Giants know theyre getting a John Harbaugh earful after penalty-filled practice: Call everyone out
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va.— The patriotic row of flags lined up above the front entrance to The Greenbrier Resort was outnumbered Monday by the penalty flags littering the nearby football field.
Get texts from Paul Schwartz with all the latest Giants news and insights, exclusive to Sports+ subscribers.The Giants were called for at least 13 penalties — nine on offense and four on defense — during a sloppy, rain-soaked first practice in pads.
Flags flew on five straight plays (four offensive) at one point from the crew of local high school officials.The range of penalties included everything from false starts to defensive holding on fourth-and-long to delay of game.“I think that guys are just real jittery on Day 1 of full pads,” right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor said.
“We’ve been working so hard since April … and when you put pads on you start feeling like a little kid again.And I think that tomorrow or the next day or the next day after that, you’ll see that go down tremendously because guys will just really lock in.
Now we’re in this thing, and I think guys are going to lock in to the pre-snap alignments and pre-snap cadences and all that stuff.”Head coach John Harbaugh calmly pointed to the first day in pads and the weather as reasons for the penalties, but the Giants know to expect an earful when watching film.The offense generally subs out penalty committers, while the defense is given 10 post-practice pushups for each penalty.“He’s going to call everyone out in front of the team, but also you just have to know that you have to be better,” said Eluemunor, who was flagged twice.
“Me, obviously, I think some of them were B.S., but it’s whatever.Had a couple penalties last year.
So, I think penalties are worse than sacks because they can affect the team.They can affect the drive.
They can affect the momentum.And everyone on the team understands that.” Sign up for Inside the Giants by Paul Schwartz, a weekly Sports+...