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Pat Shurmur's first minicamp with the New York Giants nearly had an ugly ending when high-priced left tackle Nate Solder tweaked a knee after being bumped during a helmet-swinging scuffle between defensive tackle Damon Harrison and rookie guard Will Hernandez.

Solder Martin Frk Jersey , who signed a four-year, $62 million contract in March, walked away from the fight on the third and final day of the minicamp on Thursday and sat on the grass after Harrison and Hernandez were separated.

Head trainer Ronnie Barnes examined Solder, and the former Patriot got up and tested the knee that seemed to be bumped by Hernandez during the altercation with Harrison.

Solder and Shurmur later said it was OK, but it could have been a lot worse. Coming off a 3-13 season, the Giants can't afford to have their highest-priced free agent hurt in a minicamp where players are practicing in shorts and no pads.

Both players were taken out of the drills, and Shurmur talked to the 29-year-old Harrison, who swung Hernandez's helmet at the rookie after a running play.

"It has been very competitive the whole camp," Shurmur said. "There are certain things we certainly can't do. We got it settled down. When scuffles break like that, in that situation, we just take them out of the practice and let them cool off."

Shurmur said helmet swinging bothered him. Hernandez wasn't shy, either. He threw punches at Harrison.

"Snacks is a very competitive guy and Will Hernandez is very competitive out there," Shurmur said. "They just kind of butted heads."

Solder downplayed the scuffle, saying he was fine.

Neither Harrison nor Hernandez was available after practice to talk about the incident.

"We just have to focus on getting better, we have to play better football Michael Grabner Jersey , we have to be a strong unit on the offensive line, and we have to do what we can control," said Solder, who protected the blind side of Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady for seven years before signing with New York. "Those things are battles, they happen, emotions rise, and you work through it and move on."

Giants players will be on their own until the end of July, when training camp opens.

"We've talked to them about all the work that we've done to this point, and with five weeks to go, it's not time off, it's time away," Shurmur said. "So, to continue with their preparation, we're always talking to them about being a good citizen, and we say New York Giants pride for a reason. So Drew Doughty Jersey , be very smart. Be good husbands, good fathers and be good citizens."

Shurmur said that rookies, quarterbacks and selected veterans will report to training camp on July 22. The rest of the team will arrive later in that week.

Shurmur, who replaced the fired Ben McAdoo, also re-confirmed that the Giants will practice with the Lions for a couple of days before their preseason game on Aug. 17 in Detroit.

NOTES: The biggest surprise of training camp might have been third-round draft pick B.J. Hill getting most of the first-team reps on the defensive line with Harrison and second-year tackle Dalvin Tomlinson. ... DT RJ McIntosh, the fifth-round draft pick, was at minicamp but did not take part in practices. Shurmur said he will need an undisclosed medical procedure. ... Backup quarterbacks Davis Webb and rookie Kyle Lauletta played well in short-yardage and red-zone drills.

The Atlanta Falcons came into the season with such high expectations.

Then, a jarring dose of reality.

As if a carbon-copy loss in Week 1 wasn't bad enough, two significant injuries on defense have left this team reeling as it prepares for Sunday's home opener against division rival Carolina.

The Falcons lost hard-hitting strong safety Keanu Neal to a season-ending knee injury and were forced to put middle linebacker Deion Jones on injured reserve with a foot problem. While Jones is facing a much shorter recovery period, he won't be eligible to return until Week 11.

Just like that, the Falcons are missing two cornerstones of their promising young defense, a pair of third-year players who were both picked for the Pro Bowl last season.

"Let's not sugarcoat it," defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel said after practice Wednesday. "This week, honestly, were two devastating blows."

Duke Riley Patrik Laine Jersey , who had been starting on the weak side, will move inside to replace Jones. Neal's starting spot in the secondary goes to Damontae Kazee, who was one of the team's most impressive players during the preseason but it still rather new to the position after playing cornerback in college.

"We'll ask those guys to do the things they do best," coach Dan Quinn said. "We won't feature them in exactly the same way we did Deion and (Neal). We'll ask them to play the style that suits them and suits us, too."

The Falcons had been working Riley as both a middle and outside linebacker with this very scenario in mind. He was a bit of a disappointment as a rookie, but Quinn said he had shown significant improvement heading into his second season.

The trickle down of Jones' injury is that rookie Foyesade Oluokun, a sixth-round pick out of Yale, moves up to start on the outside. Kemal Ishmael could also get playing time at that position.

"That's football. People get injured," Ismael said. "New guys have got to step up. We created this team just for that."

While the defense is breaking in two new starters, the offense is still dealing with the same ol' issue.

Ineptitude in the red zone.

In an 18-12 loss to Super Bowl champion Philadelphia, the Falcons managed only one touchdown and nine points out of five drives inside the Eagles 20. On the final play of the game from the 5, Julio Jones landed out of bounds after leaping to catch Matt Ryan's pass 鈥?essentially, the same way the previous season ended with a divisional round playoff loss to the Eagles.

The opener turned up the heat on offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, whose play-calling was widely panned on social media. Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner tweeted that Philadelphia ran the same defensive scheme on the last four plays of the game, but the Falcons never seemed to figure it out.

"They played 7 across Womens Tom Pyatt Jersey ," Warner wrote. "Needed to attack 1 zone w/ 2 guys & it's an easy TD 鈥?they kept sending guys 2 different zones??? Beat zone by overloading it!"

Quinn came to Sarkisian's defense.

Well, sort of.

"For sure, we're not scoring in the red zone like we're capable of," Quinn said. "It's not all execution or the calls. But we've got plenty of work to do down there. There are a number of things where I would like to see improvement."

Most notably, the Falcons attempted 43 passes against Philadelphia but ran the ball only 18 times.

"We play best when we have good balance between the run and the pass," Quinn said. "That's what we need to be. The run game 鈥?how we feature our backs, the play action that goes with it 鈥?that's where so many of our explosive plays come from. We've got to work to get that right."

Ryan agreed with that assessment, but also said it's far too soon to go into panic mode.

"It's a small sample size," the quarterback said. "I believe the work we put in is going to pay off for us as we move forward. I believe that our execution is going to be better the next time we're down there."

Notes: RB Devonta Freeman (knee) did not practice Wednesday, raising concerns that he may not be ready to go against the Panthers. RB Brian Hill was promoted from the practice squad, a further sign the Falcons are concerned about Freeman's status. ... OG Ben Garland (calf) and WR Russell Gage (knee) also sat out practice.

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at s://apnews/search/paul%20newberry

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