Training camp has begun for the New York Giants, and the pressure is on for certain players. It’s the first training camp under new head coach Pat Shurmur, and there’s a lot of storylines going into it. How will Odell Beckham Jr. play? Will the rest of the offense give more help to Eli Manning this year? Can the cornerbacks hold up and not let the team down this season?
After the first day, it seems that we’re closer to an answer for the first question. Beckham Jr. didn’t just show up to training camp rather than holding out, but performed well enough to earn praise from fellow wide receiver Sterling Shepard.
“I don’t know, there’s just something in him, he’s just hungry. He’s ready to get out there and prove to everybody that he still has it and you guys see the Instagram videos, it’s crazy and to see it firsthand, wow.”
The Instagram videos that Shepard is referring to are the ones from Beckham’s training in Los Angeles. If you followed those videos, it’s really no surprise that Beckham hasn’t lost a step. The routes he ran back at UCLA’s practice field made it look like he had never been injured, after all.
Beckham wasn’t the only player to look good in the passing game during the first practice of training camp, though. Evan Engram made an impressive one handed catch, and it looked like a play that the aforementioned Beckham would make.
“Definitely went back and watched a lot, just to kind of put in perspective of where I was and kind of test myself on when to use some of the new things I know now in some situations I was in last year,” Engram said, talking about his film study during the offseason.
It’s only Engram’s second season, but after an impressive six touchdowns as a rookie, he’s on the fast track to having a larger role in the offense. So far, it would seem that the tight end is up for the task and ready to improve some areas of his game from last year.