5 takeaways from Jerry Reese include the Giants' desire to get more physical

Giants general manager Jerry Reese, seen here at the NFL Combine, talked about getting more physical at training camp. (Pat Lovell/USA TODAY Sports)
Jordan Raanan | By Jordan Raanan | The Star-Ledger
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on July 24, 2014 at 10:00 AM

EAST RUTHERFORD -- Jerry Reese stepped to the podium on Wednesday at Giants training camp for what will likely be the last time he speaks for months.

Reese isn't all that interested in standing in front of a microphone very often. He's preoccupied with building a winning football team. That is -- and always will be -- his top priority as long as he's with the Giants.

So when Reese speaks, we listen. Very closely. And then parse every word ... like this.

1. Let's Get Physical
Reese seemed really intent on noting that there was an emphasis this offseason on becoming more physical, especially up front. In this league, if you lose the physical battle, it's hard to win games," he said. "You have to win the physical battle." If you look at some of the moves the Giants made in free agency, especially on the offensive line, it starts to make sense. Left guard Geoff Schwartz (6-6, 340) is a mountain of a man. John Jerry (6-5, 340) is equally as large. Charles Brown (6-5, 300) has played at 315 pounds before. Reese went big on his offensive linemen this offseason, and it appears to have been by design.

2. High Expectations for Rookies
There is no grace period for Giants rookies anymore. Not in this era, this year and not with this team. Reese expects to see immediate dividends on his draft investments.

"This day and age, with free agency, they have to be contributors," Reese said. "We expect our rookies to come in and be contributors for us. You always say the first three picks for us really come in and be strong contributors for us and if you get somebody on the back end to get drafted and they contribute on special teams, that's a bonus for you. The rookies have to come in and contribute these days. We expect that from our rookies as well."

With that in mind, getting Odell Beckham completely healthy and making sure his hamstring injury doesn't linger much longer needs to be one of this team's top priorities.

3. Good with the Tight Ends
The Giants front office must really have a lot of confidence in tight end Adrien Robinson. He was their fourth-round pick in 2012, and after two catchless and injury-plagued seasons, they still seem to wholeheartedly believe he's still going to be a player. Make no mistake about it, Reese was talking about Robinson when he mentioned one of his tight ends possibly breaking out like Denver's Julius Thomas last season. That's why the Giants didn't make any big moves at the position this offseason. That's why they don't seem all that interested at this point in any proven veteran free agents. There resting their hopes on Robinson and a bunch of unwanteds.

4. Nobody on the Giants is Old
Forget that coach Tom Coughlin is the oldest coach in the league and quarterback Eli Manning has been with the franchise for a decade. In Reese's eyes, neither Coughlin or Manning are old. Coaches don't get old and 33 years of age is nothing for a quarterback, according to Reese.

"Coaches don't forget how to coach," he said about Coughlin.

"[Quarterback is] not like a running back at that age or some other positions at that age," he added.

So, Coughlin, 67, can coach until he's 80 and Manning is good until at least 40. Don't worry Giants fans, you're apparently good at those two spots until 2020-something if Reese is still in charge. Can GM's get old?

5. It's a High-Performance Business
Reese spoke for about 16 minutes. He used the word "high" 11 times and coupled it with "performance" four times. It was an impressive showing of repetitiveness.

The NFL really is a high, high, high-performance business. Got it, Jerry. You need to do better than last year or else suffer the consequences, whatever they may be. Nobody is going to object.