Giants hope continuity will make optimism in training camp sustainable

It’s a big summer for the Giants.

Isn’t it always?

Well, yes, but some feel bigger than others, and this one feels fairly enormous.

For the first time since 2015, the Giants head into a training camp with the same head coach for a third consecutive year.

When Brian Daboll takes his team onto the field Wednesday for the first practice, it will reflect a measure of continuity that this franchise has failed to deliver for far too long.

The high of Daboll’s debut season in 2022 (the first playoff appearance since 2011 and Daboll earning NFL Coach of the Year honors) was followed by the low of a non-contending 2023 campaign filled with too much offensive ineptitude.

Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen came in together, enjoyed immediate success together, took a hit together and now need to get the arrow pointed upward once again.

The most eye-catching newcomers to watch are outside linebacker Brian Burns (acquired in a trade with the Panthers) on defense and rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers (drafted No. 6 overall) on offense.

The Giants expect both to be immediate impact players on their respective sides of the ball.

The most noteworthy camp storylines center on the health of Daniel Jones, coming off reconstructive knee surgery, an expected lighter touch from the oft-tempestuous Daboll, the implementation of Daboll taking over the play calling on offense, the new-look defensive scheme under new coordinator Shane Bowen and what the feel of camp is like without Saquon Barkley on the field, for the first time since the summer of 2017.

With an offseason of reflection following the 2023 swoon to 6-11, Daboll has taken steps to get the entire operation into greater sync.

“You go back and say, OK, what did we do the year before?’’ Daboll said. “Is that really what we should have done? Should we make some changes?’’

He made changes.

Daboll put his team through 11-on-11 drills in the spring, something he did not do the year prior.

He instructed the offensive tackles and tight ends to work more closely together to enhance the chemistry up front.

He signed off on having defensive line coach Andre Patterson and new outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen at times interchange the players they work with to improve the overall flow on defense, addressing what Kayvon Thibodeaux described as a communication gap.

“Last year the interior and the edge weren’t cohesive,’’ Thibodeaux said. “Now it’s going to start to work like clockwork.’’

Ah yes, the optimism of camp, when words like “clockwork’’ and “synergy’’ and “refreshing’’ hover in the humid air as new systems and new players and new coordinators and new attitudes and new (bigger, stronger, faster) bodies usher in a new beginning filled with hope and possibility.

The plans usually look good in the heat of morning practices, but only those plans with real staying power continue to look good after Labor Day.

Figure the Giants’ defense will have the upper hand early in camp, especially once the pads come on, even as that unit continues to adapt to Bowen’s very different system from what was on the field the past two seasons under Wink Martindale.

There will be more zone coverage in the back and more emphasis on pressure up front from a four-man rush, with Martindale’s blitz-heavy approach a thing of the past.

Two days of joint practices with the Lions at the Giants’ facility (Aug. 5 and 6) and one joint practice at the Jets’ facility (Aug. 21) should help the Giants gauge where they are and where they need to go.

The Giants kept Jones out of all full-team action in the spring, and will likely ease him into his sixth NFL camp and do everything possible to keep his rehab from his Nov. 22 ACL surgery on an upward trajectory.

Jones looked fine in controlled drills and will be integrated into the action this summer, with every indication that he will be more than ready to start the Sept. 8 season opener against the Vikings.

This is a last stand for the 27-year old Jones.

He counts $47.8 million on the salary cap, and the Giants after this season can get out of the four-year, $160 million deal for a manageable $22.1 million in dead-cap money.

It is no secret the Giants were interested in trading up for a quarterback in the draft.

With what is (stop us if you’ve heard this before) supposed to be an upgraded offensive line, Nabers as a true No. 1 target and Daboll calling the plays, the Giants believe they will have given Jones more of a chance to succeed.

“We have high expectations,’’ Jones said. “We always do. We’re going to get there by putting the work in every day and making sure we’re ready to go for the first day of training camp, and when we get into training camp, getting everything out of each practice and improving and growing together.’’

The summer is all about high expectations.

How that sentiment stands the test of time remains to be seen.