Daniel Jones feels heat as New York Giants and Detroit Lions practise erupts

The New York Giants are in the spotlight, none more so than Daniel Jones – and things spilled over in a lively joint practise session with the Detroit Lions.

The quarterback was awarded a new contract by the Giants in March 2023, and after an injury-plagued season followed, both he and the team are under pressure to deliver.

As preparations go up a gear with the new season just weeks away, the Giants have been practising alongside the Lions this week, and will kick off their preseason in a game against each other on Thursday.

With the pads on, and the intensity ramped up, it appeared that Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St-Brown and Giants cornerback Dru Phillips were the spark for feisty scenes.

St-Brown took a pass from Lions quarterback Jared Goff and appeared to celebrate by waving the ball in front of rookie cornerback Phillips.

Wild scenes followed as the pair got involved in some pushing and shoving, with teammates quickly running in with some pushing of their own as well as those trying to separate.

Things settled down, but not for long, as a little while later Jones was in the middle of another fight – although he was quick to play things down during his media availability.

“Situation like that happens, you stand up for guys,” Jones told the media afterward.

“It was a good competitive day of practise, we made some plays and did some good things – things we need to shore up.

“Good intensity and competitive spirit.”

Fights during practise, between teammates as well as joint sessions between teams, are not a shock during preseason.

Team have upped the intensity from OTAs and with rookies battling to make an impression and other players fighting to make the rosters, things regularly get heated.

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The Lions reached the NFC Championship game last season, losing to the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium and they did so on the back of a fierce intensity under head coach Dan Campbell.

Campbell knows Giants coach Brian Daboll from their time together at Miami, and the pair will have likely expected fiery scenes as the stabilizers came off with the new season just a month away.

The Giants’ offseason came under the microscope after they lost star running back Saquon Barkley in free agency, and their front office business played out behind the Hard Knocks cameras.

General Manager Joe Schoen and owner John Mara both appeared to be keen to draft a quarterback and had explored the possibility of a move up from six on the draft board.

In the end they stayed put and took wide receiver Malik Nabers, who gives Jones a huge new offensive weapon, although Jones did not enjoy seeing the team’s plans to potentially replace him with a rookie quarterback.

“There’s something inside of you that kind of gets going and it ticks you off a little bit to see,” he told Go Long.

“It’s not fun and not something that you’re excited about. Like I said, it is what it is at this point and it’s my job to play well regardless.”

Jones is entering his sixth season in the NFL and after an impressive 2022, hopes were high that ‘Danny Dimes’ could lead the Giants back to the playoffs.

However Jones started just six games, and the Giants were left rotating through a number of options under center – including Tommy DeVito and Tyrod Taylor.

A 6-11 season was not what anyone was expecting and whether the Giants can get back on track under Daboll depends hugely on how Jones performs.

The Giants host the Lions in their opening preseason game, before facing the Houston Texans and the New York Jets ahead of their Week 1 opener against the Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Stadium on September 8.