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Believe it or not, Saquon Barkley was not the only key player who returned to practice for the Giants on Monday.
Third-year edge rusher Oshane Ximines was activated off the physically unable to perform list, and hit the Giants’ practice field for the first time since the start of training camp earlier this afternoon.
After a promising rookie year in 2019, where he recorded 4.5 sacks and nine quarterback hits, Ximines, who was placed on the PUP list with a hamstring injury ahead of camp, was limited to just four games (three starts) last season after undergoing shoulder surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff.
Now, with Ximines back in the mix, he will be competing for a starting job on the Giants’ defense alongside Lorenzo Carter, Azeez Ojulari, Carter Coughlin, Cam Brown, Ifeadi Odenigbo, Niko Lalos and Ryan Anderson.
The Giants could certainly use Ximines’ pass rushing ability off the edge, given the fact that the team did not make any significant upgrades to this group beyond drafting Ojulari out of Georgia in the second-round.
New York also struggled to find production from their edge rushers last season after Ximines and Carter landed on Injured Reserve in October. This forced the Giants to deploy a combination of late-round picks, undrafted rookie free agents and waiver wire pass rushers such as Coughlin, Brown, Niko Lalos and Jabaal Sheard. While this group showed flashes at times, the organization is expecting big things from Ximines, a 2019 third-round draft pick, in this third season as a pro.
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Ximines’ Confidence Hasn’t Wavered
Ximines spoke to reporters following his first practice in almost 10 months, and despite missing a significant period of time due to multiple injuries, his confidence hasn’t taken a hit.
“Coach (Judge) made it clear that it’s going to be a competitive camp,” said Ximines following his first practice. “We have a bunch of good guys in the group and we all learn from each other. It’s a pleasure working with those guys everyday.”
Although Ximines feels like he is back to his old self performance-wise, he understands that he must still build up his reps in team drills to get to where he needs to be physically.
Luckily, it sounds like Ximines is up for the challenge, as he went on to praise Joe Judge and his coaching staff.
“This is my favorite coaching staff I’ve played with,” he said. “They’re going to make us bust our ass every day.”
Ximines Learned How To Pack a Punch
Following his shoulder surgery, Ximines spent the majority of his days rehabbing during the offseason. But he also took the time to cross-train with mixed martial arts trainer (MMA) Bruce Lombard, who specializes in teaching football players proper hand technique.
Along with his teammate Lorenzo Carter, Ximines worked with Lombard to develop his hand fighting skills, which will hopefully translate onto the field this season to help take his pass rushing ability to the next level.
Lombard was recommended to Ximines and Carter by Giants defensive line coach Sean Spencer, aka Coach Chaos, as these two go all the way back to Spencer’s days on Penn State’s staff (2014-19).
And Spencer saw an opportunity for his young pass rushers to improve, which is why he paired them with his old friend in Lombard.
“When you talk about pass rushing, it’s about eyes, hands and feet,” Lombard told Giants Country in a phone interview back in June. “He already had the speed and the footwork, now I’m just helping him with his hand-eye coordination and his hand speed and timing, so I think it’s going to help him tremendously.”
Lombard also believes this type of training will help Ximines strengthen his shoulder after tearing his rotator cuff last season.
“This is ideal for him because it is a tight in quarter type of training,” said Lombard. “Hopefully for Oshane, this will help him build up shoulder strength. We are basically developing boxing shoulders, which helps gain endurance in the ligaments.”
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