It’s only June, but we are getting a good sense of how these New York Giants will differ from their teams in years past.
This spring, the Giants have been hit with several injury issues. They have addressed them immediately, filling the holes in the roster before their mandatory minicamp next week. They are leaving very little to chance.
On Monday, after learning that their top returner, Gunner Olszewski, would be out indefinitely with an Achilles injury, they found his replacement in free agent Braxton Berrios.
In the same workout that landed Berrios, the Giants reunited with Odell Beckham Jr. and also agreed to terms with free agent veteran Juju Smith-Schuster. Those two were signed with the knowledge that both of their starting wide receivers, Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton, may not be 100 percent healthy to start the regular season.
When the Giants recently lost another starter, defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris, to an Achilles injury last week, general manager Joe Schoen went right out and replaced him with 350-pound free agent Josh Tupou. They are not fooling around. They are serious about staffing up and not getting caught short like they have so many times in recent seasons.
Head coach John Harbaugh wants competition at every position. May the best man win, is how he sees it. He’s getting just that as the Giants close out their OTAs this week. There is an interesting mix of young players and veterans up and down the roster that have stoked the interest of fans and pundits alike.
Training camp and the preseason will sort out the depth chart, but rest assured that Schoen and Harbaugh will continue to tweak and fortify their roster at every twist and turn.
Before the flurry of activity on Monday, the narrative in the building was one that questioned the team’s unity. That’s yesterday’s news now. These Giants are no longer the stationary target they once were. They are a team striving to return to prominence.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Rapid roster response defines John Harbaugh’s New York Giants
Reporting by John Fennelly, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
