The firsts keep coming with Joe Judge running the New York Giants. This time he did something starting middle linebacker Blake Martinez had never seen in his first four NFL seasons when the first-year head coach had his team restart practice from the top some 25 minutes into the workout.
Judge gathered the Giants between their two practice fields at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center Thursday afternoon and lit into them after what he saw during stretching and individual drills. After Judge’s profanity-laced tirade, players went back to the beginning of the practice script to stretch again, right when the open portion of the practice ended and the media was asked to leave.
“That was definitely the first time,” Martinez said of having to restart practice.
It was the latest example of Judge coaching the Giants hard. Hearing him yell and curse at practice has been a daily occurrence this summer. And he has been unapologetic about his approach.
Calling for a redo during the early part of practice seemed to be well-received.
“I love it,” said running back Saquon Barkley, recently voted a team captain. “That is something we knew we were going to focus on. Everything we do is going to have purpose behind it. Coach didn’t like how we started off. We kind of started over, and as captains and as leaders, we had to step up to the challenge. I think we responded. The thing is on Monday there won’t be any restarts. We have to find that way to have that energy and have that purpose from the beginning. We shouldn’t take a restart for that to happen.”
Joe Judge stopped practiced today and ripped into the Giants. How does @saquon feel?
"I love it. Coach didn't like how we started off, so we had to start over" pic.twitter.com/r7NTjpxv0P
— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) September 10, 2020
The Giants open their season Monday night when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers. They are significant underdogs in the contest.
Got a story or tip for us? Email Sports Gossip editors at tips@sportsgossip.com
Want More From Sports Gossip?
For all the latest breaking Sports Gossip, be sure to follow SportsGossip.com on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.