Giants scrimmage for Judge

East Rutherford, N.J.

Joe Judge took somewhat of a back seat as the New York Giants scrimmaged for the first time since he took over as head coach.

The 38-year-old Judge stood behind the huddle and listened as coordinators Jason Garrett, Pat Graham and Thomas McGaughey called in plays for the offense, defense and special teams on Friday during the roughly two-hour training camp workout at the team's headquarters.

Judge said the scrimmage was similar to one that two teams would have before playing a preseason game. With no preseason games in this year altered by the coronavirus, teams are having to find ways to simulate play on their own.

Next Friday night, Judge plans to simulate a preseason game during a scrimmage in MetLife Stadium. The bottom line is the level of hitting and tackling will increase in preparation for the opener against Pittsburgh on Sept. 14.

"I kind of sat back today and wanted to observe," Judge said after practice. "I watched the players up close and I wanted to hear the play being called in the huddle. I wanted to see the players and how they competed during the scrimmage."

This was the first time quarterback Daniel Jones was able to test out Garrett's new offense under simulated game conditions.

"I was very pleased with the tone he sets in the huddle," Judge said of Jones. "He does it every day in practice. But he went out there today in a competitive situation and really stepped up. He has good command. He knows how to use some of the variety of calls and checks within our offense. I thought he really showed up a lot at the end of the scrimmage."

The offense, which was running plays it had worked on during the week along with some new installations, struggled early against the defense.

"Overall I was encouraged by what we were able to do,"...