Here are 10 things to watch in the preseason opener between the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Stadium (1 p.m. ET):

Harbaugh's Debut

Monday marks exactly seven months since John Harbaugh officially signed on as the 21st head coach of the New York Football Giants. During that time, he hired a new coaching staff, built the 2026 roster with general manager Joe Schoen via the draft and free agency, and set the overall tone through dozens of practices in the spring and a no-nonsense training camp. Saturday is the next checkpoint. Harbaugh, who with the Ravens won 193 games including a Super Bowl, will man the sideline for the first time in a Giants hat.

The Greenbrier Experience

Due to the World Cup and facility renovations, the Giants took training camp on the road for the first time since 2012. They traveled to The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, where they held 10 practices over the course of 11 days. They returned last weekend and opened the second phase of camp back at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.

"We have a chance to be a good football team," the head coach said about the impact of the training camp experience. "We're doing a lot of good things right now. Where do we go? We told the guys the focus this week is all the execution things for sure, but the focus this week is technique. From now until Saturday, our individual focus is on your technique. All the little things to make you successful. Even at the end of practice when you're dead tired, that's a fourth quarter, win the game type drill and you're down by 14. Okay? That's focus on your technique. Because if your technique is good, you can win the battle of fatigue. And that's what we're working on."

Caution: Giants at Work

Before they left for West Virginia, the Giants announced plans to expand and transform their team headquarters, anchored by a new and modern football-focused facility designed to elevate player performance, preparation, and recovery. The project includes approximately 93,500 square feet of new construction and 46,000 square feet of renovations. Together, these enhancements will transform the facility to better serve the evolving needs of players, coaches, and staff. The project is expected to be completed in advance of the 2028 season.

In the meantime, they have set up temporary quarters around the construction. The scope of the renovations came into focus when they returned over the weekend.

"So, we're going to be in here for probably two seasons so they can build this over here," said Harbaugh. "It's going to be incredible. But that's where we're going to be operating on it. So, we have a lot of work to do to make that better. But the players didn't bat an eye. They understand the circumstances. And it's gritty. So, maybe it's just what we needed. Maybe God said, 'I need you to be a little grittier as a football team, so we're going to put you in this park over here.'"

For Starters…

Harbaugh, as only an 18-year veteran head coach can, gave a directly indirect response to a direct question when asked if Jaxson Dart and starters would play on Saturday.

"That's a good, direct question I'm going to have to dodge," Harbaugh said. "I'm going to have to bob and weave and I'll say, I'll let you know later."

That was Wednesday. Reporters tried again on Thursday during his final press conference before the game.

"So, here's the thing," Harbaugh said with a smile. "I talk about one guy and say how much he's going to play, then what's the next follow-up question going to be? It's going to be the next guy, then the next guy, then the next guy. So, I plan on not talking about who's going to play. That's what I plan on doing. I just decided just to leave it out there. You'll see when the game comes. It'll make the speculations so much more fun, if you don't know exactly what's going to happen."

Harbaugh added, "I value first-team reps very much. And you have to measure that against the risk. So, there is risk as well. And that's part of it, too. And you have to make that decision. In the past three or four years, we didn't play hardly any starters. Before that, we would play them a series or two, and we usually went even all three games. Way back when, we had the – we kind of brought it from [Chiefs Head Coach] Andy [Reid] the way we worked it. Andy had the most reps for in the third preseason game. Then the fourth preseason game those guys only played one series. So, there's a lot of formulas. People used a lot of different formulas. Our formula was pretty much to spread the reps out evenly through the three games for the guys that needed to play. And we have a plan for that right now by guy. That's what we'll do."

Harbaugh did rule out one player due to injury – wide receiver Jalin Hyatt.

Meanwhile, it will be the first opportunity for the rookie class to run out of the tunnel as Giants, led by two top-10 picks in linebacker Arvell Reese and offensive lineman Sisi Mauigoa.

Ways to Watch

TV

Channel: NBC 4 NY

Announcers: Bob Papa (Play-By-Play), Carl Banks (Analyst), Phil Simms (Analyst), Howard Cross (Sideline)

Pregame Show: Giants Pregame Show presented by Quest starting at 12:30 pm

Stream

This week's game can be streamed on Giants.com and Giants App in market only.

Listen

Channel: WFAN 101.9FM

Announcers: Paul Dottino (Play-By-Play), Shaun O'Hara (Analyst), John Schmelk (Sideline)

Pre- and Postgame: John Schmeelk, Tiki Barber

Pregame: Giants Gameday begins at 12:00 pm, presented by Hackensack Meridian Health.

Postgame: Giants Extra Point

If you live outside the New York market, you can hear the Giants on the Giants Radio Network across the country.

Affiliates include:

• Albany, NY: WPYX 106.5 FM

• Cortland and Ithaca, NY: 96.3 FM ("The Buzzer") and WYXL-FM 97.3 HD3

• Hartford, CT: WPOP 1410 AM, 100.9 FM

• Easton, PA: WEEX 1230 AM and 94.7 FM

• Syracuse, NY: WTLA 1200 AM and 97.7/100.1 FM in Syracuse

• Utica, NY: WTLB1310 AM and 96.5 FM

• Rome, NY 1350 AM

• Oswego: WSGO 1440 AM/100.1FM

• Danbury, CT: WLAD 800 AM

• Binghamton, NY: WENE-AM 1430 AM

Giants En Español

Radio Channel: Que Buena 1280AM Streaming Only Presentado por Ford

Play-by-Play: Nestor Rosario

Analyst: Francis Adames

SIRIUS XM

Radio Channel: 88

Streaming Channel: 823

Listen to NFL games on SiriusXM radio

1 Step Closer

Wide receiver Malik Nabers took another step forward in his return and participated in team drills on Thursday while wearing a red non-contact jersey. The team was excited to see No. 1 back in action.

"Everybody was happy that he was out there," Harbaugh said. "Because it's a big step. It's a big step to get into team drills. So, for him to do that was – yeah, it was a milestone, I would say, for our team."

That goes double for the player throwing the ball.

"It's great to have him back out there," Dart said. "I've said this before, he has a certain presence about him anytime he touches the field and I think the big thing today was also you just saw how excited he was himself to be out there. And we're in like an ACT-style format of a practice but he's running all the way down, scoring. Yeah, just can't wait for it to be full go when the time comes."

Must-See FG

The Giants, who used four different kickers last season for various reasons, currently have a two-legged competition between returnee Ben Sauls and undrafted rookie Dominic Zvada. Harbaugh, a former special teams coordinator, turned up the heat in Wednesday's practice. He put 10 minutes on the scoreboard with a tied game, and the head coach told the team to play it out essentially like a scrimmage. After trading a few punts, it ended with a 62-yard field goal by Zvada.

"I thought he was going to make it," Harbaugh said.

The head coach added that assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Chris Horton told him that 42 was the line of scrimmage threshold. It turned out to be the 44 – and possibly more.

"So I had to give him a hard time after that," Harbaugh joked. "So, it was actually a little further back and it was a great kick, great snap, nice to see. It was exciting. It's fun."

On both kickers, Harbaugh added, "Having a big leg is a big deal. Kicking it straight consistently is a bigger deal. I think both those guys have done that very well and Ben has a very good leg, too. I don't want to imply that he doesn't. Ben's a very strong leg guy, as well, but they're both having really good camps."

Meanwhile, the Giants are working in long snapper Ben Mann, another undrafted rookie, in a new-look battery led by All-Pro punter and holder Jordan Stout.

Odell Back-ham

There will surely be plenty of Odell Beckham Jr. jerseys in the stands on Saturday. One of the most electric players ever to wear a Giants uniform, Beckham returned to the team that drafted him 12 years ago. He last played for the Giants on Dec. 2, 2018, a 30-27 overtime victory over the Bears at MetLife Stadium. The final catch he made was a one-yard touchdown from Eli Manning late in the third quarter.

"This is the conversation I had with Coach [Harbaugh] before I ever came here, he's like, 'You know, I've got a really good relationship with you, I don't want you to come here, and then something happens and you can't make the team,'" Beckham recalled. "I'm like, 'I can live with me getting up, leaving my home, coming here and giving my best effort, and if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out.' I couldn't live with me feeling like I gave up on myself and I never [saw] through my dream that I've been chasing since I was four years old. I just couldn't live with that. So, it is what it is. I'm all for competition. I've always been like that. I feel like I rise to the occasion. And right now, I'm just trying to stay in the bag, you know what I mean? I'm trying to get better each and every day, know exactly what I've got to do, get open, catch the ball, score, get back to the game that I truly love, and I'm just grateful for the opportunity."

The Weekly Wire

Since they returned from West Virginia, the Giants shuffled around some defensive backs. They signed Ugochukwu Amadi and Sam Webb, while releasing DJ James (waived/injured) and David Long.

A fourth-round draft choice by Seattle in 2019, Amadi has played in 85 regular-season games with 17 starts for the Seahawks (2019-21), Titans (2022), Chiefs (2022), and Saints (2023-25). His career numbers include 186 tackles, 22 passes defensed, 12 tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. Amadi, 5-9 and 201 pounds, has also appeared in three postseason games, all with the Seahawks.

Prior to the NFL, he played in all 51 of Oregon's games from 2015-18 and scored four touchdowns over his final two seasons with three coming on interception returns. As a senior, Amadi was named the top FBS player regardless of position based on the Lombardi Award's criteria of "performance and leadership honed by character and resiliency."

Webb, undrafted out of Missouri Western State in 2022, has played in 36 games with five starts for the Raiders (2022, 2024), Panthers (2023), and Browns (2025).

The Giants also released defensive lineman Sam Roberts on Monday.

On the Docket

The Giants will travel to Miami for a joint practice with the Dolphins on Thursday ahead of their matchup next Saturday (4 p.m.). The Giants will then wrap up the preseason against the Jets on Friday, Aug. 28 before the initial 53-man roster must be announced by 6 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 30.