Giants' Montrell Washington continues to impress with one-handed catch at training camp

Montrell Washington couldn’t help but admire his wondrous one-handed work.

The replay was playing on a Newsday reporter’s phone from Monday morning’s training camp practice, and there was Washington watching himself make the play of the day for the Giants.

Jaxson Dart was pitching and Washington was catching. He went up and raised his right hand high above his shoulder. And he grabbed the pass with the one hand, pulled it into his body and hung on as he fell to the ground.

“Oh my goodness,” Washington said. “That’s crazy.”

Maybe not so crazy after all.

One one-handed training camp catch doesn’t mean he’s going to turn out to be the next Odell Beckham, who once made a notable one-handed grab for the Giants. But Washington has been making a good impression as a receiver/returner so far in a bid to earn a spot on this team.

“He’s learning the system, new to the system,” coach Brian Daboll said, “but he’s got some quickness and he’s done a nice job of what we’ve asked him to do.”

Last week, Washington made a diving catch in the end zone. The next day, he hurdled a player on a punt return.

The Georgia native is 5-10, 170 pounds, and his shiftiness has helped him stand out in the crowd.

“I’m just trying to make a play just to get on the team, to be honest with you,” Washington said. “That’s just really it. I’m just trying to make plays every day.

“My motto is, ‘A play a day keeps the coaches away.’ I make as many plays as I can.”

He made a lot of them as a senior at Cherokee High in Canton, Georgia, posting 93 catches, 10 for touchdowns, and racking up 2,265 all-purpose yards. But he was a zero-star prospect and ended up at FCS Samford in Alabama.

Denver took him in the fifth round in 2022.

Washington played 15 games as a rookie, rushing five times for 30 yards and catching four passes for 2 yards. He also averaged 8.5 yards on 32 punt returns and 18.9 yards on 18 kickoff returns.

Then he moved on to Kansas City, playing six games during that Super Bowl championship season of 2023 and one game last season. His only stats came in the return game. Mostly, he was on the practice squad those two years.

And now he’s here, living by mottos.

“We’ve kind of got a word here, a little motto that we go by — ‘Reload,’ ” Washington said. “You do make one of those catches, yeah, you get excited. But you’ve got to reload, do it again, do it the next play.”

Malik Nabers has been making plays, too, this practice included.

“I might not be the starter or nothing right now, but if I can take that mentality he has, it’s contagious,” Washington said. “You throw the ball up, everybody sees it. Malik is going to make that play. … That’s how I want everybody to feel about me.”

Showing some return ability in the preseason games beginning Saturday at Buffalo could also help him.

“Very important,” Washington said. “That’s another way for me to make the team.”

The QB when he made the Broncos as a rookie is also the starting QB now with the Giants, Russell Wilson.

“Russ is the G.O.A.T.,” Washington said. “I'm just trying to make sure and show him that I've changed from my rookie year to now.”

Washington is wearing 80, his number in Kansas City and the number Victor Cruz wore when he was having some dazzling, salsa-dancing days as a receiver for the Giants.

“Everybody has got a Victor Cruz [jersey],” Washington said. “I’m trying to get 80 … with a ‘Washington’ on it.”

Notes & quotes: Could the starters play in the preseason opener? Daboll said the coaching staff will discuss it in these next few days. “Could they play? Yeah, they sure could play,” he said . . . With Cam Skattebo and Eric Gray out with injuries, the Giants agreed on a contract with sixth-year running back Jonathan Ward . . . Chaminade grad Greg Van Roten returned to practice with the first team at right guard after missing time for the birth of his daughter, Anna...Linebacker K.J. Cloyd was also signed, while linebacker Ty Summers was placed on injured reserve and running back Rushawn Baker was waived/injured.