The New York Giants participated in a joint practice with their MetLife Stadium co-tenants, the New York Jets, out in Florham Park on Wednesday.
The Jets appeared to get the better of play, especially in drills that featured their two former Rookies of the Year — cornerback Sauce Gardner and wide receiver Garrett Wilson.
Joint practice over. In a nutshell: No fights. Jets win. #Jets
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) August 21, 2024
To be fair, the Giants got their shots in too, but as practice ended, Gardner waved the Giants off the field in a taunting fashion. Giants rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers, who had a crucial drop in the two-minute drills, appeared to concede that his team had been beaten.
“I mean, they can do that. They won on the day,” Nabers told reporters. “Their defense came out here and executed well. We beat ourselves today. So, it’s about really going back into our playbook, going back into trying to be us, trying to find this team that we trying to look for. It’s going back to the preparation.
“I had too many drops. I had a lot of catches that could have been made on the field. You know, so that was about me.”
Gardner is a true pro and gave Nabers his due in an interview after practice.
“He’s nice. He’s very sudden when it comes to getting in and out of his breaks. I know this might sound kind of weird, but he reminds me of an LSU receiver, a little Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson,” Gardner said. “I’m not going to compare him to anybody because at the end of the day he’s Malik, but those are two guys he reminds me of a little bit. He’s going to be a really good player.”
It’s only practice and Saturday night’s game is likely to be a contest between second and third-string players. It’s obvious the Jets are going to be a tough out this year as long as quarterback Aaron Rodgers stays upright.
The Giants? Well, they are still very much a work in progress. They know they have a number of things to sort out before next Tuesday’s final roster cuts.
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