Wan'Dale Robinson happy to be healthy, and Giants' receivers room as a whole feeling good
Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers, left, stands with wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Thursday. Credit: Corey Sipkin
A year ago, Wan’Dale Robinson was rehabbing a torn ACL. This summer, he’s working on getting better at football.
“This is a completely different situation,” a happy Robinson said Thursday at Giants training camp. "Being able to run routes, to lift, just do the stuff you would do in the offseason. Rather than just working on a single-leg knee. It’s just night and day compared to what it was last year. And I was really excited to be able to do [everything] I wanted to do.”
A healthy Robinson is bent on being a difference-maker for the Giants.
With training camp only two days old — yes, we know it’s early, to say the least — Robinson has been proclaimed ready for the rigors of the NFL season.
And nothing makes him happier.
He joins fellow receiver Darius Slayton and 6-5 tight end Lawrence Cager as three of the players who have had standout moments already in camp.
Robinson was beaming after Thursday’s practice because he is so intent on being the player he knows he can be this season. A second year removed from a torn ACL can have that effect.
“Running was an emphasis [in the offseason],” Robinson said. “Last year, I really wasn’t as fast as I wanted to be. And this year I feel like I am much faster than I was.”
Robinson spent time back at his college, Kentucky.
“Doing what I did when I was in college made a big difference,” he said.
Robinson said he was running at 21 miles per hour after his surgery.
“This offseason,” he said, “I was able to get up to 22.7, or around that area. It was pretty nice to get up to those numbers. The main thing was to get to 22 miles per hour and in games to stay at 22 miles per hour.”
As for Slayton, in his sixth season, he is an elder statesman among Giants. On Thursday, he dusted cornerback Cor’Dale Flott on a route to daylight.
Slayton seemingly has gone from a relative youngster to a veteran in the blink of an eye.
“I think it’s been a been a fast transition [for me], going from being the young guy to the ‘old guy,’ but I just try my best [to share] any knowledge that I have or perspective I have," Slayton said. "I feel like I have a good wealth of knowledge on the NFL and how this goes, so I try to share that with the guys in the room.”
The Giants gained considerable talent by drafting Malik Nabers. The sixth overall pick has been impressive.
“I think at this point, we have the talent,” Slayton said. “There’s no mistaking that. It’s just going to be about us going out and playing. It’s only been two days [of camp] but there’s been flashes of plays that all of us can make. That’s what makes it so special and that’s what makes it so exciting.”
For Cager, he’s been waiting seemingly all his NFL life for the opportunity he has now.
"He’s a very talented player,” Slayton said. “He’s a good player. Obviously, he didn’t get the opportunities in the past. But he’s getting the opportunity now. That’s kind of how this league goes. When you get your opportunity, it’s time to show up and do [what you can do]."
Cager made a ridiculous catch on Wednesday on the left sideline and had another impressive reception in Thursday’s session.
“Showing flashes is what you have to do through camp,” Cager, a former Jet, said. “You’ve got to continue to put those winning plays on tape, and it will pay off.”
It can’t hurt that Cager already has chemistry with quarterback Daniel Jones. The two have known each other since Cager was at Miami and Jones was at Duke.
“That’s one of my closest friends. We always talk about when we were in college and he beat me. He still talks about it to this day," Cager said before adding with a laugh: "So, that’s the person he is."
Wait. Jones talks trash?
“Yes,” Cager said, “and I love it.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
