Jets, Giants both take the practice field for Day 1 of training camp
NEW YORK -- The Jets and the Giants both took the practice field Wednesday for the first day of training camp.
As CBS2's Otis Livingston reports, NFL fans have anxiously awaited this day. The long offseason is over, and it's time to get back to some football.
It was the first official workout for many of the teams in the league, including the Jets and Giants, who have some questions to answer if they want to turn around their recent fortunes.
Day one is always full of energy and optimism for two teams coming off some very lean years, but hope springs eternal on the hot July days of training camp.
The Giants have a new head coach, Brian Daboll, and he told CBS2 what he wants the team's identity to be.
"We're looking for smart, tough, dependable people in our organization. People that make good decisions on and off the field in terms of intelligence. Doing what they're supposed to do when they're supposed to do it all the time. And then have some mental toughness, some resiliency about them. Those are three qualities that we covet," he said.
Meanwhile, the Jets are headed into year two of the Robert Saleh era. The team was 4-13 in year one, but they're looking forward to greener pastures in 2022. So what adjustments are the second-year head coach making?
"For me, it's repetition. It's not trying to reinvent the wheel. Obviously, you're going to make tweaks to your scheme and practice, and you're going to have little minor things that you do, but at the same time, you really want to stay as consistent as you can so they understand the messaging, they understand the scheme, they understand the standard and what's expected out of all of them. And you hope that continue they take the ownership you want them to take so they can master it and get better organically," Saleh said.
Twenty-two-year old quarterback Zach Wilson is also headed into year two following a roller coaster rookie season.
In a leadership-type move earlier this month, he organized a team building retreat in Idaho with some of the offensive skill players. It included football, of course, but also some golf, water skiing and s'mores.
"It was a good bonding moment for all of us to sit by the fire at night and talk. It was a really cool trip. We definitely had a blast together," Wilson said.