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Eli to max at 2nd mini
By RALPH VACCHIANO
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Tuesday, June 8th, 2004
To no one's surprise, Kurt Warner's passes looked sharp, crisp and mostly on target during the first day of his first minicamp as the quarterback of the Giants.
The surprise was that Eli Manning's passes looked even better.
The rookie who struggled during his first minicamp in early May put all that behind him yesterday at Giants Stadium with a much-improved performance that caught the eyes of his coaches and teammates. His command in the huddle was better and he had a much greater knowledge of the offense. And as a result, he was able to show off the right arm that the Giants worked so hard to acquire in their blockbuster draft-day trade.
"Practice will do that," coach Tom Coughlin said. "(He now has) a little bit of understanding about what we're trying to get done. It is a foreign language when a young player or any player comes to a new program. So you have to understand all of the things that he went through. The first time you saw him he had had one hour of meeting time."
"Every day he's gotten better," added running back Tiki Barber. "The first day he looked like he couldn't play in high school. The second day he started to figure it out and he was more comfortable calling the plays. And as the weeks have gone on we can see he's confident. And when he is confident he throws a great ball, he knows exactly what he's doing."
Manning took some snaps with the first team yesterday, though most of those went to incumbent starter Jesse Palmer. Warner, who said "I'm getting a little more comfortable day by day," played mostly with the third string.
Most of Manning's passes seemed to be on the mark, and he even showed some arm strength with a couple of deep throws. It was a stark contrast to his first minicamp, when his passes fluttered out of his hand and he was often intercepted.
"I feel more comfortable just calling the plays and visualizing everything and knowing what everybody's doing," Manning said. "Your mind isn't thinking about everything. Your feet and your mechanics are better. Now I know what to expect."
Coughlin declined to say whether he had any problem with Michael Strahan's participation in the offseason workout program, which became an issue at the last minicamp when the defensive end admitted his attendance was less than perfect.
"It's a voluntary program that I would hope would be attended 100%," Coughlin said. "That's what I said before and I'll stick to it."
As for Strahan's declaration that he plays by "my own set" of rules during the offseason, Coughlin had no comment. Strahan declined requests for an interview.
By RALPH VACCHIANO
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Tuesday, June 8th, 2004
To no one's surprise, Kurt Warner's passes looked sharp, crisp and mostly on target during the first day of his first minicamp as the quarterback of the Giants.
The surprise was that Eli Manning's passes looked even better.
The rookie who struggled during his first minicamp in early May put all that behind him yesterday at Giants Stadium with a much-improved performance that caught the eyes of his coaches and teammates. His command in the huddle was better and he had a much greater knowledge of the offense. And as a result, he was able to show off the right arm that the Giants worked so hard to acquire in their blockbuster draft-day trade.
"Practice will do that," coach Tom Coughlin said. "(He now has) a little bit of understanding about what we're trying to get done. It is a foreign language when a young player or any player comes to a new program. So you have to understand all of the things that he went through. The first time you saw him he had had one hour of meeting time."
"Every day he's gotten better," added running back Tiki Barber. "The first day he looked like he couldn't play in high school. The second day he started to figure it out and he was more comfortable calling the plays. And as the weeks have gone on we can see he's confident. And when he is confident he throws a great ball, he knows exactly what he's doing."
Manning took some snaps with the first team yesterday, though most of those went to incumbent starter Jesse Palmer. Warner, who said "I'm getting a little more comfortable day by day," played mostly with the third string.
Most of Manning's passes seemed to be on the mark, and he even showed some arm strength with a couple of deep throws. It was a stark contrast to his first minicamp, when his passes fluttered out of his hand and he was often intercepted.
"I feel more comfortable just calling the plays and visualizing everything and knowing what everybody's doing," Manning said. "Your mind isn't thinking about everything. Your feet and your mechanics are better. Now I know what to expect."
Coughlin declined to say whether he had any problem with Michael Strahan's participation in the offseason workout program, which became an issue at the last minicamp when the defensive end admitted his attendance was less than perfect.
"It's a voluntary program that I would hope would be attended 100%," Coughlin said. "That's what I said before and I'll stick to it."
As for Strahan's declaration that he plays by "my own set" of rules during the offseason, Coughlin had no comment. Strahan declined requests for an interview.
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