The New York Giants held their rookie minicamp on Friday and Saturday but many of their 2023 NFL draft picks were limited throughout.
That wasn’t due to injury — it was strategic.
After questions surfaced on Friday about player health, Giants head coach Brian Daboll revealed the reasoning behind holding most of the draft class out of intensive drills on Saturday.
Rookie minicamp is sort of an orientation. Meetings, get familiar with your surroundings, light practice. Top picks such as Deonte Banks and Jalin Hyatt didn’t get any 7-on-7 reps Friday.
As coach Brian Daboll explained: “One of the main things is just come out of here healthy.”
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) May 6, 2023
The Giants have led the NFL in injuries since 2009 and were among the most injured teams in 2022 thanks to their previous draft class missing significant time.
Everyone from Kayvon Thibodeaux to Darrian Beavers missed time due to injury. In fact, the only 2022 rookie to appear in all 17 games was linebacker Micah McFadden.
That was an issue the team clearly didn’t want to repeat and took offseason training and visits into consideration.
Brian Daboll just confirmed what I said last night about Hyatt, Banks and others being held out of competitive periods. Will be the case today as well.
He mentioned that they've also spent the last month on visits across the country, so training has been limited, too. https://t.co/VIguxHPPYv— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) May 6, 2023
While the draft class largely sat out, Daboll and the Giants used rookie minicamp to get a better look at the vast swath of tryout players, which included five veterans.
Daboll said they backed off of some of the draft picks practicing in some drills because they had been on the road a lot. Also adds it allows them to get a look at the tryout players.
— Patricia Traina (@Patricia_Traina) May 6, 2023
Daboll mentioned wanting to keep the rookies healthy, so he's backed off having some of them practice. Makes sense. Allows them acclimate and allows the coaches to get a look at the UDFAs.
— Patricia Traina (@Patricia_Traina) May 6, 2023
By all accounts, the team and their rookies and tryouts got through minicamp healthy. The next step is organized team activities (OTAs) and training camp in July.
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