TUCSON, Ariz. — His first reaction?
“I was a little upset about seeing that we were coming out here,’’ Leonard Williams said on Wednesday, standing near a practice field at the University of Arizona.
Upset might be a bit extreme. Confused is a more natural reaction to what the Giants are doing this week. They flew directly to this college town from Miami, where they lost to the Dolphins last Sunday, and will practice here for three days before their charter flight to Los Angeles on Saturday for their game against the Chargers.
“I thought it was weird that we would have to leave home, stay in a hotel all week, yeah, stuff like that,’’ Williams said.
And now?
Williams called this excursion “a good refresher and a little change of pace. It’s refreshing to break that everyday routine.’’
Williams was born in Bakersfield, Calif., went to high school in Daytona Beach, Fla., starred in college at USC and has played for the Jets and Giants in the NFL. He never minds getting out of the cold of the New York/New Jersey area. Crisp midday temperatures in the mid-70s was part of the reason the Giants decided to hunker down in Arizona for four days.
“Really simple, we look at the schedule and see that we’ve got an extended trip going all the way down to Miami and all the way out to the West Coast,’’ coach Joe Judge said. “When you talk about prep of your team, the first thing you always think about is the physical prep. There’s a lot of just lag time and wear and tear goes on our bodies throughout the year, but especially when you start piling on those long flights. So, to fly all the way down to Miami, fly all the way back to Jersey, fly all the way out to the West Coast, that’s something that over the course of a week there’s extra put on their bodies that you want to go ahead and eliminate as best as you can.’’
Sold.
“I think coaches know what they’re doing.’’ Williams said. “I’m pretty sure our trainers have a lot to do with it as well. Coming straight here after Miami and being able to be together as a team, spend time with each other out here and not spend so much time traveling is probably going to make a big difference on our bodies.’’
The Giants are here, but they are 4-8, as this season never got on track. This trip could have been a springboard into a playoff run. Instead, it is a rare change of routine before the team heads back home and prepares to close up shop once the regular season is done.
“Everything’s a little tougher when you’re losing,’’ Williams said. “It does make a difference being out here. I’m sure we would be having a little bit more fun and stuff like that if we were winning.The spirits would be up a little bit more, but we know we can’t goof around and stuff like that and we have to make sure that we’re locked in even though we’re out here.’’