New Giants head coach Joe Judge showed off his disciplinarian side right off the bat on Day 1 of padded practice, making players and assistants run laps as punishment for miscues. It's a staple of his mentor, Bill Belichick, but already, Judge has one Hall of Fame detractor: Shannon Sharpe.
"This isn't going to end well," Sharpe wrote on Twitter in a comment while re-tweeting Pro Football Talk's story about Judge's discipline.
Sharpe later followed that up with some hope for Judge, though: a defense of one of his former position coaches, Les Steckel, prompted when he was reminded about Steckel's failed disciplinary tactics during his one abysmal season as Vikings head coach.
Steckel, was my position coach for 2 yrs in Denver. He helped me become the player I became. He was tough, demanding, but I knew he cared about me and would go to bat for me. He said, he learned a lot from Vikes debacle https://t.co/WBUeO3yx7T
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) August 18, 2020It's not the only Belichick-ian trait Judge has brought to New York, as he has also reportedly taken player names off the backs of practice jerseys – a tactic his mentor took over the top in New England by also removing the numbers at one point, until the NFL told him to stop.
"There are consequences on the field for making mistakes," Judge said via conference call. "In a game, it'll cost you five, 10, or 15 yards. In practice, there needs to be consequences so we learn how to deal with our mistakes."
For now, the Giants, who last reached the playoffs after the 2016 season and are 12-36 over the last three years under Ben McAdoo, interim boss Steve Spagnuolo, and Pat Shurmur, seem to be buying in, at least publicly.
"If that's what he has in store for us, running laps for mistakes, just don't make mistakes," said wide receiver Sterling Shepard. "That's a simple way to get out of doing that. Yeah, the last time I did it was probably middle school. But I'm embracing the change and I'm all for it."
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
Follow WFAN on Social MediaTwitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
