Giants left guard Will Hernandez vowed to do whatever it took over the offseason to improve on the strong finish to his rookie campaign.

Two weeks into training camp, Hernandez’s teammates have already taken notice.

“Just his iQ," running back Saquon Barkley told NJ Advance Media was the biggest difference in Hernandez’s game from last season. “All the rookies, we understand the offense and the game a lot more. You can see that with Will. He’s playing at a much faster and higher rate. He’s obviously big and strong, so he’s always going to play physical but the biggest thing I’ve noticed that he’s playing at a much higher level and quicker pace.”

None of that is by accident.

According to Hernandez, he’s down to 328 pounds from the 335 that he opened last season and feels like he’s in much better shape than how he first arrived as a second-round pick last spring.

“I feel like I have more time to train, more time to develop my technique,” Hernandez told NJ Advance Media. "It’s all these little changes that I’ve been able to do over the break that I help will help me become a better player than I was last year.”

Giants head coach Pat Shurmur hopes that the modifications to Hernandez’s offseason workouts lead to a much faster and more consistent start to 2019 than how Hernandez’s rookie season began.

“We’ve got to get him to play well out of the gate, that’s important,” Shurmur said prior to Friday’s practice. “I thought Will did a lot of the right things to make sure that he had a good spring and a good training camp. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it’s a big deal.”

Specifically, offensive coordinator Mike Shula says that Hernandez has grown as a pass-blocker.

“I think that just the comfort level of the guys around him that he has after playing a year,” Shula said. You can see him coming off the ball with a little more confidence in one-on-one situations in pass protection."

As Hernandez improved down the stretch in 2018, so too did the perception and play of free agent pickup Nate Solder at left tackle, and the overall play of the offensive line.

Hernandez says he’s doubled down on his commitment to picking up where he and Solder left off.

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“Rolling into OTAs we felt that connection," Hernandez said. "We did a lot of the same things we did at the end of last season during the spring and some things were even better all throughout OTAs and we’ve carried it on into training camp. What we’re going to do is keep communicating, keep working, and make sure the more time we spend together will be the more time we focus in on the little details. The hope is that will make us all better players.”

Matt Lombardo may be reached at MLombardo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardoNFL