NY Giants reportedly end ‘sloppy’ practice with disciplinary concerns for John Harbaugh to address

Many expectations have been set for the New York Giants when they landed head coach John Harbaugh. However, it’s not all smooth sailing right now. Reportedly, the team has disciplinary concerns in a very ‘sloppy‘ practice, according to reporters.

According to Dan Duggan of The Athletic, the Giants had one of the ‘sloppiest‘ practices in recent memory. However, Duggan states that “the middle stretch of practice was conducted in torrential rain.” Also, it seems like the Giants see Isaiah Likely as a better weapon than Odell Beckham Jr.

While the rain could excuse some of the flaws of the practice, Duggan highlighted a more concerning problem. He stated that “there was an excessive amount of pre-snap penalties on both sides of the ball that happened before and after the rain.” Pre-snap problems go directly to coaching and discipline. Hence, those are John Harbaugh‘s issues to solve.

What does Harbaugh need to fix?

Pre-snap errors like false starts, delay of game, and alignment infractions directly reflect preparation and accountability. This makes them a direct responsibility for head coach John Harbaugh. Now, that is something Harbaugh’s had to deal with before.

John Harbaugh’s teams in Baltimore were highly disciplined culturally and structurally, but they consistently struggled with penalty yardage. For example, Harbaugh’s teams led the NFL in penalty yards in seasons like 2009 and 2012, and routinely sat in the top tier of total penalties (such as committing 99 penalties in 2025).

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Penalties kill expectations to the Giants dismay

A team that is not disciplined enough to avoid false starts, encroachments, and pre-snap motion’s miscommunications will likely make more mistakes in high-stakes, intense moments. Hence, when playoffs roll around and you’re facing the cream of the crop, gifting yards away with penalties will cost you.