Giants QB Daniel Jones Set to Play First Snaps Since ACL Injury

New York Giants QB Daniel Jones takes the next and final steps in his recovery on Saturday when he gets his first live game action since tearing his ACL.

Jul 26, 2024; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) fakes a handoff during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. / Lucas Boland-USA TODAY Sports

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is ready for the next step in his nine-month-old comeback from a torn ACL.

Jones, aka “the Bearded one” thanks to his thickening facial hair that seems to have taken the NFL by storm is set to play his first live snaps since tearing his ACL when the Giants visit the Hoston Texans this Saturday for a preseason meeting.

Jones, who during his months-long recovery from the injury told anyone who asked that there was never a doubt in his mind he’d be ready for training camp and Week 1 of the regular season, has not missed a single snap since training camp started, a testament to the hard work he put into his rehab.

Since being fully cleared to do everything in camp, Jones has shown no issues with the knee on his push-off leg, nor has he been hesitant to run with the ball when necessary. 

“He's doing a great job,” said assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. “Each day he's just getting a little bit better. I think those are things that we've talked about, whether it's his footwork, whether it's his progression, whether it's just communicating with the offensive line and kind of getting that feedback as well. He's part of it. He's one-eleventh of that group, but he's a big part of that, and I think he's doing a really nice job.” 

Kafka believes that some of the deep ball accuracy issues Jones had at the start of cmap were a matter of timing more soe tha anything to do with the knee, but noted that Jones has gotten better with his accuracy every day.

“There are a lot of things that kind of go into it, and from a fundamental standpoint, whether it's receiver route depth, the area or space in the field where they've got to attack, whether it's the offensive line, whether there's push or there's not push, it's the footwork of the quarterback, what type of drop are you taking, three-step drop, a quick three, a big three. All those things have to tie in and match up for a pass to be effective,” Kafka said.  

Jul 26, 2024; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) passes during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. / Lucas Boland-USA TODAY Sports

Jones is determined to erase the stench of last season, in which he didn’t play well, and start looking more like the quarterback he was in 2022 when he led the team to its first postseason berth since 2016.

“I don't think I'll be thinking about my knee much,” Jones said Thursday after the team completed a cards practice. “I've tested it in practice, tested it in my rehab and workouts, and feel like it's in a good place. So, yeah, I'm confident my knee will be ready to go.”

Head coach Brian Daboll hasn’t said how much Jones and the rest of the starters will play on Saturday, but it’s certainly reasonable to expect them to go at least a half, depending on how the game flows. For Jones, it will be a chance to get back on the proverbial bicycle, so to speak, in terms of working against a live pass rush, playing at game speed, taking a hit, and operating the huddle on the road.

“You want the operation to be clean, in and out of the huddle at the line of scrimmage, communicating with the guys and making sure we're ready to go,” he said when asked what he hoped to get out of his snaps. 

“And then you expect a high level of execution. I think we want to take what we've practiced and prepared and put it on the field. It won't be perfect, but we expect it to be good.”

Jones said he didn’t know how long the coaches plan to play him, but he welcomes whatever snaps he does get.

“I'm ready to go. I'm ready to play as much as (Head Coach Brian Daboll) Dabs wants me to play,” he said. “So, I don't know–that's probably a better question for him and how he sees the whole situation. But I'm ready to play and looking forward to getting out there.”

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