Daniel Jones ‘in a good spot’ with rehab progress

Jones, who said he is not wearing a knee brace, clearly enjoys his return to the field with his teammates.

“It feels good,” he said. “Felt good out there today. Just getting back in the swing of things, playing football against a defense, against guys moving around. Thought it was good today. Continue to kind of progress and continue to work on things.”

Asked how his leg feels when he moves around, Jones said, “It feels good. Feels really good. The rehab process has been smooth to this point. Feels good doing all of that kind of stuff.”

Does he have any doubt he will be ready for contact when the season begins?

“No, I don’t have any doubt about it right now,” Jones said.

Coach Brian Daboll is typically taking a more short-term view. Daboll noted Jones is not participating in full-team, 11-on-11 drills, because it creates more of an injury risk than the smaller group work.

“That’s just part of the plan, where we’re at with the rehab plan,” Daboll said. “I think the trainers have done a good job, DJ’s done a good job of rehabbing, and right now we’re at seven-on-seven.

“He looks good. We’re not putting him in some team stuff, but he’s making progress so that’s why we got him in seven on seven. We’ll take it day by day and when he can do more, we’ll put him in more.”

Jones shared his thoughts about the NFL Draft last month, when the Giants explored the possibility of selecting a quarterback in the first round but chose LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers sixth.

“I wasn’t sure what was going to happen or how it was going to play out,” Jones said. “I was just watching and waiting to see like everybody else. But I’m fired up to get Malik. I watched some of his tape in college. He’s a dynamic, dynamic player. I was fired up to see that we got him. It’s been fun getting to work with him.”

Jones said the possibility of the Giants adding a highly rated quarterback is “part of it” when you play that position in the NFL.

“I’m focused on playing the best football I can play,” Jones said. “I’m always motivated. I consider myself a really driven guy. I’m always going to work as hard as I possibly can. It’s part of it, but I’m fired up we got Malik and looking forward to getting to work.

“You can tell he loves football. It’s important to him. He cares a lot about it. Wants to get it right. Obviously, he’s extremely talented. Everybody knows that. Great route runner, strong, fast, adjusts to the ball well. All the things you look for. It will be a process. I look forward to putting in the work with him.”

To do that, Jones must continue to make strides physically.

“I think just kind of continue day by day with the process,” he said. “Obviously, the goal is to be ready to go by the first day of training camp. I’m going to push to be ready as soon as possible. I think we’ve got a good plan. I have a lot of trust and faith in our trainers and coaches.

“I’m always going to push myself and try to do as much as I can, as much as they’ll let me do. To me, that is kind of the plan, so…that is sticking to the plan. As they see fit, they’ll pull back and say what I can and can’t do. I’m always going to push to do as much as I can.”