New York Giants adjusted spring practice plans after Russell Wilson suggestion
New York Giants adjusted spring practice plans after Russell Wilson suggestion
New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll is always seeking ways to make his team more efficient. That starts on the practice field, where he is always open to suggestions.2
Russell Wilson, the former Super Bowl champion quarterback the Giants signed as a free agent this offseason, has not only come in and added talent and experience this spring, but he's also improving the way the team practices.
"I think it's important to listen to the quarterbacks, they're the ones that are touching the ball on every play," Daboll told reporters at the Giants' OTAs this week. "Certainly, he has a lot of accolades behind his playing career and experience, it's been good.
"And Jameis (Winston) has as well, and (Tommy) DeVito, and even Jaxson (Dart), when you're in that room and you're talking to those guys, they see things from a wide scope perspective and bring things up and there's a lot of good communication. So, I think it's important to really talk and communicate and listen to any of the quarterbacks. But Russ has been good for us, I'd say, in a number of ways since he's been out here."
At Wilson's request, Daboll has added more seven-on-seven drills to simulate game situations and scenarios.
"That's something that Russell feels really good about. And, you know, you can do it one of two ways. You can do a half line to see coverages. You can do a full field, seven on seven. You know, we've added some competitive periods where they have to play the situations out," Daboll said.
"Not that we didn't do that, but we've placed a little bit more emphasis on it. And not just a third-down situation, but maybe a quarter in a game, time left, score. We've done pretty much, I'd say, every day we've done a little bit of that."
The added drills, said Daboll, don't just benefit the offense. The defense also benefits.
"You see it's good for the defense too in terms of the back seven, just in terms of how they match routes. Their zone drops, adjustments. You can't do one-on-ones during this time, so seven-on-seven was something that we thought we'd add, and we've done quite a bit of that," he said. "But we've added a number of reps, I would say too, situational reps. So every year is a little bit different."
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