way people do it, they’ll move a good pass rusher to the other side… You’re going to find work wherever you go.”

Perhaps what the shift will do most of all for Flowers is give him a new perspective, both literally and figuratively. After three seasons at left tackle that began with promise and ended in disappointment, the former first-round pick was bumped to the opposite end of the unit with the addition of Nate Solder in free agency this offseason.

“I’m not sure,” Hunter said of the effect the shift will have on Flowers. “Maybe it’s a fresh start.”

One thing is for sure: Flowers’ move has been – and is likely to remain – one of the most analyzed and fretted-over lateral 12-foot journeys any Giant has ever made.

The fourth-year player said he’s still adjusting to it.

“When you move over you kind of have to switch everything, your muscle memory, a lot of different things,” he said. “It’s going pretty well though. I’ve gotten a lot better at it since I first started.”

The Giants will need for it to continue to improve. On their rebuilt offensive line, he is the only projected returning starter (albeit at a new position). He’s struggled at some points in training camp, but said he will judge his own progress and that of the entire line more by what happens in the preseason games starting on Thursday.

“We’ll see where it goes from there,” he said. “We’ll try to build each week.”

Flowers knows that all eyes will be on him and his play this season. It’s his final one under contract with the Giants, who declined a fifth-year option in the spring.

“Anytime I’m on the field I want to play my best regardless of who says what,” he said. “I want to play my best regardless so it doesn’t matter what anybody says.”

Behind the scenes, Flowers is engaged. That’s something that wasn’t always the case for him throughout his time with the Giants. Flowers, like many of the players under the new regime, had his locker moved and is not longer isolated from his fellow linemen. His new spot is right next to Patrick Omahmeh, the right guard who will also be playing next to him. He’s also part of the line’s insistence of walking into the practice field together and their new habit of pushing tables together in the cafeteria so they can all sit together.
“He’s been great in the meeting room,” Hunter said. “A little bit of the Socratic method in there, so we’re watching tape this morning and I’ll fire a question to this guy, fire a question to that guy. I fired two questions at him today and he had the answers, one-two. That shows a lot. The number one thing that I’ve been really pleased with is his attitude.”
So what does Flowers think of his new position?

“I like it,” he said. “It’s cool.”

The only way it’ll remain that way is if Flowers plays well at it.

APPLE INJURES KNEE. CB Eli Apple had to be helped off the practice field with an apparent left knee injury suffered in Saturday’s practice. While the starting cornerback was eventually able to remain standing on the sideline with teammates, it was the first real injury scare for the Giants in training camp.

Apple went down hard after getting tangled with receiver Hunter Sharp in a two-minute drill. He had difficulty supporting his weight as he left the field and had to have teammate Michael Thomas help him limp to the sideline. There he was examined by members of the Giants medical staff. He was able to jog lightly to test it out but never returned to the action for the remainder of the workout.

The Giants are off from practice on Sunday and return Monday. By then the team should have a better idea of the extent of the injury. Making it even more worrisome is the lack of depth behind Apple and fellow starting cornerback Janoris Jenkins.