Palladino: Giants Could Reap Rewards Of Combined Practice

By Ernie Palladino
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Along with the total recasting of the offensive line, the expected return of Victor Cruz, and coordinator Ben McAdoo's ever-evolving West Coast scheme, something else that currently seems far less important could help the Giants make a significant jump in the upcoming training camp.

A combined practice with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Sounds silly, right? And maybe it is. After all, how can a couple of days of drills against someone in a different uniform affect a team in the long run? Many teams have done these sort of things, and they don't all end up in the postseason. So the effect they have on a franchise's regular season prospects would appear negligible.

And yet, practices such as these may, by necessity, become the wave of the future for the Giants and any other team which has shied away from doing what so many other teams have made a regular event in their summer program. The limitations on padded, full-contact workouts and the virtual extinction of two-a-day practices have left coaches with dilemmas not only about how to cram all the classroom stuff into fewer and lighter on-field sessions, but about how to get their players in true football shape.

That is why Tom Coughlin will take his team out to Cincinnati for two days of drills with the Bengals prior to their Friday, Aug. 14 preseason opener at Paul Brown Stadium. Eli Manning couldn't be happier about it, despite what happened the last time the Giants engaged in a similar activity.

Manning and anyone else who was at that one-day, double practice on Aug. 6, 2005 against the Jets remembers all too well what a mess that turned into. It's a big reason behind Coughlin shying away from such things for the next decade.

The Herm Edwards-coached Jets had driven to the Giants' training site at the University at Albany that morning, motors revved after more than a week of looking at nothing but green helmets and ready to rip into anyone wearing blue. Problem was, the Giants went about things in their usual practice mode, which looks more akin to flag football.

It didn't take long for things to turn nasty. On the second play of a 9-on-7 drill in the morning session, Jets defensive backs Erik Coleman and Oliver Celestin tackled the always-volatile tight end Jeremy Shockey. The No. 1 rule of any non-contact drill is that everyone stays on their feet, the better to avoid injury. Tackling was a no-no.

Shockey, never one to pass up a response to a perceived wrong, came up swinging at both of them, triggering a melee.

The Jets defenders continued their aggressive play, laying out several more Giants before Coughlin went after Jets defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson. Not physically, though Coughlin did have plenty of fighting words for an assistant whose contrition fell far below Coughlin's minimum standards.

"We don't want that," Coughlin seethed after the morning practice. "We came to practice. It's not a game."

Since that fiasco, the Giants have kept to themselves in the summer months. But with camp so limited now, it is almost a necessity for even reluctant teams like the Giants to find new ways to speed the training process.

The absence of a regional rivalry with a team like Cincinnati should help prevent a replay of 2005, as should the well-known class of Bengals coach Marvin Lewis. A successful trip might just lead the Giants to make combined practices a yearly event.

They were never uncommon to the Giants, anyway. Bill Parcells brought his team to New England to work out before their preseason game in 1989. Ray Handley took them out to Cleveland in 1991. And the 2005 mess marked the second straight year of Giants-Jets practices.

Manning said he wouldn't mind if it became a regular part of training camp.

"Sure," he said. "It's a way to get some good practices, with guys going hard, and play well and practice well against a different opponent. I think it'll be good for us.

"We'll see how this one goes. It's been a while since we've done it, but hopefully we'll have a good experience this year and we can continue to do it."

They may have to. Field time has been reduced, but a coach's evaluation process and the need for players to get into "football shape" remain the same. Run the right way, the moderate increase of intensity during a combined practice could push both those aspects forward.