Giants' Daniel Jones shares big update on injury recovery

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones indicated while speaking with reporters on Tuesday he believes he'll regain his full mobility before September as he works to recover from the torn ACL he suffered on Nov. 5.

"I don’t have any doubt about it," Jones said, per Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "I can do all that stuff now, and I’ll be even better in a month."

Jones rushed for career-bests of 708 yards and seven touchdowns across 16 regular-season games en route to guiding the 2022 Giants to the playoffs. His ability to make plays with his legs helped him earn a new contract last offseason, a deal from which New York can escape following the upcoming campaign.

"I expect to be ready to go the first day of training camp," Jones continued. "The knee feels really good. Every week I’ve continued to feel better and better. Doing a lot of the same things I’ve been doing, but doing them better. Feeling sharper and cleaner with a lot of my cuts. Working on getting that explosiveness back. And then taking steps at improving my change of direction and cutting from where it was before the injury."

In late May, free-agency pickup Drew Lock made it clear he joined the Giants this offseason to serve as a backup even though he is handling QB1 duties during mandatory minicamp. Jones seemed somewhat annoyed when asked on Tuesday about the Giants playing it safe this week and keeping him out of 11-on-11 team practice periods.

"I wasn’t pumped up," Jones said while flashing a smile during his answer. "But I’m not the coach. I don’t make those calls. It wasn’t my favorite thing, but that’s not my job."

As of Tuesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Jones eighth among the betting favorites at +2200 odds to win the Comeback Player of the Year Award for the 2024 campaign. Jones doesn't necessarily need to be in the starting lineup for New York's regular-season opener against the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 8 to remain in contention for the award through Week 18, but it sounds like he'll be cleared for contact long before the second Sunday of September arrives.