Giant Recovery: Limited Practice Time May Keep G-Men Healthier in 2015

By Neil A. Carousso

East Rutherford, NJ — This week, Tom Coughlin, head coach of the New York Football Giants decided to implement a “recovery cycle” system to allow for his football team to get healthier before their third preseason game against their fellow MetLife Stadium tenant the New York Jets.

“Let’s not go there,” Coughlin said when asked about the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which limits on-field practice time and subsequently seems to have an impact on preparedness in the early weeks of the regular season. The new CBA was implemented as a result of the 2011 National Football League lockout.

Coughlin may decide to implement this recovery cycle in the regular season, giving his players rest at the end of the week, before game day on Sunday or Monday night. In place of drills, plays and scrimmages, each player does different strength and conditioning exercises and even yoga, tailored to individual players’ needs according to health data that is calculated on a new “GPS” system provided to NFL teams.

Meanwhile. foreseeable team issues for the Giants include a young offensive line and a young defensive front. Quarterback Eli Manning has a plethora of weapons including wide receivers Odell Beckham, Jr., Rueben Randle and Victor Cruz, who is out Saturday evening with a calf injury; however, with the young G-Men O-Line the questions remain whether or not the 2-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player will have enough time to move around in the pocket and throw to his big playmakers one of which could be tight end Daniel Fells, who has been impressive in training camp.