New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones wasn’t too thrilled about the decision to keep him out of team drills during mandatory minicamp.
Jones, who is recovering from the November ACL tear that ended an already disastrous 2023 season, was participating in 7-on-7 drills during OTAs.
There were discussions about bumping Jones up to 11-on-11 work. However, head coach Brian Daboll made the choice to keep Jones off the field for team drills during minicamp.
“No, I wasn’t pumped up,” Jones told the media Tuesday. “I’m not a coach, I don’t make those calls. I understand. Dabs wanted to get a lot of team work and that’s what they did. Yeah, wasn’t my favorite thing, but that’s not my job.”
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Jones has been making steady progress with his ACL recovery and fully expects to be ready for training camp and Week 1 of the regular season.
Daboll mentioned to the media Tuesday that holding Jones out is more about the team wanting to be smart before pushing it full throttle.
As for the surgically repaired knee, Jones provided an encouraging update.
“Knee feels good. Really good. I think every week I’ve continued to feel better and better and
taking steps,” Jones said. “Doing a lot of the same things I’ve been doing, but doing them better and feeling sharper, cleaner with a lot of my cuts. Kind of working on getting that explosiveness back and then taking steps in improving my change of direction and cutting from even where it was before the injury.”
Jones has had a polarizing career since being the No. 6 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. He’s dealt with injuries, poor offensive line play and turnover issues. He put together an impressive campaign in 2022, helping the Giants reach the playoffs in Daboll’s first year as head coach.
We’ll see what’s in store for Jones during training camp, but that’s the next time Giants fans will see the starting quarterback on the field.
For more Giants coverage, check out Kevin Hickey’s work on Sporting News.
