NY Giants camp: Daniel Jones, Kenny Golladay struggle, and lots of laps

Daniel Jones and Kenny Golladay continue to struggle to get on the same page as NY Giants training camp stretched into its second week, Monday

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — The NY Giants’ struggles to get anything going on offense continued during a sloppy Monday training camp practice.

Kenny Golladay has struggled to get separation.

Daniel Jones has struggled with accuracy and timing with receivers.

The offensive line has struggled to all get on the field together — following Shane Lemieux’s injury last week.

But, Monday, the struggles weren’t just limited to the offensive side of the ball.

During what was a particularly strong showing by the defense — especially the secondary — NY Giants head coach Joe Judge sent the entire defense, and some coaches, running a penalty lap for a botched substitution. Jones was also sent running, as were centers Joe Looney and Nick Gates.

It was just that kind of day at NY Giants camp.

Tuesday, the intensity will get ratcheted up several notches as Camp Judge features its first fully-padded practice, but Monday’s final session of the “ramp up” period, this time in shells, was quite revealing about the state of this team five practices into the summer.

Here’s a look at key takeaways from Monday’s NY Giants training camp practice:

Daniel Jones and Kenny Golladay not on the same page

At times Monday, it seemed like prized offseason acquisition Kenny Golladay was actually practice dropping the ball against air.

Through the first five practices of training camp, it is becoming evident that Daniel Jones and Kenny Golladay are not yet on the same page. The good news for the NY Giants is, it is still early.

Still, Monday was not a strong showing by the NY Giants’ $45 million wide receiver.

Early in Monday’s practice, Golladay dropped a pass in an individual drill without a defense, and during a seven-on-seven drill, had a pass thrown over the middle bounce off the fingertips of his hand while trying to make a catch in traffic.

During the final team period of practice, Golladay tried to make a diving catch, after breaking open down the sideline against Sam Beal, but couldn’t quite reach a pass that was slightly overthrown by Jones.

Golladay finally was able to pull down a reception on a slant pattern, with Beal in coverage, late in the practice that seemed to bring. a lot of relief to the offense.

Jones and Golladay have time to get in sync prior to the regular season opener against the Denver Broncos next month, but early returns in practice haven’t been encouraging. Golladay, after dropping a pass from Jones during individual drills spent time playing catch with third-string quarterback Clayton Thorson and at one point dropped a throw from Thorson.

Early in camp, it seems Sterling Shepard has become Jones’ favorite target, but Golladay hasn’t exactly been making the most of his few targets thus far.

It’s still early, but the Jones-Golladay connection has a long way to go.

James Bradberry’s physicality

James Bradberry made his first Pro Bowl last season, and it’s clear that the veteran cornerback has picked up exactly where he left off.

Often matched up against Golladay during individual, seven-on-seven, and full-team drills, Bradberry is a significant reason why the veteran receiver hasn’t bee able to get separation or be overly productive during the first week of this camp.

"“You’re going to see guys like [James Bradberry and Adoree’ Jackson] throughout the whole season,” NY Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton said, after practice. “It’s a blessing to have guys like that to compete against every day. “[Bradberry] is a little bigger, a little heavier, I kind of have to be a little more finesse against him. Against Adoree’, we’re similar in size.”"

Bradberry’s physicality has been on display early on in this training camp, and figures to be as big a problem for opposing wide receivers this season, as he has been for Golladay, Slayton, and Shepard this month.

Daniel Jones needs to be better

This offseason was all about building Jones’ confidence, and bolstering his supporting cast to facilitate the young quarterback making a major leap in his third NFL season.

Through the first week of training camp, Jones has yet to find much of a rhythm.

Monday was a rough showing for Jones, who went through a full seven-on-seven period where he didn’t complete a pass and was forced to scramble on one of the snaps. The next period, Jones completed four consecutive passes, but there were dump offs to fullback Eli Penny and running back Corey Clement.

During a red zone period, Golladay had a pass in the end zone knocked down by Jackson, but Jones did connect with Evan Engram for a touchdown after scrambling around in the pocket.

It’s far too early to worry that Jones won’t make the kind of strides the NY Giants need to see him make before deciding whether to invest two first-round picks next spring in a trade for a veteran or the best quarterback in the draft class, but for his part Jones hasn’t inspired much confidence that he can make that leap. Yet.

Kadarius Toney makes a [late] appearance

NY Giants rookie wide receiver Kadarius Toney has yet to participate in a practice since returning from the COVD-19/reserve list, but he did make it onto the field Monday.

Following the completion of Monday’s practice, several NY Giants players stayed on the field either to work on full-team plays or special teams.

Toney was among the players in a special teams drill, mostly fielding squib-kicks in front of an invested observer; Judge.

It’s no secret that Toney will likely have a key role on special teams, in addition to the NY Giants hoping to get him meaningful snaps on offense to capitalize on his speed, explosiveness, and versatility in the receiving corps.

But, Judge and the NY Giants are going to take a cautious approach with the No. 20 overall pick in the draft.

“He’s still building up,” Judge said prior to practice. “But we will start seeing a little bit more of him day-by-day as the trainers keep allowing us to have him more.”

Matt Lombardo is FanSided’s National NFL Insider and writes Between The Hash Marks each Wednesday. Email Matt: Matt.Lombardo@FanSided.com