Brian Burns, as only he can, perfectly summed up the backdrop for the 2026 edition of training camp, which kicked off Wednesday with practice No. 1 in the mountains of West Virginia.

"It's a peaceful view," the three-time Pro Bowl selection said. "But there's a lot of chaos on the field."

The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs is home to the New York Giants for the next 10 days. During that time, coach John Harbaugh has one goal and one goal only: prepare the team for games.

"We're chasing execution," Harbaugh said after practice. "We're chasing execution. We're at a stage now, we're getting ready for the games. I mean, that's what practice is for. We're not here to practice. It's not a training camp exercise. We're here to prepare for the games that we're going to play. What plays we call, how we practice, all those things. We're not just running plays out here to run plays. That's why we want to keep our plays to ourselves when we're doing them out here. So, that's what we're evaluating, is our execution."

The clock is ticking with fewer than 50 days until the Giants' Week 1 matchup with the Cowboys.

Here is what you need to know from Day 1 as the defense looked to create chaos for the offense – and vice versa.

Play of the day

Late in the opening team period, Jameis Winston uncorked a 50-yard touchdown to wide receiver Braxton Berrios. The latter was part of a trio of veteran wide receivers brought in during spring practices, joining Odell Beckham Jr. and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

"[We're] always going to continue to build as much competition and depth as we can," general manager Joe Schoen said before practice in his pre-training camp press conference. "And signing those three players, who have all been successful in the league and have skins on the wall, and Braxton brings a return element to it. So, again, more depth, more competition. All three of those guys came in, they were in shape and had good springs. And then now you bring Malik [Nabers] back, you bring back [Darius] Slayton, you added Malachi [Fields]. So, I mean, that's going to be a position group that I'm excited to see how it plays out here throughout camp. But certainly some good players in that group, some names in that group."

Leave it on the Fields

Speaking of Fields, the rookie third-round pick out of Notre Dame made one of the top catches of the day, showing his elevation to haul in a pass from Winston. Fields picked up where he left off in the spring when he showcased his ability to make some tough catches.

"Now that we get out here and get going, it's not the spring anymore," Schoen said about the receiver competition on the roster. "It's real football and we're trying to make roster decisions. I'm excited to see how it plays out."

He's the Manhertz

Tight end Chris Manhertz, one of the longest-tenured players on the roster, jumped out with a handful of catches, including a nice pass from Jaxson Dart over the defense. Manhertz showed his old Canisius College basketball skills and caught the ball going vertical in stride like a fastbreak.

Dart starts Year 2

Dart's sophomore campaign shifted into the next gear with the start of camp. He opened up with a sideline completion to wide receiver Calvin Austin III, a frequent target of his in the spring. Dart then found a hole in the defense to complete another pass to Berrios, and Slayton got in the mix with a stretching catch on the sideline.

Best of the rest

Tight end Isaiah Likely made a tough catch on a ball that was slightly deflected by a defender.

Inside linebacker Tremaine Edmunds nearly had an interception when he broke up a pass over the middle, something the lengthy two-time Pro Bowler has done many times in his career.

Outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux kept the momentum going with a batted pass during the final team period of practice.

"I'm excited about Kayvon," Schoen said. "He looked great. He's been here training, and after the conditioning test, he did extra and it was a difficult conditioning test. So, he's in great shape. He's going to be a big part of this roster. He'll be an important part of our defense. He had a really good spring. So again, he's going to be an important part of the team this year."