EAST RUTHERFORD Charley Taylor Jersey , N.J. (AP) — Thomas McGaughey has been doing more in the offseason than getting the New York Giants‘ special teams ready for the opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The 45-year-old coordinator has been undergoing treatment for a rare form of cancer that strikes roughly 8,000 people in the United States annually.

It’s called Periampullary cancer, a bile duct cancer located near the small intestine. McGaughey has been receiving oral medication and chemotherapy. He is now on his fifth round, and has a couple more left.

“It’s going good,” McGaughey said Thursday while disclosing his diagnosis and treatment with the media for the first time.

Still, the treatments have left him drained at times. He missed time during organized team activities in the spring. The Giants compensated by asking Tom Quinn, the team’s special teams coordinator under Ben McAdoo and Tom Coughlin, to join Pat Shurmur’s staff.

The thought of taking time away from football and concentrating on his healthy never entered McGaughey’s head. He even returns to work as soon as his chemo is finished.

“As a football coach, you don’t think of that stuff,” McGaughey said. “You get up. You do what you do, and live life. I am not going to let any chemotherapy, cancer or anything else get in the way of what I do. I am a football coach. I am a father http://www.greenbaypackersteamonline.com/jimmy-graham-jersey , a football coach and that’s what I do. I’ve got to get up every day. Nobody really cares, and they are not going to feel sorry for you. It’s get up and go to work.”

McGaughey isn’t the only member of the organization being treated for cancer. General manager Dave Gettleman was diagnosed with lymphoma this spring.

“We share our chemotherapy stories, and talk about the medication, and that stuff,” McGaughey said with a smile. “We definitely have our conversations. Dave’s a great man and it is what it is. We just have to fight through it and keep it moving.”

McGaughey said a scan of his system three weeks ago was fine.

McGaughey said the cancer was discovered by good fortune after he had two bouts with sepsis, a condition that happens when the body’s response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs.

Doctors performed an endoscopy and found a growth in his bile duct.

“They removed it,” McGaughey said. “I had a very extensive procedure called a Whipple Procedure, and during the Whipple they found a cancer on one of my lymph nodes and I have been undergoing chemotherapy for the last about two months.”

Shurmur said Quinn was brought to help McGaughey on the “tough” days. However, he said McGaughey is handling everything.

“T-Mac has been doing a great job and he has our guys ready to play,” Shurmur said.

The one question that made McGaughey laugh was when he was asked what his thoughts would be if Shurmur let rookie Saquon Barkley handle the kickoff returns and Odell Beckham Jr. run the punts back.

“Thank God,” McGaughey said. “These guys are playmakers and any time you get a chance to put a playmaker on the field and give you the best chance to win, you know Trey Burton Jersey , that’s what you want to do. You are trying to win the game. That’s the purpose of it.”

NOTES: LB Olivier Vernon missed another practice with the ankle injury and he is looking doubtful for the opener. … Defensive coordinator James Bettcher says if Vernon can play a number of people will fill his role with Connor Barwin and rookie Lorenzo Carter, the most likely. … Offensive coordinator Mike Shula on what he saw in rookie quarterback Kyle Lauletta. “We think Kyle is a young guy that just has continued to get better with reps. He’s got very good football intelligence. I think he’s got some intangibles that you need at that position.”

Teddy Bridgewater rolled right, kept moving and then zipped a pass down the field on the run.

If his first practice of organized team activities with the New York Jets was a test of his health and confidence, the quarterback passed in a big way. And so did his surgically repaired left knee.

”It feels great,” a smiling Bridgewater said Tuesday.

Bridgewater missed most of the past two seasons after suffering a gruesome, career-threatening injury in August 2016 while with the Minnesota Vikings. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and dislocated the knee joint on a non-contact play that had many wondering if he’d ever play again.

The comeback trail took a positive turn late last season, when he threw two passes – one was intercepted – in a game for the Vikings. But Minnesota moved on from the former Louisville star, who was a first-round pick in 2014, and allowed him to become a free agent.

After signing with the Jets in March, Bridgewater is moving on from his painful past.

”I’m just focused on the now and what’s ahead of me,” he said. ”I’m happy to be here. We have a great team, a group of young guys who are anxious to continue to make noise in this league. That’s very exciting to be a part of.”

It was uncertain as to how much Bridgewater would be able to do at the start of OTAs Dorance Armstrong Jr. Jersey , but the quarterback wasn’t limited at all despite having his left knee wrapped. It was an encouraging performance as he worked behind incumbent starter Josh McCown with the first-team offense in team drills.

”He moved well today,” coach Todd Bowles said.

His throws were mostly sharp, and he scrambled around the field several times – showing some flashes of the playmaking ability that made him a Pro Bowl selection in his second season in 2015.

”I’ve been working with the training staff,” Bridgewater said. ”We’ve been making some great progress. The goal is to get better each day. That’s our primary focus right now. That’s my focus as an individual goal, and we’re going to continue to just make those strides.”

Bridgewater adds an interesting element to what will be a must-see quarterback competition, that now won’t include Christian Hackenberg after he was traded to Oakland for a conditional seventh-round draft pick Tuesday.

New York took Sam Darnold with the No. 3 overall pick in the draft last month and the former USC star has already been anointed by many as the franchise quarterback of the future – and maybe of right now.

In his first OTAs practice, the 20-year-old Darnold looked like, well, a rookie. He overthrew a few passes in team drills and had a few throws picked off in the 7-on-7 period. Darnold also fumbled a snap, but it was no cause for alarm.

”It’s Day 1,” Bowles said. ”First time going up against a different defense and putting the offense against 11 guys over there.”

McCown was solid as the starter last season, instilling a leadership presence and having a career year while throwing for 2 Chase Roullier Jersey ,926 yards and 18 touchdowns before missing the three games with a broken left wrist. But, he’ll turn 39 on July 4 and is clearly not part of the Jets’ long-term plans.

Bridgewater, however, is still just 25 and could give both McCown and Darnold a run for the starting job. Or, perhaps play well enough this summer to be a trade chip for New York.

”Control what you can control,” Bridgewater said. ”My primary focus is to be the best teammate I can be, be the best-caliber player I can be to help the New York Jets win football games. We’re going to continue to push each other in that room, motivate each other and it’s going to trickle down the line with everyone in this locker room.”

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