Giants head coach Pat Shurmur talks OBJ, quarterbacks, o-line at latest presser

New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur addressed the media Monday to discuss the progression of his team so far in training camp.

On wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.: “I see what I expected to see when we started to communicate back in February. This guy loves to play football, he trains extremely hard, he’s totally engaged in the meetings behind the scenes, the things that the world is not aware of, and he’s got a lot of passion for the game. We were just out in a walk-thru and I saw three or four times when he was talking to different players about certain techniques within the play. That’s all good stuff.”

On the play of quarterbacks Eli Manning and Davis Webb: “I think they have consistently performed well throughout the camp. I’ve watched it with a little different vision of what we want to get done, but they threw the ball well, they did some good things. What’s good about our practice sessions is we get a lot of different blitz combinations and concepts.

“It’s the real mental gymnastics that quarterbacks need to go through and I thought they did a good job of sometimes knowing if they were blocked properly, if there was an extra guy or making adjustments necessary to fix a problem.”

On rookie quarterback Kyle Lauletta: “He’s a New York Football Giant and we are trying to get him ready to play. Really anybody on our 90-man roster could be out there playing against Jacksonville (in the regular season opener). You see we get reps for the 1’s, the 2’s and the 3’s and we certainly do a lot to get the quarterbacks ready, so I really don’t care where he was picked (Lauletta was a fourth-round selection).”

On being harder on the quarterbacks: “We have expectations and demands, we have standards, so when you’re out there watching them play, to the naked eye it may look like something was a good play when there is maybe some things he could have done better.

“There’s always fundamentals to talk about in terms of taking a snap, dropping back and throwing. There is constant communication there. The one thing you mentioned, the fact that I’m hard on quarterbacks, I don’t know about that. We are very demanding. If you have been around enough quarterbacks, they are hard on themselves. They are driven to get it right.”

On if he believes tight end Evan Engram is a three-down player: “Yeah, we feel like he’s a three-down tight end. He’s improved his blocking, he works on it constantly. Obviously, his redeeming quality is as a pass receiver, and he works on that constantly. [For] tight ends, it’s every day. It’s like a quarterback – you say, OK, what does the quarterback do?

“They get the play from the coach, they make sure everybody’s lined up, they execute a cadence, they take a snap, they either hand the ball off or drop back and throw it, and then when things don’t go right, they fix it. That’s what a quarterback does and so then, throughout his day, he works on those things.

“As a tight end, you work on run blocking, you work on running routes, catching passes, and pass protection, and so they work on all those things. They’ve been doing that.”

On the center position training camp battle: “Brett Jones and Pio (Jon Halapio) are doing a good job. We talked a lot yesterday about how it’s important for the center to communicate and communicate well, block their guy and certainly work in conjunction with the guards. I think those guys are doing that. We’ll get through the second phase after the day off tomorrow and certainly the preseason games will be the final piece of that evaluation.”

On if the offensive line is at a disadvantage this early in camp with the defense’s blitzes: “I don’t think so. Everybody is giving play by play, day by day analysis of what’s going on, I get it. There’s a craving for that type of information. ‘Boy, the o-line is doing great.’ I get that. I see it differently, I get that it’s important that we go out there and work on certain things.

“If we’re only running one play against one defense and everybody is getting it right all the time, then we’re not getting enough done. The more that we can see in practice, the better we’ll be against Jacksonville, Houston, Dallas and so on.”

Gains the offensive line have made: “The drill work tends to be skewed to one side or the other. When we are going 1 on 1 against the defensive backs, that’s sort of skewed to the receivers. There are times when the 1 on 1 pass rush drill is skewed toward the rushers. Within the drill, you may not see it, but on this day, Will Hernandez will be working on short setting. He may do three or four well and then get beat on one.

“Maybe on this next drill, he’s working on vertical setting. They’re working on their techniques within the drills. I think you have to be really, really careful, and I know there are a lot of evaluators that will say, ‘boy, he did a great job in 1 on 1.’ Well, we play the game 11 on 11. The drill work is one thing, but that’s why it’s so critical to see the 11-on-11 drills, the preseason games, and when we scheme it up and play real football.”

On if he is encouraged by what he has seen so far out of the offensive line: “I am and, again, I don’t have anything from a year ago to compare it to, but I’m encouraged by what I’m seeing from the guys that are in there. You’ve already written a lot of articles and done a lot of interviews about how we made a big change up there. I like how they are working together.”

Things the media aren’t privy to concerning the offensive line: “Everything. Thirty-one other teams are doing the same thing. All the fundamentals that are necessary to play the position, involvement in all the schemes we want to run, and then you match that against the different variations of defenses and pressures that you get. That’s basically it.”

On the play of defensive end Olivier Vernon: “We all know he is a dynamic pass rusher, but he does a very good job playing the run as well. He was here all spring really engaged in everything we’re doing, learning the new defense. I have a great appreciation for what a pro he is.”

On if he has an idea of who will play on special teams:  “Yeah, we have an idea of who our core guys might be within the 90-man roster here as we get ready to take it to the 53. [We’ve] got a pretty good idea on the specialists, and we just keep working on it and owning it.

“Some of it will be determined – there are guys that will make this team because of special teams, and really, they’re going be fourth down players first and then we’ll find a role on first, second, and third downs. So, there’s going be a few guys that do that. Then there are other guys that are first, second, third down players that will contribute on special teams. Every guy has their role and has to do their job well, so that’s sort of how we’re practicing.”

On the hamstring injury to Donte Deayon:  “Yeah, he’s fine, it will just be a short time before he is back out there.”

– Carlos Rodriguez is a Contributor for Full Press Coverage and covers the NFL and the New York Giants. Please like and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Carlos can be followed on Twitter @openurmnd.