NFL Rumors: Giants’ Daniel Jones Expected to Avoid PUP List amid Knee Injury Recovery

The New York Giants need quarterback Daniel Jones to bounce back from a disappointing 2023 season that included a torn ACL if they are going to compete in 2024, and they reportedly received some welcome news ahead of training camp.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday that Jones will not start training camp on the physically unable to perform list as he continues his rehab from last season’s setback:

Rapoport noted the quarterback is “expected to be healthy and ready to go.”

This comes after Jones told Phil and Matt Simms on the Simms Complete podcast his recovery has been a “pretty smooth process” with “no real setbacks” that includes him “doing pretty much everything—running, cutting, everything I need to do” (h/t Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post).

While the Giants signed Drew Lock this offseason, Kevin Patra of NFL.com noted speculation about a quarterback battle has “quieted” as the season approaches.

Yet avoiding any quarterback battle would also require remaining healthy for Jones, so this is a positive development.

There will be no shortage of pressure on the Duke product given the inconsistent start to his career. He threw for 24 touchdowns to 12 interceptions as a rookie in 2019 but then went 12-16 as a starter while seeing his touchdown-to-interception ratio fall to 21-17 in the next two combined seasons.

Just when it looked like he might not live up to the expectations that came with being the No. 6 overall pick of the 2019 NFL draft, Jones led the Giants to the playoffs in 2022 while throwing for a career-high 3,205 yards and running for 708 yards and seven scores.

However, he was just 1-5 as a starter with two touchdown passes to six interceptions last season prior to the torn ACL.

It was fair to wonder whether he truly is the long-term franchise quarterback, and the injury did nothing to quell those concerns from Giants fans.

That means he will be under the spotlight in 2024, and he can at least take solace knowing he is relatively healthy heading into training camp.