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It should go without saying that in order to play NFL football players must be in top physical shape. No one believes that more than New York Giants head coach Joe Judge, who stressed the virtues and necessities of conditioning in his media session that opened the team’s 2021 training camp on Tuesday.
Judge was asked about his philosophy on training and conditioning, a question few were prepared for when he gave this answer.
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“We’re getting our players’ bodies to stay healthy. One thing we do is a lot of research and self-scout. We went back after last year and we showed it to the players themselves and then came back in spring to explain why we practice the way we do. It was reflected in a decrease in injuries across the board within this organization as well as relative to the league,” Judge said.
“We were one of the healthiest teams last year in the league and the healthiest this team has been in a long time. Look, you can’t put a player on the field and tell them to play 100 percent for 60 minutes if you haven’t trained them that way. To me, there’s a difference in practicing and training. We talk to our players all the time, we say, ‘We’re going out for practice,’ but we’re really going out to train. We’re trying to get their bodies ready to go ahead and perform how they have to in a game and the most dangerous thing you can do for a player is skimp on how you practice.
“Whether that’s conditioning to get their bodies in the right position and build up that callus within their muscles so that they don’t have soft tissue injuries on the field. Whether that’s practicing things like live hitting and live tackling and making sure that when they go out there and the pace of the game is actually faster, that they’re not in a position to be prepared to do it safely and effectively. So, anything they’re going to have to do in a game, we’re going to make sure that we practice, correct, repeat, practice again.”
It was almost a Wooden-esque response and should give everyone a roadmap of how this training camp is going to go. Judge even revealed how his views on conditioning for football spilled over into his personal life.
“I’ve got a 15-year-old son, the first thing he wants to tell me about every day I pick him up at practice is what they did for conditioning. I have to explain to him, ‘I really don’t care. What did you do for football?’ Conditioning is part of football,” Judge said. “We’re not going to go ahead and say, ‘Hey, listen, don’t worry about the quarterback’s footwork through individual period. Just go out there and coach with your team and get all his footwork fundamentals.’ No, it’s a fundamental. We’re going to work on that extra so that it carries over into team periods and it can help keep our players healthy and on the field.”
We knew Judge was a stickler and intense but without good ‘fundies’ you’re not gong to be a competitive football team. Judge’s players agree.
“Yeah, we’re definitely gonna run,” said quarterback Daniel Jones. “I think that’s a big piece of what Coach Judge believes in and I think throughout the season we felt the advantages of that brought to us as a team and being in shape. What we do through this month, through these next few weeks, has a lot to do with the rest of the season. He preaches about the importance of that as it affects injuries and protecting us from injuries, just overall conditioning and health throughout the season. I know we all believe in that and that is certainly a big piece of this camp is to get in shape and get ready to play football.”
Veteran safety Logan Ryan might understand the value of the conditioning program the best, having played in New England form many years while Judge was an assistant there.
“I played for a couple teams Joe Judge coached at before. They weren’t his camp – I’m sure they may be similar, they may not – but Joe Judge is tough on the fundamentals. A lot of conditioning. That’s how I made a career for myself, being fundamentally sound and being in shape for nine, ten years now,” Ryan said.
The Giants are hoping the rest of the team buys in as well.
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