Rookies get first practice out of the way

" />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhiteBig Blue Viewa New York Giants communityLog In or Sign UpLog InSign UpFanpostsFanshotsSectionsLibraryGiantsOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections New York Giants NewsGiants Training Camp 2016Giants vs. Eagles 2015 Corey Ballentine NFL Jersey , Week 17Filed under:New York Giants NewsRookie mini-camp notebook: Daniel Jones, Darius Slayton, Eric Dungey, Corey BallentineNew,116commentsRookies get first practice out of the wayEDTShareTweetShareShareRookie mini-camp notebook: Daniel Jones, Darius Slayton, Eric Dungey, Corey BallentineDaniel Jones works under the watchful eye of Pat Shurmur on Friday.Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY SportsEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The first of two rookie mini-camp practices for the New York Giants is in the books. Here are a few notes from Friday’s practice.Daniel Jones first dayJones hit some throws Corey Ballentine NFL Draft , missed some others and generally looked like he had an idea what he was doing on his first full day as an NFL player. He threw at least one short pass much too hard early in practice, but seemed to settle down. There weren’t any interceptions, and no embarrassingly memorable snafus. He threw one really nice deep post to Darius Slayton — that was dropped.“He did a good,” Shurmur said. “It’s a lot for a quarterback coming into an NFL system. I thought he did a good job today.“You don’t really want to evaluate the quarterback on the first day because they’re getting used to the receivers. The second day things start to smooth out a little bit.”More practice notesSlayton, the team’s fifth-round pick, dropped at least four passes from Jones. He did, however, make a couple of contested catches late in practice. Shurmur said of the drops “that’s why you practice. There’s a lot to get used to. ... I thought he finished the day pretty well.”Former Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey might be a player to watch. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Dungey is listed as a quarterback/tight end on the mini-camp roster Corey Ballentine Buffalo Bills Jersey , and could eventually be in line for a look in a Taysom Hill type role. Shurmur said Dungey is “one of those guys we sort of had our eye on throughout the draft.” The coach added that Dungey is “a good football player” and “usually there’s a place on the field for guys that are good football players. We’ll just keep working with him and see what happens.”Name of the weekend? That would belong to Freedom Akinmoladun, a tryout linebacker from Nebraska.Corey Ballentine updateAsked about the sixth-round pick who is recovering after suffering a gunshot wound in the glute when his friend and teammate Dwane Simmons was murdered, Shurmur reminded that Ballentine “was the victim of a crime.”“He’s a great young man,” Shurmur said. “It’s very unfortunate. He was the victim of a crime. That could happen to any of us. We’re here for him. He’s going through the vigils and the funerals and the things he has to go through.”Shurmur said he is “hopeful” Ballentine will return when the full team meets again a week from Monday. He said he wants Ballentine to get “full closure.” Nick Mullens remembers getting the phone call from Archie Manning inviting him to the prestigious Manning Passing Academy two summers ago.Mullens savored the chance to take part in the four-day clinic run by Archie and his two NFL quarterback sons, Eli and Peyton. Mullens especially relished the opportunity to watch Eli Manning take part in some of the drills."To see how he moves in the pocket, he has very quick feet and is just very smooth," Mullens said. "I definitely remember just sitting there and watching him throw. I took that all in."Mullens now will get another chance to see Manning up close when he makes his second career start for the San Francisco 49ers (2-7) on Monday night against Manning and the New York Giants (1-7).Mullens is coming off a scintillating debut, completing 16 of 22 passes for 262 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 151.9 passer rating in a 34-3 victory over the Oakland Raiders. That's the highest rating since the merger for a player in his debut with at least 20 attempts.Things might not be as easy now that the Giants have an idea of what Mullens can do."I think they're going to be like Color Rush Corey Ballentine Jersey , 'Oh crap. This guy is good,'" running back Matt Breida said. "I think they'll put more people back there to cover because of the throws he made and can do."While Mullens is just getting started, Manning is nearing the end of his career as he plays his 15th season for a team that is struggling mightily. New York has lost five straight games and the questions are mounting about how much longer the two-time Super Bowl MVP Manning has as quarterback."I think there's urgency to get things going, for sure," Manning said. "We got to get some wins. We got to get going, and everybody wants it. The team needs it, for the morale and for just the hard work and everything we put in. Just need to reap the benefits of the work, and feel good about what we're doing."Here are some other things to watch:SPLENDID SAQUONRookie Saquon Barkley has been a rare bright spot for the struggling Giants, topping 100 yards from scrimmage in seven of his first eight games. Barkley has been a bit hit and miss with 16 runs for negative yards Youth Corey Ballentine Jersey , tied for fifth worst in the league, and 11 plays that gained at least 20, which is tied for second most among running backs. Barkley is just the ninth player to gain at least 1,000 yards from scrimmage in the first eight games of his rookie season."I'm not one of those guys that says, let me see my stats, let me see how much I ran for this or that. I just play," he said. "I'm not going to stand here and lie, I am very active on social media, so there's fan pages of me and I can go on Instagram or even on my explore page and they just happen to pop up. I've seen predictions of what I'm capable of doing Womens Corey Ballentine Jersey , but it means nothing to me."PRESSURE POINTThe struggling pass rush for the 49ers broke through in a big way last week with eight sacks against Oakland. Cassius Marsh led the way with a career-best 2 陆, and Dekoda Watson had 1 1/2 in his first game after coming off IR. San Francisco had eight sacks in a game only once in the previous two decades, doing it against the Rams in 2009.KITTLE'S CATCHESSan Francisco tight end George Kittle has been a big-play threat all season. He had a 71-yard catch and run last week against the Raiders, making him the first tight end since Rich Caster in 1972 to have two 70-yard catches in the same season. Kittle ranks second among all tight ends with 692 yards receiving and is second to Barkley among all players with 496 yards after the catch.STRUGGLING FRANCHISESTwenty-eight years after these franchises met in the best matchup in "Monday Night Football" history, they now play in one of the worst. Back in 1990, the 49ers beat the Giants 7-3 in a matchup of 10-1 teams that provided the highest winning percentage ever for a Monday night game played after Halloween. The teams come into this meeting with a combined winning percentage of .176, the second lowest for a Monday night game played Nov. 1 or later. The lowest combined winning percentage is .167 for a matchup of the New York Jets (3-9) and the Chargers (1-11) in 1975 that featured Hall of Fame QBs Joe Namath and Dan Fouts.