New York Post, Tuesday, August 6, 2019nypost.comCOREY HEART:Corey
Ballentine, whowas
shoton thesamenight
he was draftedby the
Giants in an attack
that left hisbestfriend
dead, has made up
for lost time and the
rookiesixth-roundpick
is spendingtime with
the first-team defense.
N.Y. Post: CharlesWenzelbergH
E IS ONEof thoseplayers the
Giants are counting onto do
so much,even though he thus
far has done so little in the NFLto
justify the assignment.
In someways, Jon Halapio is
what the Giants are all about head-
ing into 2019. The résumé does not
correlate to the
starting role he
holds.He is viewed
inside the building
as a high-quality
player, a positive
force. He is viewed
in NFL circles, as
just anotherguy
anda reasonto
think the Giants
are notvery good.
“We don’tfeel anything,’’ Halapio
told The Post. “Everything that’s
said outside this building, it doesn’t
get into our heads, it doesn’tget
into our lockerroom, it doesn’tget
into this building. What mattersis
what we say between each other.
That’s all that matters.’’
What is said inside theroom
about Halapio is this:Heis the
center capableof directing an
again-revamped and supposedly
improved offensive line.He is lin-
ing up as theNo.1center, fend-
ingoff a challenge from Spencer
Pulley, who started thefinal nine
games last season afterHalapio
went down inWeek 2 witha seri-
ous injury,afractured right ankle
and lower leg ina loss to theCow-
boys.
Pu lley canpl ay in the league and
provides the Giants with uncom-
mon depth. Halapio andPulley get
along splendidly, yet this is busi-
ness.
“It’ s myjobto lose,fo r sure,’’Halapiosaid.“I’m out there to
improvemycraft,first andfore-
most, and tryto get all five of us on
the right page.’’
Pu lle y, 26 , is yo unger and the
Giants have more invested in him,
givingPulleyathree-year deal
worth $8 million(with $2.3 million
in guaran-
teed money).
Halapio, 28,
admitted
despite posi-
tive feedback
from his
coaches and
general man-
ager Dave
Gettleman, he
wa s not sure wh at wo uld happen
before receivinga one-year con-
tractworth $645,000.
Pu lle y also started all16 games
in 2017for the Chargers.Hala-
pio,a2014 sixth-round pickof the
Patriots, bounced from thePats to
the Broncosto theCardinals,back
to thePatriots andfinally to the
Giants’ practice squad in 2016. He
has eight NFL starts— six at right
guard in 2017andtwo last seasonat
center.
“He signed after me;I didn’tfor
sure know whereIstood,’’ Halapio
said. “You just lookat the numbers.
He’s getting paid more and I’m not.
He’s younger and I’m older.He’s
made starts andI don’t have that
many. For sure, those things started
to play in myhead, butIjustkept
my head down andkept working.’’
There is noroomfor Halapio
to slip, as there is a player waiting
right behind himreadyto move on
in.
“I thinkcompetition brings the
best out of me and him andevery-body else in theroom, and he’s a
helluva player,’’ Halapiosaid.
“I think he’s donea good jobto
get maybe thefirst look, butIfeel
just ascomfortableplaying Spen-
cer as I do ’Pio,’’ coachPat Shurmur
said.
Defensive ta ckle DalvinTomlin-
son,who goes against Halapio in
training campwhen the starters
line up against the starters,said,
“I feel like he gotalittle bit better
from lastyear andI don’tfeel like
the injury from lastyear affected
himat all.’’
Twic e in camp, he go t his right
anklerolledover andwas ableto
shake it off andcontinue.Heno
longerwears tape on the surgically
repaired ankle and only thinksof
the injury, he says, when he is asked
about it.
Next up:A real game. Or, as
closeto a real game as he canget in
early August. The Giants andJets
open up their preseason schedules
Thursday night,yet another hurdle
for Halapioto vault.
“This isgonna be thereal test,’’
he said. “I’m lookingforward to it,
not only for me but for the group.’’
Former Pro Bowl center,
LeCharlesBentley, currentlya
trainerof offensive linemen,told
The Post he believes Halapio can
be a to p-f iv e center in the league.
Still, the Giants are higher on Hala-
pio than most anyone else.This
is indicative of what the outside
world thinks about the Giants.
“People are just expecting
results,’’ Halapiosaid. “You can
either do the job oryou can’t.
That’s where I’m at right now.’’
That’s wher e the entire te am is
right now.
[email protected]get going becauseof the accident
he was involved with, but he’s
made steady improvement,” head
coachPat Shurmursaid. “He’sa
very competitive guy. He gets
his hands onba lls. He’s go t go od
instincts....Wefeel like he’s get-
tinga little bit better every day.”
The biggest opportunity yet
awaitsThursday in the preseason
opener against theJets at MetLife
St ad ium. Ballentinehas neve r
beento an NFLgame, so hisfirst
will also be thefirst one heplays
in.
“Keeping all those emotions
in check will be hard, butIthink
I’m madefor it,” he said. “I can
handle it.”
[email protected]
Though few
do, Giants
believe in
unproven
center
DEEP THOUGHTS
Eli Manninghas hadmost
of his success with shorter
and intermediatepasses
early in trainingcamp,but
he had the perfect touch
on a deeperpass of about
25 yards Monday.Cody
Latimerhauled in theover-
the-shoulder grab near the
sideline, draw ing “Oohs”
from the crowd.SLIPSHOD
On his lastpass of the day,
duringa seven-on-seven
red-zone drill,Kyle Lauletta
had a play for the blooper
reel. He started topass,
but tried to stophimself,to
no avail. Instead, theball
slipped out of his hands
went straight to the ground.
Behindhim,Janoris Jenkins
scooped it up andran like he
was scoringa touchdown.CAUGHT MY EYE
WRSterling Shepard
(brokenthumb) continues to
wear a yellow jersey during
mostdrills at practice,
though its effectiveness
remainsquestionable. He
keeps catchingpasses in
team drills, but on Monday
he was taken to the ground
byDeAndre Baker.So much
for non-contact.KEEPING UP WITH
THE JONES
Daniel Joneswas 11-for-17
passing, another solid
practice even if it did not
include any jaw-dropping
plays. His passes continued
to show zip. At one point he
slipped on the grass while
throwing, but bounced up
just fine.MEDICAL REPORT
OTBrian Mihalikleft
practice early after going
down with whatShurmur
calleda “burner.” CBGrant
Haley(shoulder) returned
to practice andparticipated
in team drills witha yellow
jersey. WRsDarius Slayton
(hamstring)andBrittan
Golden(groin) returned to
individual drills. CBSam
Beal(hamstring),OTChad
Wheelerand DLAvery Moss
remainedout.
— Greg JoyceTRAINING
DAY
Paul SchwartzPaulSchwSchwSchwartzartz
CENTER STAGE:Jon Halapio, who hasjust two careerstarts under his belt, is penciled in as the
starting center and is trying to hold off Spencer Pulley, who is younger, makes more money and
has morestarts. N.Y. Post: CharlesWenzelberg