Touchdowns & Takeaways: Jason Pinnock notches another INT

Daniel Jones opened team red-zone drills with a touchdown pass to veteran Chris Manhertz, who wasn’t the only tight end to find the end zone in that period. Tyree Jackson and Lawrence Cager got on the board thanks to throws by Tommy DeVito, who has more on his plate with Drew Lock currently sidelined due to an oblique injury.

“He’s sore,” Daboll said of Lock. “He’ll do some running on the side today. See where he is. See if he can go this week. I don’t envision him practicing here the next few days, but like we always do, we’ll take it all the way up to the end and see where he’s at. … If he’s good to go, he’s good to go. Obviously, we talked about it, but we’ll see where he’s at. He feels a little bit better than he did that night and the next morning. He’ll do some running on the side, then he won’t practice. He won’t practice today. I don’t think he’ll practice tomorrow, probably not the next day, but we’ll go all the way to the end.”

It should be noted that linebacker Matthew Adams might have something to say about Cager’s touchdown because the play could have been whistled dead with a would-be sack.

Either way, Cager (hamstring) was part of a contingent of players who returned to practice, including fellow tight end Jack Stoll (concussion) and linebacker Tomon Fox (hamstring).

In the next team period, Jones dropped a perfect pass from 30+ yards into the basket of rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers.

“He did a nice job,” Daboll said of Nabers’ preseason debut. “Did what we asked him to do. Basic game plan. No mental errors. Ran good routes. Blocked. Did his job.”

Jones then hooked up for another long touchdown to Jalin Hyatt going in the other direction in the following session.

Even with Lock’s injury, Daboll does “envision” Jones playing this Saturday against the Texans. “The plan is to play him,” he said. The Giants are not adding another quarterback as of “right now.”

The safeties continue to show they can get the ball. Today, it was Jason Pinnock’s turn to make a leaping interception in the middle of the field.

It was a good practice for the linebackers. Bobby Okereke and Azeez Ojulari showed their skills in coverage with pass breakups. Fox, Brian Burns, Benton Whitley and rookie Darius Muasau notched would-be sacks.

“[Okereke is] really the centerpiece, the middle linebacker position,” Daboll said. “He’s a good communicator. Obviously has good leadership traits. Nominated a captain his first year here. I think he’s taken that to another level with tying the back end with the front end. He’s fast. He’s a ball disruptor. Active player in the run game and the pass game. He’s been a good player for us. We’re going to need him to be a good player this year as well.”

Versatile defensive back Nick McCloud swatted the ball out of the hands of a receiver to break up a pass.

“I wake up every day feeling like I’ve got to prove myself, no matter where I’m at on the depth chart, no matter what the circumstance may be,” McCloud said after practice. “I wake up every day wanting to be in the toughest situations.”

Isaiah Hodgins made a nice sliding catch on a pass from DeVito near the end of practice.