Good morning, New York Giants fans! Here are the stories you need to know as the Giants get set to take on the Miami Dolphins in a preseason matchup.
> **Competition at WR.** One of the most intriguing competitions throughout training camp has been at the wide receiver position. The Giants have a lot of players competing for a limited number of roster spots. In order to get opportunities for each of these pass-catchers, the offense has rotated in a variety of different wide receivers to catch passes from Jaxson Dart during team drills, something the young quarterback believes is beneficial for all parties involved.
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> “I think that they all have different skill sets, which is fun because we can put guys in different spots and they do things really well and different,” Dart said Thursday. “So, I’ve liked continuing to grow our relationship with each and every one of them. I thought guys really came out today and made a lot of really good plays. And I think that you could really tell in the one-on-ones and then the start of practice, guys making down the field catches, making contested catches, maybe looks where maybe the look looked a little covered and then being able to freestyle it and make good plays to get open. I was really happy about that.”
> By all accounts, the Giants’ defense dominated Thursday’s lone joint practice with the Dolphins in Miami. The teams face off their second preseason game Saturday in South Florida. But the bigger question for the Giants and their defense coming out of Thursday remains: Can they build on this showing when it matters?
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> The Giants’ stars crowed to reporters afterward about the team’s defensive gem against the Dolphins, who are not expected to be very good. (Actually, they’re expected to be quite terrible.)
> From the very start, it looked different. This is what the Giants want to display when they take the field and get the ball. It took a trip down to South Florida and some truly intense heat to get their offense cooking.
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> A summer thus far filled with “it’s early” and “wait and see” and “it’s a new system for everyone” coalesced into something the Giants hope will be a weekly occurrence once the regular season gets underway.
It’s a testament to the continued success of Brian Burns that the New York Giants refuse to take him for granted, even though his presence and consistency on and off the field have become a given for the franchise he has represented for three years now.
> The Washington Commanders and New York Giants aren’t hopeless, but the model sees their rosters as significantly weaker than those of the Eagles and Cowboys. Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels and New York’s Jaxson Dart must stay healthy and take the next step for either of these teams to be contenders. Washington added a handful of solid veterans in free agency to bolster the defense, so that will be worth monitoring. As for the Giants, can new head coach John Harbaugh raise this team’s floor? If so, how high?
> You know what Giants fans really want their team to do in John Harbaugh’s first season here? They want them to get back up the way the Knicks finally got back up in Tom Thibodeau’s first season with them. Giants fans want them to look like a real team again. They want the Giants to play as hard as Harbaugh is coaching them up, which is the way Thibodeau — the unsung hero of everything with the Knicks.
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