EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — With the NFL season and his first game that counts as New York Giants coach more than four months away, John Harbaugh is taking things slowly.
The second and final rookie minicamp session Saturday lacked physicality by design. Harbaugh wants top-10 draft picks Arvell Reese and Francis "“Sisi” Mauigoa and the rest of the players involved to understand it's not a competitive camp but rather a chance to prepare for the next phase of offseason workouts.
“This is not a camp where you’re trying to go out there and make plays,” Harbaugh said. “There really are no plays to be made. It’s a rehearsal type of camp. ... We’re going to kind of do the dance, so to speak, of football. We’re not actually competing against one another.”
That comes later, when veterans are in the mix for organized team activities, mandatory minicamp and then training camp, which begins in late July at The Greenbrier in West Virginia. After 18 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, Harbaugh is bringing a deliberate approach to his new challenge, and the real tests are still far away.
“The true competition comes in the preseason games,” Harbaugh said. “That’s when you can say it’s the most competitive. I’d say it’s kind of a ramp up to that.”
Harbaugh brings gravitas because he has won the Super Bowl and coached Baltimore to the playoffs 12 times. He was in the postseason six other times as an assistant in Philadelphia.
With the Eagles, Harbaugh worked with defensive back Rod Hood, and the Giants drafted nephew Colton Hood, a cornerback out of Tennessee, in the second round. Rookie minicamp was Colton Hood's first opportunity to be on the field with Harbaugh.
“My uncle told me what to expect, and it was everything that I expected,” said Hood, whose interception ripping the ball out of tryout running back Miles Davis' hands was the highlight Saturday. “Just hard-nosed coach, old-school, but he loves his players. He wants them to be great, so it’s that tough love kind of thing.”
Harbaugh comes from a special teams background, so it should be no surprise that he and the front office are spicing up the next few months with a kicking competition. Michigan's Dominic Zvada was signed as an undrafted free agent to compete for the job against holdover Ben Sauls and veteran addition Jason Sanders.
“We’ll kick field goals, I think, every other practice,” Harbaugh said. “We may be kicking them every practice because we’ve got three guys to kick, and we’ll just see how it shakes out.”
Zvada made 95.5% of his field-goal attempts in 2024, best in the nation, then just 68% last season. At 6-foot-3, Zvada is “big for a kicker,” Harbaugh said, with a strong leg to boot.
“More than anything just the consistency,” Harbaugh said. “He does a nice job of getting downfield through the kick, and because of that he tends to kick a straight ball consistently. If you do that, you probably have a chance.”
Reese still being available when the Giants were on the clock with the fifth pick was somewhat unexpected, and now they're beginning the process of what assistant general manager Brandon Brown called maximizing the Ohio State product's abilities.
They see him as a weak-side linebacker, not an edge rusher like many other teams, and the first impression of Reese at rookie minicamp was a strong one.
“Picks things up really quick,” Harbaugh said. “Very serious-minded, very diligent about the assignments. I don’t think he got one assignment wrong throughout the two days, which is great to see.”
A contract has not yet materialized since receiver Odell Beckham Jr. worked out for New York last month, and it might not at all. Harbaugh said he spoke to Beckham three or four times over the past week while the 33-year-old trains in Arizona and did not indicate anything was imminent.
“It’s got to be right for both parties,” Harbaugh said. "I’m pretty sure that he can make a team in the National Football League right now, but can he make a difference? It’s something he wants to do. Is his body going to hold up in the way he wants it to? And all those things are questions that need to get answered for anybody at that age.”
Beckham has not played in an NFL game since Dec. 8, 2024.
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New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh, right, and New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen, second left, talk during the rookie minicamp at the NFL football team's practice facility, Saturday, May 9, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh speaks during a press conference at rookie minicamp at the NFL football team's practice facility, Saturday, May 9, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh, right, talks with New York Giants fullback Grant Finley, left, (45) at rookie minicamp at the NFL football team's practice facility, Saturday, May 9, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
