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Eye On: What to look for in Giants vs. Browns

EYE-ON-BROWNS

SECOND TIME OUT

After opening the preseason with a loss to the Jets at home, the Giants made their first road trip of the season to Ohio, where they will face the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at 1 p.m. The teams' preseason series is tied, at 9-9. They last met in the preseason on Aug. 9, 2018, a 20-10 Browns victory in New Jersey. The Giants' most recent preseason visit to Cleveland was on Aug. 21, 2017, when they lost, 10-6.

JOINT PRACTICES

Joe Judge and Kevin Stefanski, a pair of second-year head coaches who grew up close to each other in the Philadelphia area, gathered their teams this week at the Cleveland's practice facility in Berea, Ohio. They held joint practices on Thursday and Friday, which provided a change of pace for both teams in the dog days of training camp.

"I thought our conditioning as a team looked good," Judge said of the joint practices. "That was an encouraging thing right there. Really, you've got to get a factor on that when you really start stacking up against other teams in seeing where your team is. I don't think as a coach you ever feel fully confident in where your team is conditioning-wise until you can measure it against somebody else on a field for a duration of time. In terms of where we are, I mean look, training camp's not what it used to be. The duration is different. The ramp up is different. You try to push your team to make sure they can stay on the field healthy and then play effectively for 60 minutes with good football position and fundamentals."

The Giants will arrive home Sunday night, and on Tuesday, they will hit the road again, to New England for two days of practice with the Patriots. The teams will meet in the preseason finale in MetLife Stadium on Aug. 29.

HOW TO WATCH

In Market: NBC 4 NY Presented by Quest Diagnostics (1:00 p.m. ET Kickoff), NFL Network

Out of Market: NFL Network or NFL Game Pass

Play-by-Play: Bob Papa

Analyst: Carl Banks

MOBILE (IN MARKET ONLY)

Live Streams available on the following platforms*:

*Please check your local TV listings to confirm availability. iOS mobile web and app users should "Allow Location Access" (via Settings > Privacy > Location Services > Safari).

*Geographic and device restrictions apply. Local & Primetime games only. Data charges may apply.

LISTEN LIVE

Channel: WFAN 101.9 FM

Pregame: Lance Medow, Jeff Feagles, Paul Dottino, John Schmeelk

Postgame: Bob Papa, Carl Banks, Lance Medow, Jeff Feagles

Giants Gameday radio pregame show will begin at 12:05 p.m. on WFAN 101.9 FM, and will stream live on Giants.com, the Giants mobile app, and "Giants TV" streaming app. Giants Postgame Live presented by Mercedes-Benz can be heard immediately after the game - also on WFAN 101.9 FM.

NATIONAL RADIO

Channel: SiriusXM NFL

Check out must-see photos from the joint practices between the Giants and Browns in Cleveland.

PLAYING TIME FOR STARTERS TBD

Speaking before Friday's practice, Judge was still undecided on how much his starters will play on Saturday – if at all. He said it will depend on how they come out of the final joint workout.

"We're going to see how we come out today, and I'm going to talk with Kevin in terms of his plans," Judge said of the Browns' head coach. "We've talked earlier in the week about what they're intending to do and we're going to see how that's going to measure up and we'll evaluate our team after today. I don't see playing as a punishment specific to anything in terms of what a performance would dictate to us. I just want to make sure we keep our overall players' loads in consideration going into it because it'll also be a quick turnaround going from Cleveland, getting back home, training up to Boston and going against New England for a couple of days before playing the preseason game, through which we're going to truly treat as more of that regular season dress rehearsal."

FIRST-TEAM OFFENSIVE LINE

While most starters on both sides of the ball did not play in the preseason opener, including quarterback Daniel Jones, the Giants' first-team offensive line took the field for the first three series and blocked for backup Mike Glennon. He played behind left tackle Andrew Thomas, left guard Kenny Wiggins, center Nick Gates, right guard Will Hernandez, and right tackle Matt Peart. Shane Lemieux, who is listed as the first-string left guard on the depth chart, suited up but did not start. Lemieux was carted off with a knee injury early in training camp but avoided the "worst-case scenario." Judge said the third preseason game – Aug. 29 vs. New England – is when his starters will play the most.

STANDOUTS FROM OPENER

LB Carter Coughlin

A seventh-round draft choice in 2020, Coughlin has moved from outside to inside in his second season and appeared to thrive in the move on Saturday night. He recorded five tackles, including a strip-sack of backup quarterback Mike White in the third quarter.

"It's awesome that they're moving me around and allowing me to try out different things," Coughlin said. "It was a challenge moving from outside to inside, but the coaches and the other inside linebackers have been helping me a lot and that allows me to play fast and pick up on different things. Guys like (Linebacker) Blake (Martinez) have been really helping me out and it's been a blast."

"I thought Carter did a good job for us overall," Judge said. "He had a couple of things that we have to clean up and nothing was perfect with him, but in terms of a motor, Carter plays with a motor. He's got good athleticism, he has good play strength, he shows some instincts and obviously with us moving him back and forth inside and outside -- the inside is new to him. So there's a lot of things that for him he's experiencing for the first time, but I'd say he's flashed positively throughout camp."

RB Sandro Platzgummer

Originally signed by the Giants as part of the NFL's International Player Pathway Program last season, the Austrian running back recorded his first NFL carry for a 3-yard gain in the fourth quarter. While noteworthy, it was outdone by his second carry, which went for 48 yards. No one was more excited on the sideline than fellow running back Saquon Barkley, who was seen jumping up and down in celebration.

WR David Sills

Sills, who has been a standout at training camp, hauled in a 37-yard pass deep down the sideline from third-string quarterback Clayton Thorson late in the first half. Sills also drew a passing interference penalty that brought the Giants deep into Jets territory earlier in the half. Sills, who hadn't played a game since the 2019 preseason after an injury kept him out the entire 2020 season, led the team with 49 yards on three receptions.

"It was really good and exciting to get out there," Sills said. "It was nice to kind of get that first catch, first hit, kind of got the nerves going a little bit, but after that, it's kind of like, all right, let's go, let's go have some fun. I thought we did some good things. Like I said, we didn't get the outcome we wanted, so got to go back and look at the tape and see how we can improve."

WR Matt Cole

Wide receiver Matt Cole, a former Jet, made a nice play in the first quarter on a punt return and swatted the ball back into the field before it could hit the end zone. The result was pinning the Jets inside the 10, which certainly caught the eye of Judge, a former special teams coach. Judge also noted linebacker Cam Brown for his performance at the gunner position.

WR Damion Willis

Signed at the start of training camp, Willis scored the only touchdown of the night for the Giants on a 21-yard pass from Clayton Thorson midway through the fourth quarter. It was the only catch for the 6-foot-3, 204-pounder, who most recently played in a regular-season game with Cincinnati in 2019.

Notable Plays

Rookie CB Rodarius Williams saw extensive action in his first live game, and while there was good mixed with the bad, he recovered a fumble and returned it 29 yards into Jets territory. Three plays later, Willis caught his touchdown…DT Danny Shelton stuffed Ty Johnson for a loss to force a turnover on downs…WR C.J. Board handled all kickoff and punt return duties, averaging 24.5 yards on the former and 15.5 yards on the latter…P Riley Dixon placed three of his six punts inside the 20.

GIANTS MAKE 2 TRADES

The Giants made a pair of trades before they left for Ohio. On Monday, they bolstered both their special teams and secondary when they acquired cornerback Keion Crossen in a trade with the Houston Texans. Crossen played his rookie season in New England in 2018 when Joe Judge was the Patriots' special teams coordinator. Houston will receive a 2023 sixth-round draft choice from the Giants in exchange for Crossen.

Crossen, 5-10 and 185 pounds, is entering his fourth NFL season. He has played in 43 regular-season games with four starts and played in five postseason games for the Patriots and Texans, including Super Bowl LIII.

The following day, the Giants and Green Bay Packers executed a rare trade for veteran players at the same position when they exchanged cornerbacks Isaac Yiadom and Josh Jackson. Jackson, 6-0 and 196 pounds, was a 2018 second-round draft choice by Green Bay, No. 45 overall. He played in 42 regular-season games with 15 starts, plus one postseason game. His career totals include 87 tackles (60 solo) and 15 passes defensed on defense and 11 tackles (nine solo) and one fumble recovery on special teams. Jackson had one special teams tackle in his only playoff game, the 2019 NFC Championship Game.

MORE ROSTER REDUCTIONS COMING

Ahead of Tuesday's deadline, the Giants made three transactions to reach the league's current roster limit of 85 players. They terminated the contracts of two veterans - running back Alfred Morris and safety Chris Milton - and placed cornerback Jarren Williams on injured reserve with a quad injury.

Here are more important dates to follow regarding the roster:

Aug. 24: Clubs must reduce rosters to a maximum of 80 players on the Active/Inactive List.

Aug. 31: Clubs must reduce rosters to a maximum of 53 players on the Active/Inactive List. Simultaneously, clubs that have players in the categories of Active/Physically Unable to Perform or Active/Non-Football Injury or Illness must select one of the following options: place player on Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform or Reserve/NonFootball Injury or Illness, whichever is applicable; terminate or request waivers with the designation of Failed Physical or Non-Football Injury or Illness, whichever is applicable; request waivers; terminate contract; trade contract; or continue to count the player on the Active List.

View photos of the New York Giants' active 53-man roster as it currently stands.

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