Giants Practice Report: Daniel Jones, O-line Issues, and a Potentially Devastating Injury

There was a sense of concern about the last padded practice of the week for the New York Giants thanks to the ankle injury suffered by promising rookie running back Tyrone Tracy, Jr. during a punt return drill.

As already noted, Tracy muffed the punt before grabbing his right leg as he collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain. The trainers put an air cast on his leg, and he was carted back to the locker room for further evaluation. 

Tracy was scheduled to get further tests done at the Hospital for Special Surgery, but in what could be considered good news,  ESPN reported that the rookie was back at the team’s facility taking part in meetings, which sounds positive. And the NFL Network reported that Tracy suffered a sprain.

Practice wise, quarterback Daniel Jones had a strong showing. He began the day red hot, hitting a mixture of deep and intermediate throws. Unofficially, Jones was 10 of 13, the three incompletions being a batted pass and a couple of drops, one by Jalin Hyatt and the other by a player whom we couldn’t see but who had the ball in his hands. 

Overall, Jones’s decision-making and willingness to make tight-window throws were impressive.

“He’s made strides every day,” head coach Brian Daboll said of Jones. “Again, it’s some new guys that we’re throwing to. It’s the first time he’s been in team. It’s been a steady improvement from when we started when he had his first go-through in team and had people around his legs.

“There’s new things, new pieces, new tight ends, new receiver. So, that’s always a work in progress. At least that I’ve been part of, in training camp, when you’re dealing with new pieces and things like that. Him coming back from the injury, I think he’s done a fantastic job. He’s continuing to grow and has done well here these last few weeks.”

Jones will get his first live game action Saturday against the Texans. He’ll face a live pass rush and will not be protected by the red jersey. Let’s see if his decision-making and progress this week continue to shine through or if he reverts to an indecisive mess behind a shaky offensive line situation.

Second-year quarterback Tommy DeVito has seen significantly more reps in the practices that Drew Lock has missed, and the development is clear.

DeVito has a ways to go before becoming a full-time starting quarterback in the NFL, but his aggressiveness has picked up this camp. 

He connected on multiple strong throws, including a deep post to Allen Robinson for a touchdown, and on another throw to Robinson, this one near the sideline where cornerback Tre Hawkins III was all over Robinson but couldn’t break up the pass.

Rookie tight end Theo Johnson and DeVito connected on a long gain when DeVito threw a hole shot to Johnson against Cover 2.

Isaiah Simmons handled the slot cornerback duties with Dru Phillips sidelined again. Rookie safety Tyler Nubin got some snaps with the first team defense at safety, a spot that suddenly has become very competitive.

The Giants’ projected starting offensive line–left tackle Andrew Thomas, left guard Greg Van Roten, center John Michael Schmitz, right guard Jon Runyan, Jr., and right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor–has yet to play a single snap together due to injuries, and that’s starting to become more of a concern as the time before the start of the regular season is running out. 

Because of the injuries, the Giants have been mixing and matching different personnel on the offensive line, and it’s probably fair to say that some of the quarterbacks’ miscues and letdowns were not their fault.  

Center John Michael Schmitz and offensive tackle Evan Neal returned to team drills, Schmitz with the first team and Neal with the second. Guard Jon Runyan Jr. was held out of practice after injuring his shoulder during Monday’s practice, and undrafted rookie free agent Jake Kubas, who also got dinged on Monday, took about three snaps at guard before leaving.

The danger of all these different combinations is in communication. Despite the linemen sitting in meetings and reviewing assignments, there is no substitution for playing alongside one another and developing that silent communication to where you know what the guy next to you is going to do. This is particularly evident on stunts/twists and against speed rushers. 

That said, the defense had another fairly successful day with getting pressure in both pass and run blocking. Obviously, there is no answer regarding injuries, which are going to happen, but it’s been clear all summer long that the constant shuffling is a problem, and time is running out to get this unit settled.

Offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo never set a deadline for when he wanted the line solidified, but it probably wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he might have hoped for that to have been the case by this weekend.  

By the way, we don’t want to take anything away from the Giants’ defensive front, which is just flat-out good and the clear strength of this roster. But we can’t sugarcoat the situation with the offensive line, and we have to think that at this point, Bricillo, head coach Brian Daboll, and general manager Joe Schoen all have some concerns with how this has unfolded–how could they not?

Something that we saw during Tuesday’s team drills that popped was the usage of third-year outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Thibodeaux has played just 2.2% of his career snaps off the defensive line thus far, but that could change under new defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. 

A little history: In 2023, Titans outside linebacker Harold Landry III spent 6.8% of his snaps off the line of scrimmage under Bowen. It’s possible that the Giants could be planning to see Thibodeaux used in a similar fashion.

On one such play, Thibodeaux was off-ball. He lined up over the right tackle with the offense in trips on the left. He got some pressure, but the ball came out of the quarterback’s hands fast.

The Giants are off on Wednesday and will return to the practice field on Thursday, which should be a non-padded practice. They will leave for Houston on Friday.