Quote (Grizzy_Green @ Sep 30 2014 05:51am)

The most impressive thing about Prince isn't even his talent.. The guy works at it. You can see him getting better every single week.

And I'll let you have the Beatty thing for now.

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Will Beatty at 6 feet 6 looks down on most humans, and he was scoffing the other day as a small group from a large scrum around Eli Manning broke off and headed toward his locker.

“Who you just come from?’’ Beatty asked sternly, peering down, knowing full well which of his teammates had previously commanded so much attention. When he was reassured it was Manning, Beatty feigned jealousy and bellowed, “I block for him.’’

There was a time not long ago when that statement was met with derision and great concern from Giants fans wondering if their team had a left tackle capable of keeping the heat off the franchise quarterback. Beatty, a second-round pick from UConn, started all 16 games in 2012 and the Giants were convinced he was the real deal, signing him to a five-year contract worth up to $38.75 million, with $19 million in guaranteed money. For that expenditure, the Giants as payback got a shaky left tackle who in 2013 allowed 10 sacks and admitted he did a terrible job trying to earn the fortune he received.

Bad went to worse when Beatty in the season finale had to be carried off the grass at FedEx Field with a fractured right leg, the ensuing surgery assuring he would spend the offseason getting his body right at the expense of getting the football right.

It is no surprise that Beatty, looking back at where he has been and what he has been able to accomplish at the quarter pole of this season, needed only one word to express how relieved and pleased he is that it has all worked out for him.

“Very,’’ he said.

Without a big rebound year from Beatty — he called his 2013 showing “an anomaly’’ — the rebuilt offensive line would have crumbled instead of grown on a weekly basis. Beatty is not everyone’s desired dance partner — he’s more finesse than power, with his athletic footwork often making up for uninspiring upper-body punch — but he has not allowed a sack in the first four games. So far, Pro Football Focus has given Beatty the top grade of any left tackle in the league.

“I kind of remember us talking about the injury Week 1 and me saying I want to put it behind me,’’ Beatty said, “but the best way is to go out there and play and actually have a full game, not let the leg be, you know you can do it but you haven’t done it yet. Just that first game, OK, it wasn’t where you want it to be but you can play a full game. Now do it again. Then we had a Sunday to Thursday game, which was a very short week, that’s telling you your leg can handle most anything right now, there’s nothing you have to worry about.’’
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Will BeattyPhoto: Paul J. Bereswill

What comes next for Beatty should be fascinating. Osi Umenyoira has 82.5 career sacks, with 75 of them coming during his decade with the Giants and 41.5 already on his résumé when Beatty arrived on the scene in 2009. It is fair to say Umenyiora did more for Beatty than Beatty did for Osi during their four years as teammates.

“It was a guy, [if] you can pass block him you know there’s no one who can beat you outside on the edge, because of his speed and what he’s shown,’’ Beatty said.

Someone somewhere may have the exact number of snaps the two worked against each other in mini-camps, training camps and practices. For the first time, the two get to knock heads for real on Sunday when Umenyiora and the Falcons face Beatty and the Giants.

“Having him work with me and now having a chance to go against him, it’s ‘Let me thank you for all you taught me, go out there and show you what I can do,’ ’’ Beatty said.

Umenyiora, 32, is no longer a starter and as a situational pass-rusher he has been on the field only 35 percent of the time — 100 of the 282 defensive snaps. He does not have a sack this season, his 12th and most likely his last in the NFL. The Giants remember Umenyiora as a fixture on two Super Bowl-winning defensive lines, possessing an impossibly quick first step that often seemed to take off a split second before the snap and for the blind-side assault and clubbing arm motion that produced 35 career forced fumbles.

When it’s second or third and long, Umenyiora will be in the game and it will be Beatty’s job to keep him from inflicting damage on Manning.

“Being my mentor coming in here I know this is going to be a good week for me, just to show him how far I have come, and thank him for it,’’ Beatty said. “I know his mentality of practicing so I know he’s preparing, he wants to say, ‘I still have lessons to teach you.’ I want to say, ‘The student has become the teacher.’ ”

At least one member of the Giants believes Beatty’s clean sack season is about to come to an end, with Umenyiora doing the honors.

“I know he’s going to be fired up,’’ Jason Pierre-Paul said. “It’s going to be exciting watching him get off again, get off that ball. Hopefully he doesn’t get there but knowing him, he’s going to get there.’’

Not if Will Beatty can help it.

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Something that hasn’t happened in months took place on the practice field Wednesday as the Giants opened their week of preparation for Sunday’s game against the Falcons.

Not one player was on the stationary bikes off to the side. Not one player was working on an adjacent field with a trainer. Every player was in full pads and participating in practice, including rookie receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and linebacker Jon Beason, two of the four players listed on the injury report.

“We’re getting these people on the field and getting started integrating them back into the system,’’ Tom Coughlin said.

For the first time since they opened training camp on July 22, every player in uniform was able to work. This makes the Giants remarkably healthy heading into the fifth game of the season. That’s in stark contrast to the Falcons, who on Tuesday had to put two starting offensive linemen on season-ending injured reserve and a starting safety on short-term IR.

“We’re worried about our team, we’ve got to get our team ready to play as best as we possibly can,’’ Coughlin said. “They do have some injuries, they’re a veteran staff, they’re very good coaches, they’ll take care of their team.’’

Beckham participated in two practices last week, and it appears to be all systems go for him to finally make his NFL debut after missing so much time with a strained right hamstring. This is no longer about getting him healthy, it’s about getting him ready to play in a game this Sunday.

“We’re in that phase,’’ Coughlin said. “What we obviously need is to see some hard back-to-back practices, one after the other, which I expect we’ll accomplish this week.’’

Beckham does not have to be ready to handle a full load. He’ll likely start out as the No. 4 receiver behind starters Victor Cruz and Rueben Randle and No. 3 Preston Parker. Limiting Beckham’s snaps is possible, though Coughlin said, “You’d like not to go in with that kind of thinking.’’

Missing all of training camp, all five preseason games and the first four regular-season games means Beckham hasn’t played in a game since last winter at LSU. He’s been around the Giants the whole time, though, and the feeling is he knows what he is doing.

“He’s been in every meeting, I would expect him to know everything, I wouldn’t shy away from that,’’ Coughlin said. “He’s demonstrated an ability to handle whatever is thrown at him, he’s done that throughout, so I would expect … now under fire with adjustments and signals and things of that nature, we got to see where we are on that, too.’’

The two other players on the injury report, rookie linebacker Devon Kennard (hamstring) and punter Steve Weatherford (ankle) were on the field, though Weatherford did not do any kicking during special teams drills.

Quote (xnozx. @ Oct 1 2014 02:01pm)

[FONT='Times New Roman']This high-priced Giant has rediscovered dominant form: Will Beatty[/FONT]





http://nypost.com/2014/09/30/this-high-priced-giant-has-rediscovered-dominant-form/


Oh the pleasure and joy I got out of making tons of Giants fans eat crow about Beatty..... oh hey Griz  :D 

Quote (Grizzy_Green @ Oct 1 2014 02:20pm)

Guy I will slap you.

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EAST RUTHERFORD – The Giants had a special defensive package specifically for strong side linebacker Devon Kennard in the season-opener but needed to scratch it after a hamstring injury surfaced early in the game.

Kennard returned to practice today for the first time on a limited basis, but did enter the team portion of drills to work full speed.

"I'm not sure. I'm just doing whatever they ask me," he said.

While it's unclear if the Giants will re-install the Kennard package from Week 1, it certainly sounds like he'll reclaim his spot at the SAM and bump Mark Herzlich back to special teams duty.

Kennard said he played at the SAM in base sets during practice today.

Adding to our theory is the fact that Jameel McClain described himself as a "nomad" during interviews today. With Jon Beason also making a return this week, the linebacking corps will have plenty of depth to cycle through.

"They could tell me one second before the game, I'll be ready," McClain said, when asked how soon he needs to know where his spot will be.

At the moment, it makes sense to see McClain start on the strong side, but work in Kennard if McClain needs to shift to the middle. Beason, while showing signs of progress, will need to deal with his foot injury all season, and could use some rest.

If nothing else, it gives the Giants an extra boost against the NFL's most productive offense (441 yards/game) heading into Sunday. Atlanta is 14th in rushing (121.8 yards/game) and boast a stable of backs that could be game-changers when the blocking is there.

"You take your lumps early and you just keep improving, and consistently improving. In the practice that we had today, showed that guys were focused, locked in, energetic," McClain said. "Those are all of the things that you expect from a good defense. If we can keep building off of that, we will keep getting dangerous."

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EAST RUTHERFORD – Odell Beckham already has the humility aspect of his new job down.

During practice today, he burned a fellow cornerback on a deep post for a touchdown, one of the first times he truly allowed himself to unleash his full speed. He remembered everything vividly enough, just not who the cornerback was.

"I don't remember," he said, hoping for the next question.

The truth was that Beckham impressed at practice on Wednesday, according to several players. The coaching staff got a glimpse of the speedy wideout that has been a minor obsession since well before his combine workout in February.

"We had a limited number of snaps that he went through and he did some really nice things today," Tom Coughlin told out-of-town reporters who spoke to him after practice (we speak to him beforehand). "We’ll just have to see how it turns out later this afternoon and tomorrow."

The goal is to put Beckham through a second straight "hard" practice on Thursday to ensure he's ready. Coughlin admitted that the team is preparing him to be a part of the game plan on Sunday.

Video: Eli Manning excited to have another weapon in Beckham. NY Giants quarterback is excited to have the rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. back in the lineup . (Video William Perlman | NJ Advancemedia.com)

"He’s been in every meeting," Coughlin said earlier Wednesday. "I would expect him to know everything. I wouldn’t shy away from that. He’s demonstrated an ability to handle whatever’s thrown at him. He’s done that throughout, so I would expect that. Now, under fire with adjustments and signals and things of that nature, we’ve got to see where we are with regard to that, too."

For now, Beckham said he'll be happy with a limited number of plays, but I wouldn't be surprised if he has an Andre Brown-esque return and ends up getting more than 20 snaps.

"I feel good," he said. "Rested, for sure."

The rest of the injury report is as follows:

LIMITED:

LB Jon Beason Foot/Toe
WR Odell Beckham Hamstring
LB Devon Kennard Hamstring
P Steve Weatherford Left Ankle

All four players were out on the field in some capacity working today, which marks the first time all season that the Giants did not have a player missing the entire workout due to rehabilitation.