Giants coach Brian Daboll had to end Thursday’s sixth OTA practice early due to a nasty fight involving edge rushers Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux and offensive tackles James Hudson III and Jermaine Eluemunor.
“The heat got to us,” Burns joked afterwards.
Fights happen on football fields, but this one was ugly.
Hudson has been playing first-team left tackle in place of Andrew Thomas, whom the Giants apparently have put in bubble wrap for the spring.
On a snap during an 11-on-11 period late in practice, Burns drew a hold on Hudson while Thibodeaux pressured the quarterback from Eluemunor’s side.
Thibodeaux celebrated loudly in the direction of the offensive sideline. Defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches taunted Hudson from the defensive sideline, and Hudson made the yapping sign with his hand back at him.
As both sides huddled up and prepared for the next snap, however, Burns’ and Hudson’s ongoing trash talk escalated.
Both players took off their helmets. Hudson actually just laid his on the ground. And Burns and Hudson squared off as if they were preparing to fist fight, man to man.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Burns said. “I would say it was just a conversation that we’ve had. You know, same old sh-t.”
His implication was that this was simply the progression of an ongoing spring on-field battle.
Regardless, Burns and Hudson both lost control. Teammates tried to stop them from fighting, but both players bounced emotionally away from the peacekeepers and tried to charge each other.
So Daboll and the coaches kicked them both out of the 11-on-11 drill back to their respective sidelines.
But that only lit the fuse for what was to come next.
On the very next snap, Eluemunor blocked Thibodeaux down to the ground at the end of his rush. And when Thibodeaux stood up, face to face with Eluemunor, Thibodeaux swung and knocked the tackle’s helmet off.
Both players appeared to hit each other in the head. Thibodeaux seemed to catch Eluemunor once with his helmet off.
As the sidelines cleared and the entire team rushed the field, though, Hudson took the opportunity to charge back into the fray and shove Thibodeaux in defense of Eluemunor. And that set off Burns again.
Burns and Hudson tackled each other to the ground, and at that point, Daboll had lost complete control of the practice and had to call the team together and end it altogether.
“You definitely need that edge, you need that dog mentality, but you can’t let it get in the way of work,” Burns said. “So the only thing I’m mad about is we had to go ahead and call it up.
“We got most of our work done today, but I just want to stay away from that,” he added. “And I’m gonna let it be known to the team that’s not what we’re doing. We’ve got to keep our mindset on the main thing, which is football. So all that horseplaying is cool, nice edge and whatever, but we do need to get to our details and get our work done.”
Burns is right: not only did it cross a line. These Giants need all the work they can get coming off a 3-14 season.
Joe Schoen and Daboll already are giving a ton of key players days and weeks off this spring, limiting the football that some of their primary contributors are playing. Now they’re losing practice snaps to ugly fights with teammates.
Top receiver Malik Nabers, who was at the center of last summer’s training camp fight with Kerby Joseph and the Detroit Lions, is still not practicing due to a toe injury that Daboll said dates back to college in 2023.
Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, the Giants’ best player, did individual drills but did not participate in team drills.
Thomas, the team’s most irreplaceable offensive player, hasn’t been seen on the field yet in the two open OTA sessions this spring.
Middle linebacker Bobby Okereke was not on the field at all Thursday. Edge Victor Dimukeje already is out with a torn pec.
Guard Jon Runyan Jr. hasn’t worked in team periods due to a likely offseason procedure that the Giants refuse to confirm. Guard Greg Van Roten had his snaps dialed back Thursday.
Rookie draft picks Darius Alexander (third round defensive tackle) and Cam Skattebo (fourth round running back) both did not practice Thursday, either.
Alexander has not participated in either open OTA practice. Daboll refused to describe what the Toledo product is dealing with.
Skattebo appeared to tweak something last week, leaving practice midway through to get stretched by a trainer.
Corner Deonte Banks and safety Tyler Nubin both had their work limited significantly on Thursday, well.
Nubin’s just looked like rest. Banks, though, at times worked in walkthrough periods with the second defensive unit while Cor’Dale Flott worked exclusively at outside corner with starters Paulson Adebo on the other side and Dru Phillips in the slot.
That’s something to keep an eye on.
Intriguingly, rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart was the second QB up behind Russell Wilson on Thursday, ahead of Jameis Winston in the rotation. But the offense had another rough day.
The best offensive play was a deep seam TD pass from Winston to Darius Slayton against a backup corner.
Wilson was intercepted by safety Dane Belton, who got a pre-practice shoutout from defensive coordinator Shane Bowen as a player who has stood out.
And Dart was picked off twice in the practice: once by Tre Hawkins down the sideline and again by Makari Paige on a pass bobbled by Zach Pascal.
Wilson delivered platitudes and cliches at the podium, but ultimately so far, the offense’s play has not been anywhere close to good enough in the open practices thus far.
At least the defense and the pass rush, which featured Abdul Carter working as an inside rusher at times Thursday, appear to be getting after it so far.
Even if the practices are lopsided, though, the Giants can’t let their frustrations boil over to the degree they did during this sixth OTA practice.
They’ve never been a disciplined team under Daboll. And a lack of both discipline and points — as demonstrated during most of Daboll’s tenure — is a bad combination and sign for 2025.
“It’s a violent sport we play. Guys are trying to get better,” Burns said. “Tensions raised a little high, heat is getting a little hotter, guys are getting a little more agitated. But it ain’t that deep. We squashed it. … When you have fights, you don’t want it to get in the way of the reps. So just have to keep it to a minimum.”
