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Jordan Raanan, ESPN Staff Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants have made it clear that they expect Daniel Jones to be ready for the beginning of training camp and be their starting quarterback this season. Their first practice is slated for July 24.
Jones is coming off a torn ACL in his right knee, and the team signed veteran Drew Lock this offseason. Lock has started 25 games in his first five professional seasons.
But Jones’ rehab has gone smoothly and, even though he didn’t participate in 11-on-11 drills at Tuesday’s mandatory minicamp, he again did individual drills and ran without any restrictions. Jones wore only a sleeve on the right knee, which still needs final clearance before he can be a full participant in practice.
He’s trending in the right direction with training camp six weeks away.
“He’s really right on point with where he needs to be,” coach Brian Daboll said, before specifying he expects all of the injured players to be ready for the start of training camp.
Jones thinks he can hit the ground running when the Giants reconvene later this summer. They have one more practice Wednesday to conclude their offseason workouts.
“I expect to be ready to go first day of training camp,” Jones said.
He explained: “The knee feels good. Really good. Every week I’ve continued to feel better and better and taken steps. I’m 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 and improving my change of direction and cutting from even where it was before the injury.”
With Jones working on the side during full-team drills this spring, there was an opportunity for Lock to blow the Giants away. It does not appear that happened. He struggled badly at the first practice open to the media this offseason and has improved steadily since.
New York’s brass has been clear since signing Lock that he was going to be the backup. Jones would be the starter.
“We’ve talked about that. [Lock] understands his role,” Daboll said before Tuesday’s practice. “I think he’s come a long way. There is a lot to learn playing that position. There is a lot of vocabulary, there’s new plays. One word means something to him in another system. He’s been to a few different places. He has been a true pro. “He has definitely improved since he has gotten here. Good to get two more workdays here with the guys that he might not necessarily get as many reps with once we get to training camp.”
Lock, 27, signed a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $5 million this offseason. He had spent the past two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks after being drafted by the Denver Broncos in 2019.
His arrival created some uncertainty on Jones’ stronghold of the starting job. Seahawks general manager John Schneider said Lock chose the Giants because they “basically sold him on the opportunity to compete to be the starter.”
New York has been adamant since that the job is Jones’ as long as he’s healthy. He’s close. Jones said his GPS numbers have shown he’s back to his old form in terms of explosiveness and speed. He is hoping to surpass those previous benchmarks.
“I don’t have any doubt about it,” he said. “I think I can do all that stuff and I’ll be even better in a month.”
In the meantime, Jones has plans for his fellow quarterbacks and receivers to make a trip to North Carolina for some workout/bonding sessions before the start of training camp. These trips have become an annual tradition.
Barring a setback, Jones will be back with the first-team offense on Day 1 of training camp.
