Was this a rift between Daniel Jones and his head coach?
“He’s not too happy about it,’’ Brian Daboll said.
Correct. He was not too happy about it.
“No, I wasn’t pumped up, but I’m not the coach, I don’t make those calls,’’ Jones said Tuesday after the Giants finished up their first practice of their mandatory minicamp.
Trouble in the Big Blue playground? Hardly. Jones and controversy go together as naturally as the Cross Bronx Expressway and a nice open ride.
Daboll wanted to get in as many 11-on-11 team reps as possible, so he ditched the seven-on-seven drill for this session.
Given that Jones, coming off knee surgery, has been held out of all full-team action this spring, that meant Jones was mostly a bystander on this day, other than participating in individual drills.
“I understand Dabs wanted to get a lot of team work, and that’s what they did,’’ Jones said. “Yeah, it wasn’t my favorite thing, but that’s not my job.’’
All this was said with a smile. Jones knows the Giants are being cautious with him.
He tore his right ACL in Las Vegas on Nov. 5, and his rehab has followed a time-tested script, allowing for no shortcuts and necessitating no stops and starts because of setbacks.
When the Giants hit the field July 24 for training camp, Jones said he expects all his restrictions will be gone and he will be full-speed ahead.
“The knees feels good, really good,’’ he said. “Every week I’ve continued to feel better and better, and taking steps, doing a lot of the same things I’ve been doing, but doing them better and feeling sharper and cleaner with a lot of my cuts, kind of working to getting that explosiveness back and then taking steps and improving my change of direction and cutting from even where it was before the injury.
“I’ve kind of hit every mark I’ve set to hit that the doctors and trainers have set for me to this point. I’m gonna push to do as much as they’ll let me do.’’
There is plenty of conversation concerning what Jones is and is not as an NFL starting quarterback, but there is not much debate about what he brings to the table as far as athletic prowess.
He is big, strong and can run, with 708 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in 2022 when he played a full season.
It is important for him to be able to use his legs.
Jones said he is not worried about that, stating he is already hitting every physical metric now that he reached before the injury.
“I can do all that stuff now,’’ Jones said, “and I’ll be even better in a month.’’
Daboll said Jones is “really right on point with where he needs to be.’’
Jones, appearing clean-shaven after several weeks sporting scruffy facial hair that was growing into a beard, continues to wear a black sleeve on his right leg, but he says that is more about keeping the knee warm than needing any extra support.
He has not worn a knee brace throughout the process and has all-but lived in the team facility throughout his rehab.
“Man, he’s probably the biggest work-ethic guy I know,’’ receiver Jalin Hyatt said. “He is the first guy in the building. I don’t even know what time he gets here, maybe 5:30. He stays here forever, and he is the last guy to leave. That’s what you want in a quarterback.
“It just shows how much he respects this, how much he respects this team, and how much he wants to improve and do whatever he has to do. We have so much confidence in him. So much faith in him. Can’t wait to have him back in team activities and for training camp. We’re all going to be excited.’’
Soon enough.
Sticking with his usual offseason routine, Jones said he will get the receivers together during the upcoming extended break for a few days in the Charlotte, N.C., area for some throwing and catching.
What Jones cannot do is replicate the 11-on-11 work that he was held out of this spring.
He has thrown to rookie Malik Nabers, but only in seven-on-seven periods and with Nabers running routes without a defender on the field.
Building that comfort with Nabers, and reconnecting with Hyatt, Darius Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson will be a job to complete this summer.
“The time we spend in the meeting room talking about things, talking about how we see certain routes, how we see things playing out against certain looks — all that stuff kind of helps build that chemistry and rapport,’’ Jones said. “You’ve got to take advantage of all the time you get. I feel like we’ll be good to go.’’
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