Daniel Jones appears to be a fast healer.
The New York Giants quarterback Jones told reporters this week that he is confident he will be ready for Week 1 of the 2024 campaign despite suffering a torn right ACL late last season. Jones participated in individual and 7-on-7 drills on Thursday and came away from the session feeling good.
“It feels good. It felt good out there,” said Jones, per Jordan Raanan of ESPN. “But just getting back in the swing of things and playing football against a defense, against guys moving around. I thought it was good [on Thursday]. Continue to kind of progress and continue to work on things.
“I don’t have any doubt about it right now,” the 26-year-old QB added about his availability to begin next season.
Jones suffered the torn ACL only about six-and-a-half months ago (in Week 9 last season against Las Vegas). ACL tears can often be nine-to-12-month injuries, and the Giants will begin the 2024 season in early September (right around the nine-to-10-month mark for Jones). For reference, Cincinnati QB Joe Burrow missed roughly nine-and-a-half months with his 2020 ACL tear, but Arizona QB Kyler Murray was out 11 months with his 2022 ACL tear.
All that suggests that Jones would be slightly ahead of schedule to return under center by Week 1. The Giants declined to take a quarterback in this year’s draft (selecting WR Malik Nabers at No. 6 overall instead), so the starting QB job should be Jones’ for the taking again once he is ready.
Tommy DeVito finished out much of last season as the starter for the Giants after Jones got injured, and the team also brought in another well-known veteran QB this offseason. But for the time being, all signs point to Jones reclaiming his starting gig for Week 1 against Minnesota.
