EAST RUTHERFORD - I walked into the locker room of the New York Giants for the first time in over two years Thursday: digital recorder and a notebook cradled in one hand, iPhone in the other and my eyes darting from side to side as a flood of memories from past seasons clashed with the unknown of a new beginning.

There were a few glaring differences between reporters' return to the place that houses the heartbeat of our coverage and the last time we walked down the hallway of the Quest Diagnostics Training Center and into what doubles as both the players' escape from the football field and the clubhouse in which every team hopes team chemistry and a winning culture foster.

The last time, at the end of the 2019 season, Pat Shurmur was the head coach. That was two head coaches ago.

The last time, Eli Manning was on the team. He retired a month later, and in his place nowadays is a plaque honoring Manning as a two-time Super Bowl champion above the name plate at the stall that was his, one that now belongs to defensive lineman Nick Williams.

The starting quarterback of this team, Daniel Jones, has slid down the row to one of the "luxury" lockers, as former Giants first-rounder Justin Pugh once called them, now that Manning has traded in his helmet and shoulder pads for the team's business office and "Monday Night Football" shenanigans with Peyton.

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Jones has Kadarius Toney to his left, and Sterling Shepard is to the left of Toney.

"Welcome back," Blake Martinez quipped as he walked to the exit, the opposite direction of the media crowd. As we found out a few hours later, the Giants had released Martinez, a two-time captain who never had the chance to hold a single interview at his locker during his tenure.

A new era of Giants football is here, and beyond the stories that unfold on the field, it's the perspective gained face-to-face, being able to have a conversation and promise accountability with our presence, that's why being back matters.

Quarterback Davis Webb was seated a few lockers down from where he was when Manning was infamously benched by Ben McAdoo and Jerry Reese five years ago. He joked about again being in a prime spot for all the action, considering Saquon Barkley is directly to his right and Kenny Golladay to his left.

"Busy part of the neighborhood," Webb said with a laugh, before sharing his excitement about having tickets to the U.S. Open for the next two days, which includes another prime time showcase for Serena Williams. He's always been a tennis fan, given his mother Donna was a decorated player in college, and admitted to screaming at the TV when Williams prevailed in three sets to advance.

The Giants still have elements befitting a players' lounge: a ping pong table and a putting mat. Once grouped by position, the entire team is seemingly interspersed throughout. The rookies - first-rounders Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal included - are still in temporary lockers in the center of the room.

Daniel Jones has moved from the QB section where Eli's locker was to a prime end stall next to the showers. Kadarius Toney is next to Jones, with Sterling Shepard on the other side of Toney.

You could tell that Thursday was a bit of a feeling-out period, and admittedly that was the case for me. I had the opportunity to meet former Jets safety Jason Pinnock, claimed by the Giants after being released Tuesday.

Pinnock told me he got the call from his agent at 12:10 p.m. Wednesday, learning the Giants had claimed him.

His response: "I'm good to go. What's the address? I look good in blue."

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Pinnock did not have far to drive. Coincidentally, he was just here a week ago, and I asked if he had any sense the Giants might be interested when he was here for the Jets-Giants joint practice.

"No idea," Pinnock said, before adding with a smile: "But I thought I saw T-Mac eyeing me a little bit."

That's Giants special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, who will likely have Pinnock as a mainstay on his units.

Same for Giants newcomer Tony Jefferson, who was open about considering retirement a while back. He had come back from a severe knee injury and multiple surgeries. Now?

"I'm all in, man. It's the Big Apple. See the skyline from the field," Jefferson said. "I think I'm ready to play the best ball of my career."

Jefferson said he knew the Ravens wanted him back after releasing him earlier this week. Why not return?

He saw the same path to the field that led him to be cut, with high-priced and highly-valued safeties ahead of Jefferson on the depth chart, so why not go for a better opportunity with defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who coached him in Baltimore.

"When we saw each other," Jefferson said, "Adoree' Jackson told me they haven't seen Wink smile that much all summer."

A reminder of just how fast this game moves for a rebuilding team desperately seeking upgrades: both Pinnock and Jefferson had makeshift name plates above their lockers, their names and numbers scribbled in marker. They weren't here Wednesday, but could play significant roles in just over a week when the Giants open the season in Nashville against the Titans.

There were free agents who participated in tryouts, getting dressed in lockers, in the same area as undrafted rookie cornerback Darren Evans, with the Giants since May. Evans was cleaning out his locker after being waived Thursday.

These are the scenes that often unfold, the reality of the world many of these players live in. This is a game they have played all their lives, but this is their job, too, as it is for us.

Shepard asked about my daughter, whose first day of middle school was Thursday. I remember being at his locker when his oldest daughter, Cali Clay, was born, and he talked about late nights on the couch and changing diapers.

Been there, done that, I told him.

One of my favorite stories on the beat would have never come to be had we not been in the locker room. Former Giants wide receiver Russell Shepard had a backpack in his locker that had a ton of stadium security tags still attached.

So I asked him about it. The story: Shepard wanted it that way, six seasons' worth of games and ups and downs in the league (and those tags) as he fought to earn his keep, and keep his job. "Every once in a while, I had to beg the security on the road games to not cut them off," he told me. "Every one is the story of my NFL journey."

The NFL journey is told in stadiums and practice fields across the league, in front offices and in tryouts for players doing everything to get back in. We were back inside Thursday, and it's a game-changer.

Football is a game often won inside-out, and the same can be said for football reporting.

Because it's a privilege to have the chance for 45 minutes every day to go inside a locker room and make the most of the relationships created by trust, talent and hard work, and not without appreciation of those you are writing about.

It's great to be back inside, and not just through text messages, Zoom meetings and analyzing from afar.