Shane Bowen isn’t planning on a slow transition.
The Giants’ new defensive coordinator is demanding a sense of urgency from his defense.
Bowen, who took over after Wink Martindale and the team had an ugly split this offseason, doesn’t even like hearing the first word of that title.
“New is over,” Bowen said Wednesday afternoon after the Giants’ second mandatory minicamp practice. “I told the guys this morning, I don’t want to hear ‘new’ no more. It’s not new anymore. … I told them this morning, six weeks from now [when training camp starts] we gotta come back ready to roll. The clock is ticking.
“Again, it’s not new anymore. It’s the Giants’ defense. We’ve got to be able to take the next step in the teaching progression, take the things from the meetings to the walk-through to the field, and ultimately when they start playing these other opponents, how our scheme and game plan is going to adjust according to personnel..”
Even just between OTAs and minicamp, Bowen hasn’t seen his defense develop as fast as he’d like.
“I’ve seen improvement. I would say not enough,” Bowen said. “Like right now this spring, I would say not enough.”
OL Jermaine Eluemunor signed with the Giants this offseason with the versatility to play both guard and tackle.
He largely played the last two years at tackle with the Raiders, but he played nearly exclusively at left guard throughout the spring and looks set to start there.
Evan Neal is the presumptive and incumbent starting right tackle, though he didn’t practice this spring after having offseason ankle surgery and is expected to be ready for training camp.
Joshua Ezeudu filled in for Neal at right tackle during OTAs and minicamp.
“I just want to start,” Eluemunor said. “I just want to be out there. For the first five years of my career, if you look back, I was in and out of the starting lineup trying to figure out how to be an NFL player.
“Now that I’ve had a taste of being a starter, I just want to be out there — I don’t care where it is.”
The Giants signed CB Willie “Tre” Herndon III. He had been on a tryout during the two-day minicamp, and had an interception during team drills Wednesday.
A former undrafted free agent, Herndon played the previous six years with the Jaguars.
WRs Darius Slayton, Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Chase Cota left Tuesday’s practice with injuries and did not practice on Wednesday.
Daniel Bellinger didn’t receive many reps throughout the spring, but he said Tuesday that it was to let the team get a good look at other tight ends on the roster.
Head coach Brian Daboll said Wednesday Bellinger picked up a small injury “a few weeks ago,” however, and that they were just being cautious.
