The power and poise of Arvell Reese: Spend a Giants practice with NY’s ‘violent’ rookie LB

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — When New York Giants outside linebacker Brian Burns was asked what he’d want from rookie linebacker Arvell Reese’s game, the veteran didn’t hesitate.

“That violence,” Burns said in a CBS Sports interview.

Reese’s punishing play style has been on display from the moment the Giants selected the Ohio State product with the fifth pick in this year’s draft. The most recent example came early in Tuesday’s practice when the Giants ran a nine-on-seven drill. The inside run period isn’t for the faint of heart, as evidenced by the collision between Reese and running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. on the second rep of the period.

Reese made the stop in the hole and stayed on the field for the first-team defense’s final two reps of the period. When he left the field as the second-team defense took over, Reese required an equipment change.

“(Tracy’s) helmet was able to get in mine, and then the top of my face mask pulled down,” Reese said. “It was a big collision. They just switched my face mask. It wasn’t nothing.”

With his swollen nose better protected by bars on the side of the new face mask, Reese didn’t miss a rep in a practice that was shorter than the typical session conducted by coach John Harbaugh during a grueling training camp.

With Reese making a strong first impression on teammates and coaches, I focused on him throughout Tuesday’s practice. Here’s a minute-by-minute account of my observations:

1:23 p.m.: Reese walks onto the practice field and starts to warm up on his own, as players are scattered in various groups. Harbaugh has adopted afternoon practices in recent years because he believes it best allows players to be prepared to perform at their highest level.

Reese arrived at the facility at 6:30 a.m. and had breakfast — eggs and chicken sausage — before an hour-long weight-lifting session that started at 7:30. From there was a team meeting, a position meeting and a walk-through. There’s an hour break before practice that Reese uses to activate his body by doing something like spending time in a red light therapy bed.

1:28 p.m.: The majority of players assemble on one field for a special teams period to open practice. Reese is a starter on the punt team, which is the unit special teams coordinator Chris Horton is focusing on during this practice.

Reese is aligned on the right side of the formation between safety Jason Pinnock and linebacker Micah McFadden. They repeatedly drill the transition from blocking to covering a punt. After a few minutes, Reese switches to the other side and provides a scout-team rush for the second-string punt team.

1:49 p.m.: After the extensive special teams period ends, the entire defense retreats to the back field at the Giants’ practice facility. Players gather around as newly signed linebacker Chandler Martin completes his initiation to the defense: 25 up-downs.

1:51 p.m.: The position groups spread out to designated areas around the Giants’ three practice fields for individual drills. Reese follows immediately after veteran Tremaine Edmunds at every station, as the linebackers go through a series of drills that mimic the duties of their position.

2:09 p.m.: The linebackers are joined by the defensive backs during a jog-through install period, while the defensive linemen and outside linebackers work separately. The linebackers and defensive backs go through the paces on their responsibilities in coverage before the offense and defense merge.

2:19 p.m.: The nine-on-seven period kicks off the intrasquad segment of practice. Reese takes four reps in a period he calls “super physical.”

2:25 p.m.: The entire team comes together for the first 11-on-11 period. The first-team offense is pitted against the second-team defense initially, so Reese watches for three minutes before the starting defense takes the field to face the second-string offense. Reese is joined by Edmunds, Burns and outside linebacker Abdul Carter on the second level. DJ Reader, Shelby Harris and Chauncey Golston are the defensive linemen in the base 3-4 defense. Greg Newsome, Deonte Banks, Jevon Holland and Tyler Nubin are in the secondary.

This is an instructional period with the offense running plays at full speed and twice repeating the same play at a walk-through pace so coaching points can be made.

2:33 p.m.: The first live 11-on-11 period features the starting offense against the starting defense. Banks has been replaced by Paulson Adebo in the only lineup change from the first period.

Reese plays four uneventful reps before the second-stringers come in. The starters finish the period with three reps, highlighted by a deep post from quarterback Jaxson Dart to wide receiver Malik Nabers. Holland and Nubin prudently don’t try to break up the pass to Nabers, who is wearing a red non-contact jersey as he continues his recovery from a major knee injury.

2:48 p.m.: The starters square off in an 11-on-11 red zone period. On the first play, defensive tackle Leki Fotu and safety Ar’Darius Washington tackle running back Cam Skattebo to the ground. That’s a major breach of practice etiquette, where defensive players are charged with not taking offensive players to the ground.

Reese, who unintentionally knocked Skattebo to the ground on a play earlier in camp, understands the fine line defenders walk in practice.

“Being a defensive player, we want to make it known on film that I was making this play,” Reese said. “So, sometimes we’ll slip up and do too much and actually tackle somebody. I’ve accidentally tackled him trying to make a play. Obviously we can’t do that. We’re pros, we have to stay off the ground. But as long as you don’t gator roll somebody and do too much, it happens sometimes. It’s football.”

After one rep against the starting offense, the backups come in to finish the period against the first-team defense. Backup quarterback Jameis Winston keeps the ball on a designed run while Reese gets sealed outside by left tackle JC Davis.

“That’s tricky because you can’t thud (Winston),” Reese said. “They say Dart is tough, and he can take it, but then you still don’t want to thud a QB. It’s weird. You’ve got to just tag off. But you know the QBs, they like to overdo it. You’ve just got to tag off and be smart with the QBs. Can’t hurt the QBs.”

2:52 p.m.: The starting units again square off in a red-zone period. Banks and Newsome are back as the first-team corner combo. Reese makes his best play of the day on the first rep, as he sinks into coverage and breaks up a corner route intended for tight end Isaiah Likely. Reese made an interception on a similar play earlier in camp, but he could only knock this pass away.

“I was running up under it so much, he threw it right to where I could catch it, but I got my head around last minute and only got one hand on it,” Reese said. “It’s a good play because I ran up under and that’s where they were trying to get the ball, but I’m supposed to pick that.”

Demonstrating the wide range of responsibilities in his role, Reese shifts from covering Likely to taking on 300-pound fullback Pat Ricard on a trap block on the next play. The two most physically imposing players on the roster meet with a thud that Reese welcomes.

“It’s always fun seeing Pat in there,” Reese said. “Literally, almost every day I’m seeing him in the hole somewhere and having to put my pads on him, and we’re having a collision. It’s basically like I’m taking on a defensive tackle. He played D-tackle. That’s fun. I like that. We can keep doing that every day. I’m not tripping going into games because I’m doing it with a D-tackle every day.”

Watching the force Reese plays with can make it easy to forget that the 6-foot-4, 243-pounder is only 20 years old. His power has seamlessly transitioned to the NFL.

“My strength translates, for sure,” Reese said. “Just having that same approach — that’s what I did in high school. When I got to college, that’s what I was looking forward to doing. I was like, ‘I’m going to have to keep this up.’ Now that I’m here, I’m looking forward to still being able to do that. I wasn’t looking to get here and be like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ I’m trying to keep doing it.”

3:02 p.m.: A field goal period provides Reese’s only true break of practice. He watches from the sideline as kickers Dominic Zvada and Ben Sauls each go 3-of-5 in the period.

3:08 p.m.: The linebackers and defensive backs head to one end of the field for a seven-on-seven period against the QBs and skill players while the offensive linemen square off against the defensive linemen in one-on-ones at the other end.

Reese and Edmunds are joined by Banks, Newsome, Holland, Nubin and Dru Phillips in the secondary against the starting offense. On the third rep, Reese plays man coverage against Likely, who splits out wide. Likely goes deep, but Dart’s pass is overthrown with Reese in tight coverage.

“When you’re pressing to the boundary like that, you know you’re getting the work,” Reese said. “I was just trying to stay square as long as possible. Wasn’t supposed to let him get outside; he ended up getting outside me, but just stick with him, play through his hands.”

Covering a dynamic tight end like Likely in practice will benefit Reese in the regular season.

“It’s the same way I look at it with Pat. It’s a great fullback,” Reese said. “I look at Likely the same way. It’s a great receiving tight end. This is probably one of the best looks I’m going to get at it in the league.”

Later in the period, Reese drifts toward the left flat as Dart fires an incomplete pass over his head intended for Nabers running a skinny post. Reese approaches Dart for a quick chat after the period.

“He was looking one way and threw it the other way,” Reese said. “With his visor, I just wanted to ask him, ‘Where were you looking?’ He was looking to the flat, but he ended up throwing it to the goal post. I was like, ‘Were you looking me off?’ He was like, ‘Yeah.’ He was just laughing. I’m the rat dropper (on that play), so I’m just reading the QB. I’ve got to read where the QB is going, so wherever he was going, that’s where I was going. But then he ended up throwing it back where I left from. So just asking him, just getting little tips on that.”

From taking on fullback Pat Ricard in the hole to chasing tight end Isiah Likely around the field, Reese is learning to do it all in Giants camp and is confident all those reps will make him better on game day. (Mike Stobe / Getty Images)

3:19 p.m.: The final 11-on-11 period pits the starting offense against the starting defense. It’s the same lineup as most of the practice, with Banks, Newsome, Phillips, Holland and Nubin in the secondary.

On the second rep, Reese lines up as an edge rusher for the only time during practice. His rush off the left edge is picked up by Skattebo. For all of Reese’s potential versatility, he has been used almost exclusively as a traditional inside linebacker during camp.

On the next snap, Reese blitzes through the B gap on the right side of the line and beats Tracy with an inside move. Touching the quarterback is forbidden, but Reese is in Dart’s lap, forcing an errant throw.

On his final rep of practice, Reese displays his explosiveness by closing downhill on a pass to Tracy in the flat on third-and-long. Focusing on Reese reveals the running commentary with Edmunds, a first-round pick in 2018 who is entering his ninth season.

“We’re always talking, no matter what it is,” Reese said. “There’s never a play where we just line up, and then we just go through the play and then talk after the play. We always say something before the play; we damn near say something during the play.”

3:29 p.m.: Practice wraps up one minute shy of the two-hour mark.

3:34 p.m.: Reese enters the Giants’ indoor practice facility and is happy to take a seat on the back of an equipment cart to conduct this interview. He has made a point of not being overly vocal as a rookie, but he is engaging during a 13-minute interview.

“Everybody is always going to say I keep to myself, so me just keeping to myself, that’s just who I am,” Reese said. “I don’t just come in some place and automatically just be talking to everybody. I don’t really know everybody. I don’t really know you to really know what we’re even talking about. That’s just who I am. Over time, I guess you could say I could come out of the shell.”

Yup… Arvell Reese is going to be must watch film every week pic.twitter.com/pvxQjShT19

— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) August 16, 2026

4:01 p.m.: After conducting a second interview, Reese walks across the practice fields back to the makeshift locker room erected in a parking lot while the Giants’ facility undergoes major renovations. There’s a team meeting at 5 p.m. followed by “more meetings, more meetings and rookie meetings.”

Reese is done at 7 p.m. He’ll retreat to his new home with a view of the Manhattan skyline. He hasn’t even set up his video game system yet, so he’ll usually just a watch movie and fall asleep, ready to do it all again the next day.