MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — So, you mean all the hard work might actually pay off?
Sometimes when these old-school head coaches keep their team on the field as long as possible and run practices that are more demanding and grueling than most, it is construed as some sort of ego trip for the guy in charge. Or some sort of power play — I run the team, not you. Or a my-way-or-the-highway challenge to the players — if you cannot handle this you are not cut out for this roster.
John Harbaugh is as influential a head coach as there is in the NFL, as far as having a firm grip on the job he was hired to do. He spent 18 years growing and evolving but mostly doing things in Baltimore that shaped his reputation as a leader not to be trifled with. There is a John Harbaugh way of doing things and the Ravens usually believed they had an advantage because of how hard their head coach drove them. It was never easy and often wore on the players but they came out of it with far more wins than losses.
There was no “W” or “L” this week when the Giants traveled for a joint practice with the Dolphins amid intense heat and humidity that even the South Florida locals called oppressive. The Giants have more talent than the Dolphins and it showed in the two-hour morning session. What was more revealing was how the Giants endured the harsh conditions. They were crisper and sharper the longer it went on and there is little doubt what Harbaugh put his team through in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., and then back at the New Jersey facility provided the callouses to harden this group.
“For sure. I ain’t gonna lie, if we didn’t practice as hard as we do, I don’t know if we would have made it through this heat,’’ outside linebacker Brian Burns said. “And the level of competition that we practiced with. I feel like us practicing as hard as we do definitely prepared us for all of this.”
This sentiment will encourage Harbaugh to keep his foot on the gas.
“I think our guys are in great shape and they had no problem with it,’’ he said. “Our guys — we were strong at the end of practice. We were getting stronger through the practice. I saw that, really, from every single player on the field.”
All of this was enough to prompt Harbaugh to examine what he needs to get out of Saturday’s preseason game against the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium. Jaxson Dart was on his game in the joint practice, throwing the ball as effectively as he has all summer.
The sight of a different team did wonders for the passing game.
“It definitely brings a little bit of freshness because you’re not just playing against the same guys every day,’’ Dart said. “And I think that it definitely helps your team make the right steps to what you want to be.’’
The next step for Dart might not include much, or any, work in preseason game No. 2.
“Certain guys, I’m sure, got enough work [in the joint practice],’’ Harbaugh said. “Certain guys, we’ll have to talk about what we want to do.’’
Left tackle Andrew Thomas put in a full day’s work in the joint practice and although it was the most sweltering day of the summer so far, the weather did not wilt the Giants because they’ve been put through the ringer time and time again.
“Definitely. I mean, every time we practice, it’s almost two and a half hours,’’ Thomas said. “We’re getting after it. Harbaugh runs a tough training camp.’’
Tough but fair and within the rules is the key here. In 2010 — Harbaugh’s third year in Baltimore — the Ravens were forced to cancel the final week of OTA practices after six players complained to the players’ union about meetings that went too late and two other players complained about being told to stay on the field too long after practice.
Harbaugh in 2016 and again in 2018 was forced to forfeit OTA practices for allowing too much contact in the spring and violating offseason workout rules.
The Giants are full speed ahead and Harbaugh is operating in accordance with what is allowed this time of year. He is on the high end of the workload spectrum, though, as always.
It is all designed to get the team ready to go now, not later. The Sept. 13 season opener against the Cowboys is approaching.
“I definitely think we’re ready for Week 1,” Burns said.
Not yet, of course. Not in Harbaugh’s eyes. But getting closer.
