They say no news is good news. In that sense, the start of Giants training camp has been entirely too eventful. The past week at Quest Diagnostics Center has been a bloodbath with on-field brawls (the first day of padded practice Tuesday quickly descended into anarchy, rivaling the unhinged “news team fight” from Anchorman in its chaotic lawlessness), a bitter feud between disgruntled tight end Kelvin Benjamin and coach Joe Judge, offensive coordinator Jason Garrett getting off on the wrong foot with local media and little to report on injured running back Saquon Barkley, whose availability for New York’s opener a month from next Thursday remains anyone’s guess.
And if that wasn’t enough misery for New York’s masochistic fan base, how about this development? Three, count ‘em three Giants players have retired in the past four days. That includes linemen Joe Looney, Zach Fulton and veteran linebacker Todd Davis. This mass exodus, occurring just days after a divisive practice melee, can’t be a coincidence, can it?
“These are tough decisions on guys. As you get vets later in their career, they started training camp, it's not uncommon for this to happen," said Judge, via ESPN Giants reporter Jordan Raanan. “I think [Looney and Davis] could have helped us. We left the door open for both guys based on what may open up in the future."
As is often the case on social media (a known breeding ground for half-baked conspiracy theories), Twitter had fun speculating with Warren Sharp of NBC Sports noting that Looney’s retirement announcement came only hours after Judge made the entire team run penalty laps for a dangerous pileup that could have injured starting quarterback Daniel Jones.
Judge suspects family obligations prompted Looney and Davis’ sudden departures, though there’s no denying the palpable tension felt in East Rutherford.
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