GIANT NOTES

ALBANY – Remember all those fourth-quarter fadeouts that cost the Giants mightily last season? Well, something that happened after yesterday’s practice at training camp might help prevent such meltdowns.

As usual, coach Jim Fassel put his team through conditioning sprint drills after the afternoon workout, but under clear blue skies with temperatures in the low 80s, the Giants ran hard. Harder, perhaps, than usual. A heated battle featuring WR Tim Carter and CB Ralph Brown – two of the most physically-fit players – highlighted a series of hard-charging duels.

“At the end, that’s as hard as I’ve seen a team run,” Fassel said. “They were competing with each other. I told ’em that’s a big part of what we’re going to have to do, we’re going to need to close people out in the fourth quarter. The only way we’re going to do that is [to run hard] right to the bitter end. I was proud of the way they ran.”

As hard as the Giants went at it, they first attempted to talk Fassel out of running by trying to convince him to cancel the sprinting if one of the kickers could drill a field goal.

“I told ’em the kickers had already drank too much Gatorade and were sitting in the shade and kind of cooled down,” Fassel said.

* CB Will Peterson (groin) will miss at least a few days . . . Fassel detects a casual attitude about absent first-round pick William Joseph. “I’m annoyed some people think it doesn’t matter if they’re here on time or not,” Fassel said. “They say, ‘If he shows up a couple of weeks late, he’ll still make the team.’ I want to win football games. He hasn’t played one snap in the NFL. What else has he been doing? Let’s go.”

Keeping things in the family, the Giants yesterday named Chris Mara to a new position, vice president for player evaluation. Mara, one of co-owner Wellington Mara’s 11 children, worked for the Giants for 14 years before leaving the team, first operating his own football scouting service, then serving as the president of the New Jersey Gladiators of the Arena Football League.