EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Giants went through a one-hour, 40-minute practice on Tuesday afternoon -- the first day of their mandatory three-day veterans minicamp.

These are the last three days of organized workouts before training camp in Albany at the end of July.

Here are a few observations from Tuesday's practice:

• Several veterans were in attendance but did not fully participate. Among the most notable was defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who spent most of the afternoon on the sidelines, although he did take the field during a walk-through portion of the practice.

Umenyiora is not hurt -- nor is he disgruntled, after having his contract restructured last week, which included a salary bump. He's just taking things slowly, according to the team, after missing much of the Giants' voluntary offseason program.

Starting cornerback Corey Webster also sat out Tuesday's practice, as did starting safety Kenny Phillips. Webster is nursing a hamstring injury, while the Giants continue to be careful with Phillips because of his history of knee injuries.

Starting defensive tackle Chris Canty will miss all of minicamp, as he recovers from offseason knee surgery. Fellow tackle Linval Joseph was limited, because of an ankle injury.

On the offensive side of the ball, wide receiver Hakeem Nicks was riding an exercise bike on the sideline, after breaking his right foot in the Giants' second OTA of the offseason. Tackle Will Beatty sat out practice because of his ongoing back issues.

• Because of the injuries/absences, Marvin Austin and the newly re-signed Rocky Bernard played with the first unit on defensive line, along with Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul.

Michael Boley, Mathias Kiwanuka and Chase Blackburn were the first-string linebackers.

Michael Coe and Justin Tryon were the starting cornerbacks, along with safeties Antrel Rolle and Stevie Brown (who played for the Colts last season).

On offense, Sean Locklear lined up at left tackle with the rest of the starting offensive line.

• The play of the day arguably came on Eli Manning's very first pass during team drills. Unfortunately for Manning, it was picked off by Boley, who had dropped back into coverage, on a pass intended for Victor Cruz.

Manning struggled with his accuracy at times during Tuesday's practice. (I don't think the two-time Super Bowl MVP has to worry about his job status.) That said, Manning and fellow QBs David Carr and Ryan Perrilloux did have success finding rookie receiver Rueben Randle over the middle on several occasions.