Tag: Will Hernandez

Report: Giants have no new positive COVID-19 tests

One day after Will Hernandez tested positive for COVID-19 and the team had nine others self-isolate, the Giants have no new positive tests.

The New York Giants aren’t quite out of the woods yet, but they can breathe a temporary sigh of relief as they experienced no new positive tests on Friday morning, one day after placing guard Will Hernandez on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

The team had asked that all but four offensive linemen self-isolate following Hernandez’s positive test and later sent home two assistant coaches, Bret Bielema and Jerome Henderson.

None of the nine players or coaches were deemed “high risk” and all have checked out clean, for now.

In addition to Bielema and Henderson, offensive linemen Andrew Thomas, Nick Gates, Cam Fleming, Shane Lemieux and Spencer Pulley were absent on Thursday and believed to have been sent home. Each appeared on the team’s injury report.

Offensive lineman Chad Slade and wide receiver Binjimen Victor were also presumably sent home, but did not appear on the injury report because they are practice squad players.

All nine players and coaches who were told to stay home on Thursday will be closely monitored and further tested under the NFL and NFLPA coronavirus protocols, but allowed to return to team facilities.

A Monday Night Football game between the Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers remains on schedule.

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Giants injury report: 7 players do not practice, 4 limited

The New York Giants had a deep injury report on Thursday due a positive COVID-19 test and other injuries.

The New York Giants were back on the practice field Thursday as preparations got underway for a Week 8 game against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But it certainly wasn’t smooth sailing for Joe Judge & Co.

Just prior to midnight on Wednesday, Judge was informed that guard Will Hernandez had tested positive for COVID-19. The guard immediately self-isolated and contract tracing began. As a result, all but four offensive linemen were told to stay home on Thursday.

Additionally, an unnamed practice squad player was also told to isolate, while assistant coaches Bret Bielema and Jerome Henderson were sent home.

Back on the field, the Giants had quite the limited roster. In addition to those isolating, running back Devonta Freeman (ankle) appeared to be working on the side.

In positive news, cornerback Darnay Holmes (neck) and safety Adrian Colbert (shoulder) shed the red non-contact jerseys they were wearing on Wednesday.

Below is the official injury report:

Did not participate: RB Devonta Freeman (ankle), OL Will Hernandez (COVID-19), OL Andrew Thomas, OL Nick Gates, OL Cam Fleming, OL Shane Lemieux, OL Spencer Pulley

Limited participant: CB Darnay Holmes (neck), S Adrian Colbert (shoulder), WR C.J. Board (concussion, non-contact), WR Sterling Shepard (shoulder/toe)

Full participant: N/A

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Giants’ Will Hernandez tests positive for COVID-19

Giants offensive lineman Will Hernandez has tested positive for COVID-19.

The New York Giants were hit with their first positive COVID-19 test as it was revealed Thursday offensive lineman Will Hernandez has coronavirus.

Per NFL.com:

The team announced Thursday morning that a player tested positive for COVID-19 and that the player and his close contacts are not in the building while the rest of the team preps for Monday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“Late last night, we were notified that a Giants player tested positive for COVID-19,” the Giants said in a statement. “The player was immediately self-isolated, and the contact tracing process was initiated. All of the player’s close contacts were identified and were informed to remain home today. Those individuals will participate in meetings remotely. We are working closely with the NFL’s Chief Medical Officer regarding next protocol steps.

A total of eight Giants players and two coaches — outside linebackers coach Bret Bielema and defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson — are in quarantine. All but four of the Giants’ offensive linemen are currently in isolation.

The Giants are scheduled to play host to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 8 on Monday night.

 

Giants-Buccaneers remains on schedule, for now

The New York Giants-Tampa Bay Buccaneers Monday Night Football game remains on schedule for now despite a positive COVID-19 test.

The New York Giants are expected to place guard Will Hernandez on the Reserve/COVID-19 list after his test came back positive on Thursday.

Hernandez is the first Giant to test positive for the virus during the regular season.

“Late last night, we were notified that a Giants player tested positive for COVID-19. The player was immediately self-isolated, and the contact tracing process was initiated,” the team said in a statement.

“All of the player’s close contacts were identified and were informed to remain home today. Those individuals will participate in meetings remotely. We are working closely with the NFL’s Chief Medical Officer regarding next protocol steps.

“Quest Diagnostics Training Center will remain open, and the rest of the team will follow their normal practice and meeting schedule.”

Reports are that Monday night’s game against Tampa Bay at MetLife Stadium is not currently in jeopardy. However, should additional positive tests come back, it would put the NFL in a precarious position as all facilities are scheduled to be closed on Tuesday to Election Day.

“We’re expecting to play Monday night, and that’s our mindset,” head coach Joe Judge told reporters.

Meanwhile, the players and coaches identified as “close contacts” could be back at the facility tomorrow if there are no negative tests and no symptoms.

All but four of the Giants’ offensive linemen have been told to stay home, as well as a practice squad player who did not play the offensive line. Outside linebackers coach Bret Bielema and defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson were also sent home.

For those questioning, Hernandez was not part of the Daniel Jones/Saquon Barkley outing in which participants were seen in a large group not wearing masks.

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Giants to place Will Hernandez on Reserve/COVID-19 list

The New York Giants have placed guard Will Hernandez on the Reserve/COVID-19 list following a positive test on Thursday.

The New York Giants had their first positive COVID-19 test of the regular season on Thursday, and that comes by way of offensive lineman Will Hernandez.

Hernandez is currently self-isolating and the team has requested that all but four offensive linemen remain at home and communicate remotely. Additionally, outside linebackers coach Bret Bielema and defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson were also sent home.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports that Hernandez will be placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

Shortly after news broke of the positive test, the Giants released the following statement:

“Late last night, we were notified that a Giants player tested positive for COVID-19. The player was immediately self-isolated, and the contact tracing process was initiated,” the team said in a statement.

“All of the player’s close contacts were identified and were informed to remain home today. Those individuals will participate in meetings remotely. We are working closely with the NFL’s Chief Medical Officer regarding next protocol steps.

“Quest Diagnostics Training Center will remain open, and the rest of the team will follow their normal practice and meeting schedule.”

Currently, the Giants remain on schedule to practice Thursday afternoon and to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football. However, that is obviously subject to change.

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Giants vs. Steelers: 5 biggest storylines for Week 1

The New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers square off in a storyline-rich game in Week 1 of the 2020 regular season.

The New York Giants are two days away from their season opener this Monday against the Pittsburgh Steelers at MetLife Stadium.

There are about two dozen storylines that I could hit you with but for the sake of time and space, here’s just a few of them.

Joe Judge
Photo credit: Giants.com

Is Joe Judge for real?

Joe Judge reminds me of Bill Parcells in 1984 after Tuna decided to simply be himself and just coach the team his way. He’s a teacher but also holds the players accountable. The fact that he did not want players to have their names on the backs of their jerseys in camp shows how much he believes in the ‘team first’ mantra.

Judge has a veteran staff to help him navigate the red tape issues but in my opinion is he appears to have the right stuff to become a very good head coach in this league. I have yet to hear or read someone state “he’s not going to cut it” or something else along those lines. He’s for real.

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Giants training camp: 7 early standouts

These seven members of the New York Giants have stood out during the first week of padded practices.

With training camp and padded practices in full swing, many New York Giants players have begun to stand out. That’s good news considering the lack of a preseason and the team’s need for more depth.

Here are seven players that opened some eyes during the first week of padded practices:

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

QB Daniel Jones

The Giants are looking for Jones to take a leap forward this year and it seems like he just might. He’s added some muscle and appears to be in sync with the new offense.

On Tuesday, Giants’ in-house reporter Dan Salamone wrote the below about Jones’ day:

“The second-year quarterback was nearly flawless during 1-on-1 drills, which pitted a receiver against a defensive back. Jones went through two rotations until his first incompletion, throwing red zone touchdowns to Sterling Shepard, Golden Tate, Corey Coleman, Austin Mack, Binjimen Victor, and Alex Bachman. Later, during team drills, Jones showed his decision-making and athleticism when he tucked the ball with nothing open and ran for a touchdown,” Salamone wrote.

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A new Giants reality: Effort, nastiness are ‘non-negotiable’

It’s a new age in East Rutherford and for this version of the New York Giants, effort and nastiness are “non-negotiable.”

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The New York Giants have been longing for a dominant offensive line for some time now. Many critics point to the offensive line as the poster child for all of the Giants’ recent woes.

While some of that may be true, the Giants have taken measures this offseason to address the line by using three of their five first draft picks this season on linemen and also signed veteran swing tackle Cam Fleming, a former Cowboy and Patriot.

Perhaps the biggest boost the Giants gave to the effort of reviving their offensive line has been the hiring of Marc Colombo has the unit coach.

Colombo, a former NFL offensive lineman who stands 6-feet-8, was a first round pick of the Chicago Bears in 2002 but it wasn’t until he got to Dallas in 2005 that his career took off.

The head coach in Dallas at the time was a man named Bill Parcells, who Colombo credits with “reviving his career.” Colombo takes a piece of what learned from the Hall of Fame coach with his to New Jersey these days and to this day says he’d still “run through a wall for him.”

Hopefully his players will be willing to do that for him someday. Colombo does not only consider himself the O-line coach, he also considers himself part of the unit.

“I’m an O-line guy,” he said. “Close that O-line door and we’re a unit together and that’s what we’re trying to build around here.”

So, what can Giant fans expect out of the offensive line this season? Colombo told the Giants beat pool via a video conference call on Friday to expect a nasty, competitive group.

“I think it’s work ethic, it’s a nasty attitude, going out there and just kind of imposing our will on the defense. Flying around, that’s non-negotiable,” Colombo said.

Colombo had some praise for starting left guard Will Hernandez and rookie center prospect Shane Lemieux, both of whom he lauded for their toughness. But his highest praise was for Nick Gates, the versatile third-year swing-man who the team just signed to a contract extension.

Colombo said he loves Gates at center, calling him an “alpha male” when he slides into the position. He also said he prefers a big center and Gates stands at 6-foot-5.

“We like big centers,” Colombo said. “I worked with Travis Frederick in Dallas and he’s a big center. Big, athletic, strong. We’re looking for centers that can anchor the middle. One of the biggest things is getting depth right off the bat at center, just so he can kind of be the ultimate helper in there.”

Colombo’s biggest task will be finding left tackle and perhaps he has to look no further than first-round pick Andrew Thomas, who experts believe will a turnkey solution for the Giants at left tackle now that veteran Nate Solder opted out due to coronavirus concerns. Colombo said Thomas needs doom fine tuning but the talent is there.

“Andrew is a tremendous football player. At this level, it’s about fine-tuning some of those details,” Colombo said. “I love where Andrew is heading. Again, we have a long way to go. But he has the right mindset, he’s smart, he knows where some of his deficiencies are right now and he’s working every day to get better. There are not a lot of deficiencies.”

The main thing Colombo is stressing is righteous of Joe Judge’s book — attention to detail. That is something the Giants’ line has been lacking for some time.

“They know it wasn’t right previously. It never is when you lose a coaching staff,” Colombo said. “When you come back this year, they’re hungry. Having a conversation with each one of them, they want to get better. It’s our job as coaches to put them in a position to succeed. That’s my job, just trying to get in there, again, and just hammer them with every little detail and make them understand why. Why this is the right way to do it. They’ve bought in so far, and they’ll continue to keep buying in. We’re just going to keep pressing every single day to get as good as we possibly can, as quickly as we can.”

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Remembering the Giants’ biggest training camp fights from recent years

As the New York Giants ready themselves for the first padded practice of the year, here’s a look back at some of their biggest camp fights.

The New York Giants will put on the pads for the first time on Monday, which means tempers are likely to flare and fists may begin to fly.

That may sound dramatic, but it’s just the nature of NFL training camps. And when considering the Giants will also hold intrasquad scrimmages once per week, it seems almost inevitable that a few punches will be thrown.

With that in mind, here’s a look back at some of the biggest and most memorable Giants training camp fights from recent years.

AP Photo/Adam Hunger

2019: Lorenzo Carter vs. Nick Gates

The Giants didn’t do much fighting in 2019, but there were a few dust-ups.

One such incident came last August when linebacker Lorenzo Carter and offensive lineman Nick Gates got into a bit of a scrap.

While neither player swung at the other, there were a few shoves before teammates swarmed and pulled the two apart.

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Is O-Line now the Giants’ biggest liability?

The New York Giants have worked hard to repair their offensive line, but does it remain their biggest liability headed into the season?

Every NFL team has their assets as well as their liabilities and for the New York Giants, their offensive line has been a liability for quite some time.

In his latest piece on each team’s biggest liability going into this season, Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox identifies the O-Line as the Giants’ most glaring question mark this summer.

We agree, even though the defense was probably the biggest concern coming out of the season last December. The Giants have just one known entity on their offensive line at the moment — right guard Kevin Zeitler — after left guard Will Hernandez endured a disappointing second season and left tackle Nate Solder opted out due to coronavirus concerns.

The Giants have, however, taken steps to address the unit through the NFL Draft and free agency, along with bringing in Dallas Cowboys line coach Marc Colombo to head the group, but it’s a huge ask for this bunch to form some cohesiveness in such a short period of time.

“The Giants will now likely rely on some combination of rookie fourth overall pick Andrew Thomas, rookie third-round pick Matt Peart and former Cowboys and Patriots backup Cameron Fleming at tackle,” writes Knox. “Could this group of tackles prove capable of protecting quarterback Daniel Jones? Sure. With no preseason, however, it could take them some time into the regular season to jell. Given Jones’ struggles with pocket awareness and fumbling—he had 18 fumbles in 13 games last season—this could be a major issue in 2020.”

That is the fear. Too many rookies and new faces on the line could prove to be too challenging at the outset but many see it as a step in the right direction.

Thomas and Peart were both coveted by many teams in the draft and Fleming, having played for Colombo last season in Dallas should help make for a smoother transition.

In addition, the Giants are looking to make a change at center where veteran Spencer Pulley will face challenges from Nick Gates and rookie Shane Lemieux.

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