Preseason opener at Carolina Panthers Today, 8 p.m. Bank Of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C. TV: Ch. 4 Radio: WFAN 660-AM Line: -2
THREE POSITIONS TO WATCH
Defensive Tackle The Giants lost Barry Cofield to the Washington Redskins , and the team is turning the defensive tackle spot next to Chris Canty over to Linval Joseph, a 2010 second-round pick. Joseph will certainly have competition; with 2011 second-round pick Marvin Austin and veterans Rocky Bernard and Gabe Watson also in the mix for playing time. But pay attention to Joseph, who is arguably the strongest player on the team and developed during practices last season.
He made some improvements much more suddenness, good quickness coming off the ball, defensive line coach Robert Nunn said. With his size and strength, he s got a real chance.
Left Tackle William Beatty is now the Giants full-time left tackle after David Diehl moved to left guard, leaving the third-year pro responsible for Eli Manning s blindside. The team is bullish about Beatty, a 2009 second-round pick who was drafted with the expectations of developing into a starting tackle. Beatty will play the first quarter tonight against Carolina s Charles Johnson, a $76 million defensive end who totaled 11 1/2 sacks last season. What s critical is whether Beatty exhibits the toughness often sought in a Giants offensive tackle.
We have no reason to think he s not going to be, but I m always one of those guys that tell you do it, said Kevin Gilbride, the team s offensive coordinator.
And when Beatty exits the game, look to see how fourth-round pick James Brewer handles the responsibilities of left tackle.
Punter Both Matt Dodge and Steve Weatherford will punt tonight in what will be the first of four tests for the starting duties. Dodge, a second-year pro, suffered from an inconsistent rookie season. The Giants made it a priority to sign a veteran punter, and Weatherford s experience with the Jets serve as a plus.
In games, you have to deal with covering, location, what s the hang time, special teams coordinator Tom Quinn said. So that s going to be the big telltale sign for those two to separate from each other. A better assessment of the battle might come next week when the Giants play in the New Meadowlands Stadium, but the pressure is on Dodge to show he s improved.
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FOUR DOWNS WITH . Tackle Kareem McKenzie
1. Is there a sense in the locker room of all the players you ve lost? Not at all. You can t sit here and worry about what you ve lost. You have to look realistically look at what we ve gained and what we have the opportunity to do with this team. You can t sit there and second-guess what has been done. All you can do is go ahead with the collective pieces that you have and bring them together as best you can and go out there and have a good showing.
2. What do you feel you have gained? We gained a lot. I can t tell you specifically personnel-wise. In terms of the offensive side of the ball, I think we have a good group of guys on the offensive line that can play well with one another. It is going to be very interesting to see how we perform this first time out.
3. So you re not worried about what s going on? I cannot worry about personnel decisions. That is not up to me. All I can do is go out there and handle my part and make sure that the players around me, play at the best of their abilities and give them the most information as possible so that they can be successful.
4. Even when the Eagles made the moves they made? You look at years past and what teams have and have not done. Who would have thought with how we started out in 2007, we started out the season 0-2 and look what happened throughout the whole season, and how we turned it around and got hot at the right time and we became Super Bowl champs. You really don t know what you have until the season plays out and you can go back and reflect on it. They say hindsight is 20-20.
ONE MORE THING
Don t read too much into the preseason results. The Giants are 14-14 in the preseason under Tom Coughlin, including a 2-2 finish last season. When they won the Super Bowl after the 2007 season, the Giants also went 2-2.
Zach Berman:
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