Giants QB Daniel Jones fully cleared for practice to begin training camp
Coach Brian Daboll delivered the news Wednesday morning that Daniel Jones was fully cleared and ready to practice after tearing his ACL in Week 9 of the 2023 season.
"So, he’s getting all the reps,” Daboll said. “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 going to be in there every snap that the ones are in."
Jones met his own goal to be ready for training camp.
“I expected to be here,” said Jones, entering his sixth season with the team. “I expected the process to go smoothly. I expected that because we’ve got good doctors, trainers and strength coaches.”
He practiced Wednesday with only a flex sleeve on his knee.
Jones described himself as grateful.
“There’s still a lot of work to do across the board,” he said. “I’ll continue to rehab and focus on my knee, but also from a football standpoint, (it’s about) getting back to 11 on 11 and playing football. Grateful to be here but that was the plan all along. I certainly expected to be here.”
In the meantime, Jones – and the rest of the football world – learned via HBO’s “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants,” that general manager Joe Schoen tried to trade up with the Patriots to draft a quarterback.
That could have placed Jones in limbo.
But the Patriots weren’t interested. They were intent on selecting North Carolina’s Drake Maye with the third pick in the draft.
Schoen said Wednesday of Jones: “Of all the guys on the team, he does the best job tuning out the noise. He’s wired for the position. He's a great teammate, he’s a leader, and I’m excited about how things can go this year if he can stay healthy."
When asked about that whole scenario after the Giants' first training camp practice of 2024, Jones said: “They have a job to do. So, it is what it is.”
Jones did not seem exactly pleased by the Giants' intrigue with other, younger quarterbacks.
“Obviously, you’re not excited about it,” he said. “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 I’m grateful for the opportunity I have. I’m excited to play football. That’s kind of my focus now. But that’s not a fun conversation.”
At this point, the bigger story surrounding Jones is his recovery. He looked smooth on the field. He fulfilled his own vow to be ready when training camp started.
Notes & quotes: With RT Evan Neal already on the PUP list, OL Jermaine Eluemunor left practice after appearing to take a forearm to his lower abdomen from Dexter Lawrence. He is especially important because he would likely be Neal’s fill-in. A Giants source told Newsday that Neal is expected back within a week. If that happens, Eluemunor could end up starting at guard along with Jon Runyan. Clearly, there are still moving parts along the offensive line … Rookie TE Theo Johnson is dealing with a hip issue but is expected to practice “soon,” according to Daboll … Rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers dropped a pass Wednesday. That’s notable because all spring Nabers truly caught everything thrown his way … Perhaps Jones’ best throw of the day was to veteran Darius Slayton.
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
