Was this a feud between Daniel Jones and the head coach?
“He’s not very happy about it,” Brian Daboll said.
You’re right, he wasn’t very happy.
“No, I wasn’t excited, but I’m not a coach and I can’t make that judgment,” Jones said Tuesday after the Giants completed their first practice of mandatory minicamp.
Trouble on Big Blue’s playground? Not at all. Jones and controversy go together as naturally as the Cross Bronx Expressway and comfortable open drives.
Daboll skipped the 7-on-7 drills in this session, wanting to get as many 11-on-11 drills in as possible.
Jones, who recently underwent knee surgery, has not participated in any team games this spring, so he spent most of the day on the sidelines, except for taking part in individual practice.
“I understand the Dubs wanted to emphasize teamwork and they did that,” Jones said. “Obviously, it’s not my favorite thing to do, but that’s not my job.”
All of this was said with a smile. Jones knows the Giants are being cautious with him.
He tore his right anterior cruciate ligament on Nov. 5 in Las Vegas, but his rehabilitation followed a proven protocol that allowed no shortcuts and required no stop-and-start due to a setback.
Jones said he expects when the Giants report to training camp on July 24, all restrictions will be lifted and they can move forward full speed.
“My knee is feeling good, really good,” he said. “Every week it’s getting better and better, I’m taking steps and doing a lot of the things I’ve been doing better and feeling sharper and cleaner on a lot of my cuts. I’m working on getting my explosiveness back, taking steps and making better changes of direction and cuts than I did before the injury.”
“So far, I feel like I’ve achieved all the goals that my doctors and trainers have set for me. I’ll keep trying my hardest as long as they allow me.”
There’s a lot of debate about what Jones is or isn’t as an NFL starting quarterback, but there’s less discussion about what he brings to the table athletically.
He’s big, strong and can run, and in one full season in 2022 he rushed for 708 yards and seven touchdowns.
It’s important for him to be able to use his legs.
Jones said he’s not worried about that, noting that he’s already achieved all of the athletic standards he had before the injury.
“I can do all that now,” Jones said. “I’ll be even better at it in a month.”
Daboll said Jones is “exactly where he needs to be.”
Jones, who appears clean-shaven after weeks of beard stubble, continues to wear a black sleeve on his right leg, but he says it’s more to keep his knee warm than because he needs any extra support.
He was without a knee brace throughout his rehabilitation and spent most of it at the team’s facility.
“He’s the hardest worker I know,” receiver Jalyn Hyatt said. “He’s the first one in the building. I don’t even know what time he gets here, but maybe 5:30. He’s here the whole time and he’s the last one to leave. That’s what you want in a quarterback.”
“You could tell from this game how much he respects this team, how much he wants to improve and do whatever it takes. We have a lot of confidence in him. We really believe in him. We can’t wait to have him back with the team and back to training camp. We’re all excited.”
It’s almost here.
Jones said he plans to stick to his normal offseason routine, gathering his receivers together to work on throwing and catching during a multi-day sabbatical in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area.
What Jones can’t do is replicate the 11-on-11 drills he missed this spring.
He did throw a pass to rookie Malik Neighbors, but only during a 7-on-7 period when Neighbors was running a route with no defenders on the field.
Building a sense of security with Neighbors and re-linking with Hyatt, Darius Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson will be the job to complete this summer.
“All that time in the meeting room talking about stuff, how you look at certain routes, how you deploy certain situations, all of that helps build teamwork and trust,” Jones said. “You have to take advantage of every minute you’re given, and I think we’re ready to go.”
