EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Eli Manning's rap "video" was the talk of Giants camp on Wednesday, but Manning is more excited about football and working with his talented receiving corps.
That includes new tight end Brandon Myers, signed away from the Raiders during the offseason.
"You can tell he's passionate about football and doing the right things and having a great understanding," Manning said Wednesday, prior to practice. "He works hard during practice, in meetings, asking questions. He's doing everything right."
Myers, 27, made some buzz of his own this past Sunday, when he hauled in a long bomb from Manning on the final play of practice. It was the first of many big plays with the Giants, Myers hopes. But he admitted Wednesday that he is still getting the hang of the offense after playing in a West Coast-style system in Oakland.
"It's complex, but it's good once you start to get things down, get on the same page, learn all the calls," Myers said. "We're out here practicing every day and trying to get the little things down."
Myers had 79 receptions for 806 yards last season for Oakland, the fourth-most catches in the league by a tight end. He probably won't have as many this year, since the Giants have plenty of weapons at wide receiver. He'll likely be deployed deeper down the field. But Myers isn't concerned about that.
"No, not at all," said Myers, who never got to play in the postseason in four years with the Raiders. "Win some ballgames, make the playoffs, that's really all that matters to me."
Myers said he has learned a lot already from longtime Giants tight ends coach Mike Pope.
"Coach Pope's the best in the business at what he does," Myers said. "He's been teaching me a few different things that maybe I haven't had in the past."
"Just the technique of the blocking, the hand placement, stuff like that," Myers said, when asked to elaborate. "This offense is big on reading the defense. Certain offenses you don't have to -- there's built in hot [reads] or what not. He's been really helpful with seeing the coverage, kind of finding the holes in the defense, which Eli is good at."
Manning and Myers hooked up again in Wednesday's practice, on another deep ball down the middle during 7-on-7 drills. Myers said "it's been great" working with Manning thus far.
"He's a proven winner," Myers said. "He has great command of the offense, so anytime you can do what you're supposed to do and be in the right position and be on the same page as Eli, he's gonna find you."
Manning has helped make other unheralded tight ends look very good the past few years -- Martellus Bennett, Jake Ballard and Kevin Boss, to name three. And he sounds optimistic about Myers, too.
"He's done a great job so far getting open versus our defense, making good reads," Manning said. "He's off to a great start, and [I'm] looking forward to a big year from him."