New York Giants Day 6 Practice Report: Daniel Delivers

Here's what we learned from the New York Giants' sixth training camp practice.

It’s been some tough sledding for Giants quarterback Daniel Jones so far this summer, as at times he’s looked sharp, and at others, he’s looked much as he did the first three years of his career. On Tuesday, Jones was on fire.

He got the ball out of his hands fairly quickly for the most part and made sound decisions. His only two major blemishes on the day were interceptions made by Adoree’ Jackson, including one in which it looked like Jones threw right to the defender after holding the ball too long.

(Interestingly, in speaking with the media Monday, Jackson noted that his goal was to get more interceptions and make more plays, so he certainly delivered).

Head coach Brian Daboll, who has been fielding questions liteally since the day he arrived in East Rutherford comparing Jones to Bills quarerback Josh Allen, seems to be growing weary of that line.

“Daniel’s been working hard, but in no way would I compare Daniel with Josh. That’s not fair. He’s his own person. He’s working hard," Daboll said. 

"Look, developing an offense or a defense or a team, let’s just say a team when you’re first starting as a head coach, a new staff, new players, it takes a lot of work. And we’re still very much a work in progress.”

Daboll did agree that perhaps there has been some overreaction to Jones’s bad practices. He said the key has been to remind Jones to worry about what he can control.

“Yeah, you try to help players focus on what they can control, which is their ability to prepare, their ability to be a good teammate, their ability to go out there and execute and focus on that rather than anything else,” Daboll said.

“Each person is different, and each reacts differently to different things. The biggest thing is, take the coaching, listen to the people in the room that are coaching them, and work to get better.”

As far as being able to tell when the quarterback will either be a boom or a bust, Daboll pointed to all the quarterbacks he’s worked with over his career, noting that everyone faces different circumstances.

“Each of them leads a little bit differently. Have different talents. Is the system suited to what they do well? How much time on task is there for a quarterback in the same system? I think that’s important. I think it’s very important. You change the system after system after system after system; that’s hard on any quarterback.”

Just as it’s been for Jones, who is now in his third offensive system in four seasons as a pro.

As a post script, after practice, Jones was seen walking off the field with none other than Eli Manning. Both seemed deep in conversation, perhaps about the day at camp or life in general—there’s no way to know. 

But for the first time in a while, Jones looked like a quarterback this team could live with. That said, it’s one practice, and he has to string together more days like this, but it was good to see Jones getting into a rhythm and hitting his targets.

O-line Rotates

Two summers ago, then-head coach Joe Judge borrowed a page from New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s book when he rotated offensive linemen throughout the summer and into the regular season.

The rotation carried over into last year, though not as frequently, and the offensive line was never able to get into any kind of groove.

Daboll, who, like Judge, spent time on Belichick’s coaching staff, has a slightly different approach as to how he intends to build the offensive line.

“We’re going to keep rotating the players around. There are certain guys that – Andrew Thomas is our left tackle. But I think the more guys that can get reps--if Andrew Thomas comes out in a preseason game, then who’s going to go ahead and go in for him?” Daboll said.

“And the more position flexibility they can create for themselves – and maybe you find something, a good combination that works – but right now we’re going to mix and match.”

So does that mean the mixing and matching will continue into the regular season?

“Eventually, we’ll settle on the five that are out there; I think that’s important to have some good communication with one another,” Daboll said. “But I think when you work with other guys, that helps the communication process as well.”

He added, “Now, if it’s close, then you always, ‘Hey maybe give this guy two series, the next guy two series,’ and see how it’s going in the game relative to the matchup.”

Injury Report

Center Jon Feliciano was back on the field, but other than for warmups, he was held out of drills. Ben Bredeson was among those who got snaps at first-team center.

Receiver Robert Foster came down hard in the corner of the end zone after a pass intended for him was broken up by Adoree’ Jackson. Foster was shaken up and had to be helped off the field and carted back to the locker room.

Daboll said that safety Dane Belton, who suffered a broken collarbone, does not need surgery. Daboll did not put an estimated timeframe on when Belton might be able to return, but the fact that he doesn’t need surgery could help see him back on the field sooner than initially thought.

Tight end Ricky Seals-Jones remains sidelined with an undisclosed issue.

Kenny Golladay worked in the individual drills but sat out of the team drills as part of a maintenance day.

Other Observations

Saquon Barkley smoked Tae Crowder for a pass completion along the left sideline. Barkley showed some of his pre-injury explosiveness in getting behind Crowder.

The edge rushers got a little too close to the quarterbacks on Tuesday for Daboll’s liking. The head coach gave an earful to Oshane Ximines, who nearly rolled into Daniel Jones’s legs on a throw to Kadarius Toney. Then Niko Lalos heard it from the coach when he nearly made contact with Davis Webb.

Kayvon Thibodeaux had a couple of pressures Tuesday against Andrew Thomas, including one where he zipped around Thomas for what would have been a sack (this coming on one of Jones’s interceptions by Adoree’ Jackson). Thibodeaux seems to be rushing with a plan, which is such a rarity for young players.

Quincy Roche, who seems to be the forgotten man in the edge rusher picture, what with the additions of Thibodeaux and Jihad Ward, the emergence of Elerson Smith, and the reps given to Oshane Ximines, had a solid showing with the second team defense. Roche was one of the more physical edge rushers the team had last year, but he told me that his run defense is an area he wants to polish up. (That story is coming later.)

David Sills V had a big day, coming down with four passes, two of which were contested. Sills was so close to making the roster in the past, only to come up short due to numbers or, in one case, a broken leg. Might this be the year he finally breaks through?

Darius Slaton made a gorgeous reception on a hump ball against Yusuf Corker. Tyrod Taylor did a nice job of putting the ball just over Corker’s head and despite the safety’s attempt t leap up for it, Slayton outmuscled him for the ball.

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