Left tackle Will Beatty was somewhere in Albany. He just wasn’t practicing with the Giants on Monday.
Coach Tom Coughlin said the news is good for Eli Manning’s blindside protector, but didn’t have a lot of details on when he could return.
“Beatty is here,” Coughlin said. “To be honest with you, the news I got from down below is good.”
Beatty has been dealing with a back issue and had an MRI last week to determine what exactly the issue was. Apparently, it’s his sciatic nerve.
“He does have some sciatic nerve issues and they’re trying to eliminate that,” Coughlin said. “When they do eliminate that, they think he probably can go. When he goes they don’t think he’ll have any repercussions.”
Veteran Sean Locklear played left tackle with the first-team offensive line in Beatty’s absence on Monday.
More injury news: In addition to Beatty, cornerback Prince Amukamara (hamstring), linebackers Jake Muasau (hamstring) and Jacquian Williams (hip) all missed practice while linebackers Michael Boley (hamstring) and Chase Blackburn (thigh) as well as right tackle James Brewer (back) returned to action.
When asked how Boley is feeling, Coughlin seemed like he was avoiding the issue.
“I’m not asking him,” Coughlin said. “He’s back out there.”
Coughlin expresses sympathy for Reid, Holcomb families: Coughlin began his post-practice press conference by expressing his sympathy for Eagles coach Andy Reid, who lost his son on Sunday, and for Giants assistant coach AL Holcomb, who lost his mother.
Another dandy for David Douglas: Undrafted rookie David Douglas had another pair of impressive catches on Monday to continue his red-hot training camp.
The Arizona product—who has already drawn praise from Coughlin—caught one fade pass for a touchdown at the end of practice after making a nice, leaping grab over the middle of the field earlier in the day.
Young linebackers look bigger, play smarter: Spencer Paysinger, Mark Herzlich, Jacquian Williams and Greg Jones all had their moments as rookies, but the quartet of linebackers were deprived of the 2011 rookie minicamp, the OTAs and a portion of training camp. That’s why, linebackers coach Jim Hermann said, they were playing at a disadvantage last season.
“They were thrown into the deal right off the bat,” Hermann said. “This has really been a great year for them, to get OTAs, minicamps, now training camp. What you’ll see with all those guys, I’m sure everybody’s talked about, Tom’s talked about it, is that they’ve all come back bigger and stronger. I actually think Jacquian has actually grown taller.”
Hermann estimates that Williams is up to 240 pounds while Paysinger is now playing around 245 or 246. The weight, particularly for Williams, could mean more playing time. Hermann said he wouldn’t have said Williams was an “every down” player in 2011, but admitted that’s a possibility now because he continues to get “stronger” and “bigger” while retaining his “quickness.”
“All four of those rookies from a year ago, who got thrown into the fire, they all came in their off-seasons and were like, ‘Okay. We need to get bigger and stronger,’” Hermann said. “They all did, they all understand what the NFL is all about.”
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