Giants already seeing payoff from demanding John Harbaugh training camp

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Key points

• 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.
• All of this was enough to prompt Harbaugh to examine what he needs to obtain out of Saturday's preseason game against the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium.
• 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.
• The Giants have more talent than the Dolphins and it indicated in the two-hour morning session.
• The Giants are full speed ahead and Harbaugh is operating in accordance with what is allowed this time of year.

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 feasible 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.

As far as having a firm grip on the job he was hired to do, john Harbaugh is as influential a head coach as there is in the NFL. 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 since of how hard their head coach drove them. It was never straightforward 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 against the backdrop of intense heat and humidity that even the South Florida locals called oppressive. The Giants have more talent than the Dolphins and it indicated 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 created it through this heat, '' outside linebacker Brian Burns stated. 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 difficulty with it, '' he stated. Our guys – we were solid 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 obtain 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.

Meanwhile, the sight of a different team did wonders for the passing game.

"It definitely brings a little bit of freshness since you're not just playing against the same guys every day, '' Dart stated. "And I think that it definitely helps your team create the right steps to what you want to be.''.

In practice, the next step for Dart might not include much, or any, work in preseason game No. 2.

"Certain guys, I'm sure, obtained enough work, '' Harbaugh stated. "Certain guys, we'll have to talk regarding 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 since 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 remarked. "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 regarding meetings that went too late and two other players complained concerning being informed to stay on the field too long after practice. Go behind the scenes with Major Blue.

Meanwhile, the Giants are full speed ahead and Harbaugh is operating in accordance with what is allowed this time of year. As always, he is on the high end of the workload spectrum, though.

It is all designed to obtain the team ready to go now, not afterwards. The Sept. 13 season opener against the Cowboys is approaching. "I definitely think we're ready for Week 1, " Burns remarked. Not yet, of course. Not in Harbaugh's eyes. But getting closer.

In short, giants already seeing payoff from demanding John Harbaugh training camp is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.