The New York Giants completed the first four of their eight scheduled OTAs this past week, with Thursday’s session open to the media. 

The practices don’t quite yet resemble true football. There is no live contact permitted until the pads go on following a five-day acclimation period in training camp later this summer, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t benefits to be had from the week.

“The first part is see where our players are at physically. Until I know these guys can go out and operate at 100 percent and stay healthy and protect themselves on the field, we are not really going to go ahead and keep this as a competitive drill,” head coach Joe Judge said of the plan for the spring. 

“You will see team on team, 11-on-11 activities out there but we will control the tempo in practice. But there are other times in individual and group work where we will ramp that up and make sure the guys work on skill development, timing, offense, defense, and place a large emphasis on communication this time of year.

“You have to take the mental steps forward in terms of the understanding of the scheme and you have to develop chemistry with the communication on offense and defense.” 

The OTAs remain voluntary, and as such, the Giants’ attendance featured approximately 65 players.

Many of their top defensive backs and big-name stars like defensive lineman Leonard Williams, receivers Kenny Golladay and John Ross, and first-round pick Kadarius Toney were not among the players present at the practice open to the media.

Judge understands that the OTAs are voluntary and has said that the coaching staff will work with whoever does show up.

 Here are a few additional takeaways from the OTA open to the media.

Kadarius Toney a No-show

The absence of first-round draft pick Kadarius Toney was something of a surprise, especially considering Toney attended the team’s rookie minicamp the weekend prior.

Toney, who is the lone remaining unsigned Giants draft pick, was believed to have been kept out of the OTAs by his agent until his contract is done. 

The NFL has what’s known as a "rookie participation agreement," which assures that if an unsigned draft pick is injured during a minicamp or OTA, he will receive the same contract he would have if healthy.

That said, it’s unclear if receiving the same contract also means that the draft pick would receive the same parameters—namely guaranteed money—if he were healthy.

The gray area that appears to exist could be the driving force as to why Toney sat out the first week of OTAs.

Lorenzo Carter is a Surprise Participant

Usually, a team takes an ultra-conservative approach when it comes to what it allows its players returning from season-ending injuries to do.

In the case of outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter, who is rehabbing from a torn Achilles suffered in Week 5 of last year, he was cleared by the medical staff to go through some of the on-field work this week.

Carter, who is entering his contract year this season, has flashed some intriguing potential as a pass rusher but hasn’t been able to put it together. 

Last year, following a change in his role initiated by defensive coordinator Patrick Graham—Carter was deployed more as a 5-technique than a 3-technique as he had previously been—the former Georgia product seemed to find his niche.

The Giants added additional pass rush help in both free agency and the draft this off-season, but they’re still hopeful that Carter, if healthy, can finally have that breakout season.

The Offensive Line

While the bulk of the Giants defensive backs trained off-site, the Giants offensive line was out in full force, giving onlookers a first glimpse at the potential starting lineup this year.

Coming into the spring, the only two positions on the offensive line that were believed to be set in stone were Andrew Thomas at left tackle and Nick Gates at center.

Those two players were indeed at those positions, with Shane Lemieux at left guard, Will Hernandez at right guard, and Matt Peart at right tackle.

That offensive line configuration is thought to be the one with which the Giants are hoping to open the season.

The unit is expected to be significantly improved now that Judge has (hopefully) stabilized the coaching situation with the hiring of Rob Sale and Pat Flaherty, the Giants offensive line coach under Tom Coughlin, who will serve as a consultant.