He looks like a masked Big Blue bear with long white sleeves, who crawled from this drill to that drill, creaking when he saw what he did not like.
He interrupted one drill to drop more than a few F-bombs on laggards in the secondary, he ordered rounds for players and coaches who failed to do things in what is now expected to be The Giants Way.
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Fight every ball.
Joe Judge is the new sheriff in town, all right, and everyone knows it.
The Giants needed a culture shock to change the culture – and Joe Judge gives it in spades.
You do not win NFL football games in a country club environment. Joe Judge comes straight from the Bill Belichick Football Factory and he set up methodically and painfully one in East Rutherford.
He cuts an impressive figure on a sort of Bill Parcells, is able to bring a room as wide as the big front door, a teacher and a drill sergeant at the same time, and never forgets the worthless lessons he learned under Belichick forgotten football team is meant to look out of place, behave and ultimately like to play.
And the same why there is no need, but 28 days for the opener home against the Steelers, for names on the backs of jerseys.
“We know who they are,” Judge said. ‘For me, it’s important to know who the players are on the field against you and according to their body type and how they move, to see more than just nameplates to identify your teammate. We would know each other as coaches and players by how we move, the way we behave. The numbers and name stuff, we’ll do that on game day. ”
Saquon Barkley could not remember the last time he witnessed penalties.
‘I always thought I was a retailer,’ said Barkley, ‘but now I have to become even more like we’m being coached, which is great. We really focus on being a detailed team and holding each other accountable, and the little things matter. It comes with the territory. ”
Joe Judge’s territory: ‘There are consequences on the field for making mistakes. In a game it costs 5, 10 or 15 yards. ”
Every now and then, as Belichick did during games, Judge would take note. From Monday to Monday exercise and then one in the evening on Tuesday plan to facilitate conditioning and recovery, no stone is left unturned.
Judge has no eyes in the back of his head, but he does not seem to miss a thing. He made it a point to visit briefly with Daniel Jones during calisthenics, otherwise he left his franchise quarterback in the hands of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. Joe Judge is the CEO the Giants have missed since Tom Coughlin left the building.
Step by step, practice by practice, Judge builds on a physical, emotional and spiritual crescendo. Time is of the essence, and every single minute should be maximized.
Judge is the conductor, and his practice is designed to be a symphony.
“Everyone knows where to go, so we do not waste time,” Sterling Shepard said.
Judge is hardly the first head coach to want his players to play fast, physically and smartly. “Team Tempo,” he barked in front of one drill. But this head coach has understood them all in no uncertain terms that those who do not play this way will not play.
“We move at a fast speed,” Shepard said.
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Drills were played enough for Judge to watch Jones and the first team played a play and quickly turned to see another group.
“Our players understand that there is a purpose to everything we do,” the referee said.
The snap, crackle and pop of pads popping up for the first time filled the air, refreshing sights and sounds to the rookie head coach who is completely on the field from a team of blue-collar, New York Tough and New Jersey Tough, resilient and resourceful, that will make metropolitan fans proud again.
“It was great to get out there and pop the pads a little bit,” Barkley said.
Barkley, whose high ankle eroded a distant memory, broke a touchdown run. Evan Engram and Corey Coleman are healthy again. Jones looks like he could push Eli Manning. And when it was over, Judge scooped for a while under the blue sky with John Mara. Mara obviously wore a mask. He smiled beneath it.
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