The countdown is under 100 days until the Giants open the season at home against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. There will be no looking back once the team arrives at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs in late July, leaving the next six weeks to recharge the batteries.
“I think it’s important to get this time,” Harbaugh said. “It’s kind of part of the rhythm of the National Football League. So, I’ll be spending a lot of time with my wife Ingrid, Alison, my daughter, and other family. We’re going to go out and see my mom and dad.”
Of course, he will also check in with his brother Jim, who is in the same boat with the Chargers.
“We’re going to go see Jim’s family this weekend, looking forward to that,” Harbaugh said. “Jim’s kids are crazy, so they’re a lot of fun to be around.”
Harbaugh has also enjoyed being around his new players, who are not so new anymore.
“I learned a lot over the course of four months, five months,” Harbaugh said. “These guys, I just told them, I said we have high-level leadership, high-level leadership. These guys are really, really excellent leaders. I’ve enjoyed every day with these guys. These guys know what they’re talking about.”
The players spent the last five months learning what it takes to play for the Super Bowl-winning head coach.
“I think he’s a maniac, he’s obsessed, I love it,” outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux said. “He’s so great at explaining things that of course he looks at a guy like me like how could you ask so many questions, you know. But we always talk about like someone who questions, it’s not like they’re challenging, we just want to make sure we have the best understanding of how to execute at the highest level. I think, man, this is the best I’ve felt coming into a new year.”
Tremaine Edmunds, meanwhile, is getting acquainted with his third NFL team and fifth head coach.
“I think one thing that really stands out is just the messaging,” the two-time Pro Bowl linebacker said. “Harbaugh is a guy, he’s a quote type guy. Every day he’s kind of giving us a little nugget here and there that we can put into our belt that we can take with us outside of football. Some stuff is just dedicated to football; some stuff is life skills, and I appreciate that because you can relate to him just outside of the game.”
On the other side of the spectrum, Isaiah Likely has only known one head coach in the NFL. The tight end spent his first four seasons with Harbaugh’s Ravens before joining the Giants this offseason.
“I joke with everybody in the locker room, saying like I’m institutionalized,” Likely said. “This is all I know. So I tell everybody, with Coach Harbs, this is all I ever know. Like whatever he’s doing at practice, I’ve been doing it for the last four years in a row. So, whatever you all see out there is what you’re going to get every time.”
Needless to say, it might be a grueling few weeks in White Sulphur Springs.
“Grueling for who?” Thibodeaux joked. “Us or the offense?”