After a nice, rainy drive up the Hudson, I arrived at Giants Training Camp to find that our picnic and media-vs.-coaching staff softball game scheduled for this afternoon were rained out. I'll have to wait another year to show everyone my game. But I guess that means I'll have to talk about football today instead of my swing or the quality of the hot dog buns.
Naturally, the main topic of the day was Mr. Shockey (who, by the way, passed his physical in New Orleans last night). Click below for some quotes from O.C. Kevin Gilbride and TE coach Mike Pope. Pope, in particular, was very candid about the situation.
But there were other items of interest as well. Steve Spagnuolo talked about how he feels Justin Tuck will not only be able to fill soe of Strahan's on-the-field void, but his leadership wake as well. Tom Coughlin said he will be on the lookout for signs of complacency as training camp moves along. He also seemed impressed by the workout of Shane Olivea earlier this week, a guy he said looked like he had something to prove. And safeties coach Dave Merritt told us to keep an eye on undrafted rookies Nehemiah Warrick and Terrance Stringer this camp (so I will).
It's looking more and more like David Tyree will start the camp on the PUP list as he recovers from offseason knee surgery. The bad news about that is the Giants will miss a body in camp; PUPpies count against the 80 man roster limit. But all of the other players coming off injuries are expected to participate at some level when practices begin on Friday morning. They'll begin showing up tomorrow for their check-ins and conditioning run.
No word, however, on when that softball game will be made up. Perhaps next year, as part of a day-night doubleheader.
Click below for Gilbride and Pope on Shockey.
GILBRIDE
On moving on without Shockey:
“The best thing I can do is make an analogy between this year with Jeremy and the loss of Tiki last year. I wasn’t sure how we were going to replace him, I was looking forward to finding out what the answers would be, who would step up and fill the void, and the same thing certainly exists this year. I don’t know how we’re going to fill it.”
On how it will effect the offense:
“I’m looking forward very much to seeing our young guys have the opportunity to play and see what adaptations and modifications we have to do with the tight end role. What do we do? Do owe move it? Do we play less two tights? Do we have certain restrictions in certain players? I really don’t know the answer but I’m excited about seeing our young guys. We’ll all kind of see together as camp is unfolding.”
On preparing for life without Shockey:
“From our standpoint, everything we’ve done has been with the impression that he was going to be back. We knew that there was some disillusionment on his part, but we all felt that eventually it would work out. There would be reconciliation, so to speak, and he’d come back and eventually get into the fold and we’d be moving ahead with him. The one thing we do have that’s an advantage is we played without him last year.”
On the young guys who will replace him:
“You always hold your breath and it’s certainly not without some anxiety, not knowing how they’ll be able to perform, but I think we’re all kind of looking forward to what they can do.”
POPE
On the young inexperienced players at the position:
“We don’t really have that mentor guy right now so these players are going to have to push and encourage and compete with each other. Somebody has to step up and take a lot of these roles.”
On missing Shockey:
“I will miss him, sure, but he didn’t go to another planet. We did have a rather unique relationship because of some absence that existed in his upbringing, but he’s at an age now where a lot of that is pretty much behind him and he’s able to move on.”
On Shockey’s mindset during the offseason:
“A player, in some cases, can be at a place too long. The circumstance that happened with the injuries and the things that went on in his mind, having to sit and watch the Super Bowl, watch the team continue to succeed, I don’t think his worth in his own mind diminished, but I think he realized … that organizations and teams, teams, can keep moving when individuals aren’t there. With what went on and the way that all of those things took place, he obviously felt that a new place and a new start. All of those things fit to a point and it was time to move on.”
“How would the scenario have been different if we didn’t go to Green Bay and do as well as we did or if we didn’t play well in Tampa. Even in the Super Bowl game, there were tons of chances in that game for the game to go either way. The scenario just worked out. Out of the many thousands of possibilities, this is the way it worked out and he didn’t feel a part of any of that. That’s unfortunate because he did make some very major contributions, especially in the running game.”
“It’s almost impossible to realize how separated from everything else they feel when things continue to go well and they’re perception of their own worth gets diminished. Where do they stand? Who do they talk to? They feel so much like they’re in the way, they’d rather not even be there. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it goes.”