ALBANY – Jeremy Shockey cut his hair. Not all of it, but a noticeable portion of his previously flowing blond locks are no longer there. Attach no significance to this.
“It’s just cooler,” Shockey explained yesterday. “It’s too hot with long hair.”
On reporting day at the University at Albany, this could be viewed as big news at the start of Giants training camp. There were no fires for Jim Fassel to extinguish, no player feuds to mend, no disgruntled veterans – other than Ron Dayne – to appease, no modest expectations to fend off.
Oh, first-round pick William Joseph, a defensive tackle from Miami, remains unsigned and was the lone no-show, but a brief absence was anticipated and this hardly qualifies as anything to brand this Camp Chaos. To the contrary, it’s the Camp of Great Expectations, with players and coaches lining up to sing the praises of the assembled talent as they ensure all who will listen that they won’t get caught up in all the hype.
“We may be a front-runner this year,” Tiki Barber said. “That’s something we’re willing to accept. We have enough veterans on this team who know how to win and know the importance of hard work.”
The work starts this morning with the first practice of camp. Judging from the overflowing turnout at yesterday’s welcome-back picnic, interest is up, and why not?
With an offense being heralded as perhaps the most talented in franchise history, a defense with increased depth and a rebuilt special-teams unit, the Giants “were able to fix some things” in the offseason, according to Fassel.
The result is a roster with more talent than usual. Although there are few starting jobs up for grabs, competition for backup roles should be fierce, with highly competent athletes battling it out in the summer heat.
“It could be one of the best teams we’ve brought here, but you’ll hear me say it the rest of the year, we don’t go out and throw our playbooks on the field and decide who the winner is,” Fassel said. “We don’t throw a roster on the field and decide who the winner is. Our job as coaches is to make this team better and better.”
With most positions set – 20 of 22 starters return – the Giants want to solidify the new right side of the offensive line, mesh their new kicking operation and locate capable defensive reserves. The last time they were on the field in a game that counted, the Giants blew a 24-point lead in an embarrassing 39-38 playoff loss in San Francisco. Players obviously recall that debacle but aren’t obsessed with obliterating the bitter memory.
“It will be a little bit of motivation,” Kerry Collins said. “More than anything, you talk about the last part of the season, there’s a lot of bright spots. We need to remember both of ’em. We need to remember we lost that game and we shouldn’t have, and we also need to remember we didn’t play too badly the last part of the season.”
With less hair on his head and a slight trace of a goatee on his chin, Shockey looked ready for business. He enlivened and overwhelmed camp a year ago and figures he can hit the ground running in his second season.
“I need to get back to work,” he said. “Vacation’s over with. My goal is going to be the same, just help the team win. I got a year under my belt, I know things better, I know the offense better and the league. It should be just as fun a ride as it was last year.”
