WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) — If the New York Giants get the same Kayvon Thibodeaux this season who showed up the first few days of training camp, he’ll force his way onto the field and make himself a lot of money next spring.
Thibodeaux tipped a pass from Jameis Winston in the first practice and intercepted one in the second earlier this week, showing flashes of what made him the fifth pick in the 2022 draft. He has been playing mostly with the second-string defense, given edge rushers Brian Burns and Abdul Carter also being on the roster.
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New York Giants' Kayvon Thibodeaux practices during an NFL football training camp, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
New York Giants' Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux talks at practice during an NFL football training camp, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
New York Giants' Chauncey Golston greets Kayvon Thibodeaux at practice during an NFL football training camp, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
New York Giants' Kayvon Thibodeaux practices during an NFL football training camp, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
He brushed that off, along with going into a contract year, as any extra fuel. Still, the Giants very well could get a motivated Thibodeaux after no trade materialized for him at or before the draft, and with a potential payday — likely elsewhere — coming for him in free agency next March.
“You just want to be the best player you can be," Thibodeaux said Saturday. "Keep finding ways to help the team. Keep leading.”
Thibodeaux is coming off setting career lows with 2 1/2 sacks, 25 tackles and nine quarterback hits, playing in just 10 games before a shoulder injury ended his fourth NFL season. A reduced role on a unit with Burns and Carter didn't help, and he's not sure where he fits now.
"We’ll just keep working and figure it out," Thibodeaux said.
Incoming defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson bringing in a different system could provide Thibodeaux a spark. The 24-year-old also has a big fan in new coach John Harbaugh.
“He’s a smart, thoughtful guy,” Harbaugh said. “He’s all ball. He’s determined. He’s kind of no nonsense, good sense of humor. I like him. He’s a good dude. He works hard. You’re a coach, you like guys who work hard."
After ranking 28th out of 32 teams on defense last season, the Giants are optimistic about improving thanks to additions like rookie linebacker Arvell Reese, the No. 5 pick in the draft, and veterans like Tremaine Edmunds, Greg Newsome and Ar’Darius Washington.
Getting Thibodeaux back to the player who had 11 1/2 sacks and 50 tackles in 2023 would also be a big boost. General manager Joe Schoen said Thibodeaux had great spring workouts and is in the kind of physical shape to be a difference-maker.
“I’m excited about Kayvon,” Schoen said. “He’s going to be a big part of this roster. He’ll be an important part of our defense.”
After sitting out practice Friday in what Harbaugh called part of the process, No. 1 receiver Malik Nabers was back doing individual drills 24 hours later. Nabers is working to return from a torn ACL in his right knee, and neither he nor the team has set a timetable for being game ready.
“I would say he’s generally on schedule,” Harbaugh said. “He’s working to get himself back as soon as he can, and we’ll see.”
Fellow wideout Darius Slayton, who had core muscle surgery earlier this year, said he and Nabers have been rehabbing side by side. He called seeing Nabers in a helmet a blessing, knowing there are still a few more steps to go.
“He’s going to keep working his way back,” Slayton said. “I love to see him kind of start to get over that hump and get back out there and get to feeling like himself and being the star that we all know that he can be.”
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New York Giants' Kayvon Thibodeaux practices during an NFL football training camp, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
New York Giants' Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux talks at practice during an NFL football training camp, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
New York Giants' Chauncey Golston greets Kayvon Thibodeaux at practice during an NFL football training camp, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
New York Giants' Kayvon Thibodeaux practices during an NFL football training camp, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
A heat wave gripped large swaths of the Western U.S. on Saturday as temperatures hovered near record highs, heightening wildfire risks in areas that already are dry or burning and prompting warnings for people to stay inside.
A ridge of high pressure is holding heat close to the ground — what’s known as a heat dome — from Arizona to Montana, though the good news is that it will be relatively short-lived, National Weather Service meteorologists said.
Dangerous heat and warnings were plaguing the region Saturday, and the National Weather Service on Saturday forecast a high of 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius) in Las Vegas, the hottest temperature of the year. Phoenix was expected to reach 116F (47C), while El Centro, California, was expected to hit a record 118F (48C). Even parts of Montana were expected to broil, with a record 104F (40C) forecast for Great Falls.
In Las Vegas, Saturday's forecast high was 10 degrees above normal, with meteorologists warning of dangerous heat through Sunday, when the high is expected to be 114, said weather service meteorologist Morgan Stessman.
Overnight lows in the upper 80s to low 90s will make the situation especially dangerous because it doesn't allow people’s bodies to recover. “There's just no relief overnight,” Stessman said.
People were being urged to stay indoors and hydrated.
At the Justa Center in Phoenix, which caters to seniors but opens to the public as a cooling center in the afternoon, the biggest challenge is keeping up with the need for water and electrolytes, said operations director Rudy Soliz. He said about 200 people come in daily.
“Anybody can come in, get a meal, sign up, get checked in through the cooling center, sit down, relax, watch a little TV, you know, catch themselves before they move on to another cooling center or their destination,” he said.
The August record for Las Vegas is 116F (47C), while the hottest on record was 120F (49C) in July 2024, which also was the hottest summer on record, Stessman said.
In Montana, the entire east side of the state was under an extreme heat warning Saturday, though by Sunday, much of the state will be in the 70s, said weather service meteorologist Jeff Kitsmiller.
Great Falls was heading toward a record high of 104F (40C), which would top its previous record of 101F (38C), while Helena was expected to match or surpass its record of 102F (39C), he said.
Still, it’s not as bad as the heat wave in mid-July, when some areas broke all-time records, including Billings, which reached 111F (44C) on July 12, Kitsmiller said.
“That was a rare heat wave,” he said. “This one fits for this time of year.”
The Montana Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter in Billings, opened its doors earlier than usual on Saturday to provide relief from temperatures that could reach 106F (41C). Dozens of people were expected throughout the day, and the shelter planned to provide dinner, beds and breakfast, a receptionist said.
Great Falls Parks and Recreation's four swimming pools and three splash pads were crowded with people trying to beat the heat, said Katy Houseman, who works at one of the city's recreation centers.
“They’re definitely hitting the pools and doing the splash pads outside and then trying to hide inside where there’s air conditioning,” said Houseman. “It's super, super hot today.”
Forecasters were warning that this heat wave, combined with drying from past heat, will add to wildfire risks across the West.
“We’re definitely worried about that” in Montana, where fires already are burning and high winds are forecast for the weekend, said Kitsmiller, adding that most of the state was under a red flag warning.
In Nevada, “with this heat dome setting up, we’ve lost some of the moisture that we did have — like relative humidity in the afternoon bottoming out in the single digits in quite a few places,” Stessman said.
The U.S. Forest Service has said there is an enhanced wildfire risk through Sunday in most of Southern California except for the coastline.
Extreme heat and drought also have created dangerous wildfire conditions in the Pacific Northwest.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a state of emergency Saturday after unusually high temperatures and high winds exacerbated record wildfires across the state. He also banned most outdoor and agricultural burning through the end of September.
Ferguson’s proclamation went into effect ahead of an unprecedented “particularly dangerous situation” Red Flag Alert by the National Weather Service, which rated the weather risk as “extreme” across Eastern Washington. More than 312 square miles (808 square kilometers) are currently burning in 12 large fires.
A red flag alert also was given for eastern Oregon, where crews are battling several large wildfires, including the Rowe Creek Complex fire, which has grown to 490 square miles (1,269 square kilometers) with 57% containment.
Climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is causing larger, more intense and longer-lasting heat waves — which lead to more intense droughts and contribute to larger, more destructive wildfires.
This year’s weather is also expected to be affected by El Nino, a natural warming of the equatorial Pacific that alters weather patterns and spikes temperatures across the globe.
The current El Nino is expected to rank as among the most intense since the weather service began tracking the phenomenon in 1950, experts said. It's already broken records for intensity at its early stages, United Nations officials warned Friday.
Associated Press writer Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed to this report.
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Pedestrians try to stay in the shade was they walk through misting machines at an outdoor mall, Friday, July 31, 2026, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
A painter on a ladder braves the searing heat in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles on Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
A small plastic pool is filled with water for children to cool off on a soccer field in Los Angeles, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A person sits in the shade at a bus stop in Los Angeles, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A person sits in the shade of trees in a nearly empty park in Los Angeles, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Daniel Aragonez leaves a cooling center in Los Angeles, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
