New head coach John Harbaugh has already put his stamp on the operation, and early returns have produced a handful of clear storylines.<\/p>\n
Here are five takeaways from the opening week.<\/p>\n
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The tempo has been different from the jump. Four straight practices to open camp, limited downtime, and a clear emphasis on competitive periods rather than extended installs. The Athletic\u2019s Dan Duggan described the pace as \u201crelentless<\/a>,\u201d and that word has stuck for a reason.<\/p>\n Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n Wide receiver Darius Slayton noticed the shift immediately.<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely think he\u2019s what we needed,\u201d Slayton told reporters. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely been a sense of accountability off the rip, which has been huge for us. I\u2019m definitely glad Coach Harbaugh\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that there is \u201cno room for anybody to just do whatever they want. Everybody\u2019s accountable. Everybody has to be on time. Everybody has to show effort at practice, or you would be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n The early returns suggest the message is landing.<\/p>\n Abdul Carter’s Year 2 jump is already visible<\/p>\n The second-year edge rusher has been one of the most consistent disruptors through the first week. He has won reps against Andrew Thomas, generated pressures, and shown improved polish.<\/p>\n Thomas, never one to hand out empty praise, offered a clear assessment.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s stringing his moves together better. He\u2019s using his power more, and you can tell he just has a better understanding for different types of blocks, different types of attacks, recognizing play schemes,” Thomas said.<\/p>\n Harbaugh has noticed the daily competition between the two.<\/p>\n \u201cThose guys are making each other better,\u201d the coach said. “I just appreciate that kind of competition. Ones against ones a lot of times. And he looked good. He is not the only guy.”<\/p>\n Carter himself is not hiding his ambitions.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be Defensive Player of the Year, for sure. Absolutely,\u201d he said. The early work suggests the confidence is backed by production.<\/p>\n Jaxson Dart\u2019s mixed early returns in the new offense<\/p>\n The second-year quarterback has been up and down, which is expected when learning a new system under a new head coach. There have been impressive deep throws, particularly to Malachi Fields and Theo Johnson, mixed with tipped passes and interceptions.<\/p>\n The biggest adjustment remains the heavy under-center work. Dart estimates he is taking a significant portion of his team snaps from under center, something he rarely did in college or as a rookie.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a few things mechanically that are different,\u201d Dart said. \u201cProbably just the biggest thing is a little bit of footwork landmarks in the pocket. But we\u2019ve repped the hell out of it. I\u2019m feeling really good with the track that we\u2019re on, and I\u2019m feeling comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n Harbaugh has noted that the under-center work \u201cdoes really discipline your footwork because the drops are so important under center.\u201d<\/p>\n The process is ongoing, but the intentionality is clear.<\/p>\n Malik Nabers’ measured but encouraging progress<\/p>\n Nabers has been limited to individual drills and on-air work while recovering from a serious knee injury that required multiple surgeries. He has looked crisp, quick, and healthy in those sessions, which is the positive sign the Giants wanted to see. He is not ready to set a firm timeline.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no target date,\u201d Nabers said. \u201cWhen I\u2019m ready, I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n He has repeatedly said he feels great and is focused on staying on schedule. Harbaugh offered a measured update after Saturday\u2019s practice:<\/p>\n \u201cToday seemed like a good day, from what I could tell,” the coach said. “I would say he\u2019s generally on schedule. He\u2019s working to get himself back as soon as he can.\u201d<\/p>\n The Giants are being careful, and Nabers is refusing to rush the process.<\/p>\n Defense is creating turnovers at a high rate<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aug. 3, 2026, 7:57 a.m. ET The New York Giants wrapped up their first week of training camp…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[679,9,11,10,87161,1941,1942,948,3714,6097,42138,28105,930,947,1328,1947,4080,949,682],"class_list":["post-312507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-accessfree","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-sourcegiants-wire","tag-sstssportsnflgiants","tag-sstsngiants","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagandrew-thomas","tag-tagdarius-slayton","tag-tagjohn-harbaugh","tag-tagmalik-nabers","tag-tagnew-york-giants","tag-tagnfl-hub","tag-tagoverall-positive","tag-tagsmg-listicle","tag-tagsmg-timely","tag-tagsports-news","tag-typestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}