{"id":104496,"date":"2022-10-22T06:34:02","date_gmt":"2022-10-22T06:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/evan-engram-couldnt-be-more-excited-for-old-giants-side\/"},"modified":"2022-10-22T06:34:02","modified_gmt":"2022-10-22T06:34:02","slug":"evan-engram-couldnt-be-more-excited-for-old-giants-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/evan-engram-couldnt-be-more-excited-for-old-giants-side\/","title":{"rendered":"Evan Engram &#8216;couldn&#8217;t be more excited&#8217; for old Giants side"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>It would be understandable if Evan Engram looked at the timing of the Giants&#8217; breakthrough and allowed himself to wonder, \u201cWhy now?\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Why was he drafted on the heels of the Giants&#8217; last winning season, forced to endure two failed rebuilds resulting in the worst record in the NFL over a five-year period and not retained just before the winning started?  But that&#8217;s not the way that Engram \u2014 who will start at tight end Sunday for the Jaguars against his former team \u2014 is wired. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI couldn&#8217;t be more excited for them,\u201d said Engram, who phoned Daniel Jones, Sterling Shepard and Saquon Barkley a couple weeks ago to congratulate them on a fast start.  \u201cThey&#8217;re just finding ways to finish the games that in the past we never knew how to finish.  Saquon has played great, the line has protected DJ, the defense is playing lights out.  That coaching staff, getting to know them a little bit, has them rolling.  But definitely looking to humble them a little bit this week.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><figcaption>Evan Engram signed with the Jaguars this past offseason. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A favorite of former Giants head coach Joe Judge, Engram trained in the Giants facility for about two months after last season ended and before his free agency opened in March.  He met with general manager Joe Schoen, head coach Brian Daboll and tight ends coach Andy Bischoff to discuss his future. <\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThere were conversations.  It just didn&#8217;t really work out when it came down to the negotiation stuff,\u201d Engram told The Post.  \u201cI could [see] the reason they are now having success, just off the energy.  There were some good conversations getting to know them, but when it came to free agency, just went in a different direction, went with my gut.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Engram&#8217;s career started with a bang \u2014 career highs of 64 catches for 722 yards and six touchdowns \u2014 as a rookie first-round pick in 2017. But the next four seasons were marred by injuries and untimely dropped passes that unfairly turned him into the primary on -field target of fans. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;ve always lived knowing everything happens for a reason,\u201d Engram said.  \u201cI don&#8217;t look back with any regret or ill will.  I definitely wish a lot of those games went differently, but I learned so much and grew so much.  I don&#8217;t think I get to where I am mentally, physically, emotionally at this moment without those hard times.  I&#8217;m blessed to have spent five years there, and I&#8217;m blessed at a new chapter, too.  Wouldn&#8217;t change a thing about it \u2014 except maybe a couple of those scores.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"no\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm?e=NYPH5345320250&amp;light=true\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Jaguars spent about $260 million on free agents \u2014 including $9 million on Engram for his 24 catches for 208 yards through six games \u2014 and landed Super Bowl-winning coach Doug Pederson to develop prized quarterback Trevor Lawrence and clean up the mess left behind by the fired Urban Meyer. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a one-year deal, betting on myself and getting to go prove myself with Doug coming in,\u201d Engram said.  \u201cDoug was a big part of it, with the history of his offense being really tight end friendly and the great years that [former Eagles tight end] Zach Ertz had in this system.  I did n&#8217;t know Trevor well, but I knew of his potential and talent.  That was a big part, too.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/1363677872.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Evan Engram \" class=\"wp-image-24360883\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/1363677872.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/1363677872.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/1363677872.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/1363677872.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"\/><figcaption>Evan Engram spent the first five seasons of his career with the Giants. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Giants remade their tight end room with a blocking emphasis, though emerging fourth-round rookie Daniel Bellinger has 15 catches for 139 yards and three total touchdowns from scrimmage.  So maybe it was a win-win separation. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m playing with confidence.  I&#8217;m flying around.  I love this coaching staff \u2014 they have me doing a lot of things that my skill set matches up with,\u201d Engram said.  \u201cThe locker room is awesome: All the guys are locked in and easy to get along with.  We&#8217;ve had a couple really good wins and some learning experiences, too.  We&#8217;re on track to be a really good team, so I&#8217;m excited.  We&#8217;ll see where it goes this offseason.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Belief in the Jaguars (2-4) is strong enough that they are three-point favorites over the Giants (5-1). <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is going to be a little weird, but I think I&#8217;ve gotten used to watching them on TV and seeing their scores,\u201d Engram said.  \u201cObviously playing against them is going to be a whole other level.  I can&#8217;t wait to play in this game.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>    .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It would be understandable if Evan Engram looked at the timing of the Giants&#8217; breakthrough and allowed himself to wonder, \u201cWhy now?\u201d Why was he drafted on the heels of the Giants&#8217; last winning season, forced to endure two failed rebuilds resulting in the worst record in the NFL over a five-year period and not &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/evan-engram-couldnt-be-more-excited-for-old-giants-side\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Evan Engram &#8216;couldn&#8217;t be more excited&#8217; for old Giants side<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[33151,11395,9026,423,307],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":83366,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/trevor-lawrence-validating-hype-in-doug-pedersons-system-third-years-charm-for-jeff-okudah\/","url_meta":{"origin":104496,"position":0},"title":"Trevor Lawrence validating hype in Doug Pederson&#8217;s system;  third year&#8217;s charm for Jeff Okudah","date":"October 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Pederson brought in a version of the West Coast offense that he has tweaked and refined from his time as a player under Mike Holmgren and Andy Reid. 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Devin Ozigbo was promoted from the practice squad as veteran Marlon Mack will spend his first game in the orange and blue inactive as he gets up to speed on the playbook.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/newspress-collage-24360544-1666401926450.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1666387569&w=1024","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104496"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104496\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}