It was a long way back to the football field for Daniel Jones.
After spending the offseason recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, the GiantsThe quarterback was limited in practice, but was finally cleared for a full return during training camp and hasn’t missed a beat.
While the former first-round pick has struggled at times, Jones’ teammates and coaches have seen other things and are excited about the progress he’s made so quickly.
“He’s in the right frame of mind now,” head coach Brian Daboll he said. “He did everything we asked and he seems normal. He’s on the right track, which is pretty impressive in terms of he got the injury and this is where he already is, so I’m proud of him.”
“He looks confident,” wide receiver Jalin Hyatt added. “Just seeing him run after seeing what he went through last year with all the injuries and what happened this offseason, I’m really proud of what he’s done so far and I can’t wait to see him play.”
That certainly bodes well for Jones heading into a massive season after the Giants became enamored with some of the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft class and potentially looked to move up to select his replacement.
Instead, they acquired him a blue-chip target in the form of LSU’s star wide receiver Malik Naberswho has already impressed with his excellent running and playmaking abilities in camp.
Now that Nabers is in the mix to keep up with the fast-moving Hyatt group, Wan’Dale RobinsonIt is Dario Slayton among others, the Giants are hoping Jones can throw more downfield this season.
“That’s something we emphasize,” Hyatt said. “We haven’t really connected much over the past year, so that’s been one of our biggest focuses that we need to work on. We’re still improving, we’re getting there, but we need to get better every day.”
In an effort to continue building that connection ahead of the regular season, Daboll has had Jones work exclusively with that group of four rather than having players rotate in and out.
“We’re making him play as much as he can for these guys,” he said. “The timing, the body language, there’s a lot to the passing game to make it work. So we’re doing as much as we can, whether it’s individual routes or certain plays that we’re small to look at these guys, it’s important to build that chemistry now.”