Daniel Jones completed 7-on-7 passes to Malik Nabers and Wan’Dale Robinson and was even able to roll out and throw on the move during the Giants’ first OTA practice on Monday.
So Jones was on the field throwing to teammates less than six months after surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee.
There is no live contact permitted during this third phase of the offseason, but Jones’ participation bodes well for him being ready for training camp in late July and for the Giants’ Sept. 8 Week 1 opener against the Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Stadium.
That said, as Jones continued to ramp up, backup Drew Lock was running the 11-on-11 drills with the first team and hit his first completion to Nabers.
So Lock is getting meaningful spring reps, as expected, with first-team John Michael Schmitz and the Giants’ top group.
Those were the headlines — but not the only developments — from the Giants’ first of 10 scheduled optional practices leading up to their mandatory minicamp in mid-June.
The Giants kept the practice closed to the media, so all observations were courtesy of the team’s website and in-house media team.
NFL offseason rules, negotiated with the Professional Football Writers of America, require teams to open at least one of every three OTAs to the media. In addition, it is recommended that clubs open the first OTA session to the media, as well.
But Brian Daboll’s Giants allow the bare minimum in OTAs. They keep the first practice closed, and they allow the media in for only one practice per week.
The team’s practice photos and coverage of Monday’s practice, however, yielded some interesting insights, particularly about the offensive line.
The early first-team offensive line, as revealed in photos and described in the Giants’ coverage, appeared to feature Andrew Thomas at left tackle, free agent signing Jermaine Eluemunor at left guard, Schmitz at center, free agent signing Jon Runyan Jr. at right guard and Evan Neal at right tackle.
Daboll might have rotated bodies to different spots at times. But Eluemunor was photographed at left guard multiple times alongside Schmitz. The team said he played with Thomas and Schmitz in a half-line drill. And he was also positioned to the left of long-snapper Casey Kreiter in another photo, with Runyan Jr. to Kreiter’s right.
Backup tackle/guard Josh Ezeudu, meanwhile, was surprisingly lined up at left tackle in multiple photos, standing across from new pass rusher Brian Burns on one of the reps. Ezeudu struggled at that position last season after Daboll had him in a three-man guard competition that sometimes featured the players rotating out after every single rep.
Free agent signing Aaron Stinnie was at left guard next to Ezeudu in one photo of the backup line, too. The team also said undrafted rookie corner Alex Johnson intercepted a pass.
They planned to practice again on Tuesday before taking a one-day break leading into Thursday’s first OTA of the spring open to the media.
