Daniel Jones Keeping Focus on His Rehab, Getting Ready for 2024

Jones is optimistic he'll be ready for the start of training camp.

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones isn’t concerned about what the team might do in the upcoming draft at his position. Instead, he’s focused on what he can control: rehab from a torn ACL he suffered last season.

“Rehab's going well; I'm making good progress,” Jones said on a video call following the first day of the team’s off-season program. “I spent a lot of time with the trainers here, so I feel things are going well. So I'm yeah, I'm coming along well.”

Jones revealed that he’s progressed to throwing with movement rather than from a stationary position. He admitted to still having highs and lows, but he remains optimistic that he’ll be ready to go in time for training camp.

“Feel good about being ready,” he said about training camp, adding that he hoped to be cleared to do some things once the OTAs begin next month.

“I want to do as much as they'll let me,” he said. "I'm going to want to be smart, but that's my goal: to be involved and participate in some of those drills in the spring.”

As Jones, who also revealed that the stinger he suffered in his neck is no longer an issue, continues to progress in his rehab, questions continue to swirl as to whether the organization will draft a quarterback and, if so, how high? General manager Jon Schoen, who has said on more than one occasion that Jones will be the starter once healthy, also hasn't ruled out drafting a quarterback nor denied that Jones's injury history is a reason for concern.

New York is tied into Jones financially for this coming season, and it's thought that if the Giants do draft a quarterback, they will let that player sit for a year to get acclimated to life in an NFL offense.
Jones, for his part, isn't worried that his job or status on the team would be in jeopardy if the Giants spent one of their picks on a quarterback.

“I think you can get into trouble when you try to think too much about some of those things and how it all works out,” he said. “I'm just focused on what I'm doing, and that's my rehab, getting healthy, spending time with the guys, making sure we're getting on the same page, and having the best spring we can.”

Jones shrugged when asked if he would welcome a challenge from a prospective draft pick.
“It's the nature of our business. It's a competitive league,” he said. “The best way to handle that, I think, is to focus on what I'm doing, focus on myself, and make sure that I'm healthy and then ready to play good football. That's what I could control; that's what I can do to help myself and the team.”

Jones hasn't lost any confidence in himself despite the knee injury. When asked if he believes he’s the best option for the position to start the new season, he smiled and said, "I do, yes.”

But he also admits that given the nature of his knee injury, there might be some adjustments he’ll have to make to his game, at least early in the season.

“You're always kind of looking for those edges, or you're looking for those couple things that you can take a step with,” he said. And yeah, it's a little bit different when you're rehabbing and when you're maybe less mobile —at least for the first couple of months—than I would be in a typical off-season.”

That raised the question of how much the offense might need to be tweaked (if at all) to accommodate any limitations or concerns involving Jones if he is the starter.

“I think when you talk about like one specific person on offense, it's never about just one specific person," said offensive coordinator/assistant head coach Mike Kafka when asked if the offense would have to be tweaked accordingly, such as maybe fewer designed runs for Jones.

“It's an 11-man operation, so you gotta take into account everyone's ability where everyone's at, and then you try to build an offense around all the players and playmakers you have. So that's what we're doing right now. It's going to be an ongoing process until we get to training camp and into the season.”

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