Daniel Jones was good to go when the New York Giants hit the practice field for the first time in training camp on Wednesday.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll shared that the quarterback was fully cleared, marking another step in Jones’ recovery from a season-ending ACL tear in 2023.
“Yeah, he’s ready to go,” Daboll told reporters shortly before the Giants hit the practice field. “I think we’ll take it as we go. So he’s getting all the reps today. He’ll get them with the ones every day. If we need to pull him back for whatever reason, maintenance, then we’ll talk about that after every practice. Right now, he’s gonna be in there every snap that the ones are in.”
Jones was seen taking part in 11-on-11 drills during Wednesday’s practice, something he didn’t do during organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamp during the offseason. Some of the notable plays Jones made included connecting on a rollout pass to Darius Slayton and throwing an accurate deep ball to Malik Nabers that the rookie dropped.
“It felt good to be back out there, playing 11-on-11,” Jones told reporters. “I thought, for the most part, it went well. A couple plays here and there, but for the most part, we got the ball moving forward and stayed out of negative plays. First day, we’re all getting our feet underneath us. So, build on it and go from there.”
As Jones works his way back into action, the other medical hurdle he has to clear is how his body responds to the increased workload.
“We’ve got to see how the body [reacts],” general manager Joe Schoen told reporters. “We don’t know. In spring, he didn’t do team drills. He’s eight months off of it. We’re gonna work with him, and he’s got to communicate with us on how his body feels, how the knee feels, and that’ll determine how much he does moving forward. But the plan is to be full-go.”
Jones enters a pivotal year that will likely make-or-break his status as the Giants’ starting quarterback. He played in only six games last season, throwing for 909 yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions while rushing for 206 yards and a touchdown while the team went 1-5. His struggles came on the heels of receiving a rich payday in the previous offseason, earning a four-year, $160 million deal with $92 million guaranteed.
While the Giants don’t have an easy financial out of Jones’ contract until after the 2024 season, that didn’t stop them from a major quarterback pursuit this offseason. They attempted to trade for the No. 3 overall pick in April’s draft in hopes of selecting one of the top quarterback prospects.
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Jones and Schoen confirmed that the general manager reached out to the quarterback to inform him that the team was thinking about drafting a quarterback.
“Obviously, you’re not excited about it,” Jones said of the Giants’ plan to possibly draft a quarterback. “But they have a job to do. I have a job to do. So, it is what it is. We’re at this point now and grateful for the opportunity that I have, excited to play football. That’s kind of my focus now.
“But, yeah, that’s not a fun conversation.”
New York also signed former Seattle Seahawks backup Drew Lock to a one-year, $5 million contract in the offseason. There had been some speculation that Lock would have a strong chance to compete with Jones for the starting job, but the newly acquired quarterback turned down that notion in May.
Regardless, there’s pressure on Jones to play well this season. Schoen said in an episode of “Hard Knocks: Offseason With the New York Giants” that the club is still trying to decide whether he’s their QB of the future.
“Within the context of that situation, the way the contract is structured and the way last year went, I think that’s a fair assessment, that we need better in 2024,” Schoen said.
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