EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Giants will hold their first full-squad training camp practice tomorrow, three months to the day since they selected Daniel Jones sixth overall in the NFL Draft.
Coach Pat Shurmur will certainly discover much about Jones' capabilities in the days, weeks and months to follow. But after leading his second and final workout this morning for rookies and other young players, Shurmur said he already knows much more about Jones than he did on draft night.
"I've learned quite a bit," Shurmur said. "None of it really surprised us in a negative way. He's very smart. He's one of the first guys in, one of the last guys to leave. He gets it from that standpoint. He throws the ball well, moves around well, he executes at a high level out there on the practice field. Training camp is the next step as we prepare for the preseason games and getting him ready to play so that he's ready to go when it's his time."
When that will be is, of course, uncertain. Eli Manning begins his 16th Giants training camp as the starter, a title he expects to keep for the foreseeable future. Both quarterbacks will be closely scrutinized throughout camp. Shurmur did not reveal whether Jones will work exclusively with the second team, or if he will get reps with the starters.
"We'll see how that goes," Shurmur said. "We have a plan for that. It'll sort of reveal itself."
As the coach noted, Jones has impressed since his arrival, throughout the spring workouts and in the two days of rookie camp.
"In my mind, he has exceeded expectations," Shurmur said. "He's very smart. I think as everybody gets to know him…We had more of the information about Daniel Jones than some of the people that covered him. We're less surprised about things than maybe some other people are because we knew he could throw the ball. We knew he could move around. We knew he was smart. We knew he was tough. So we knew all of those things, and he hasn't disappointed us in any of those areas."
Asked specifically how Jones has exceeded expectations, Shurmur said, "We really haven't seen anything that he can't do in terms of playing quarterback. Now it's just a matter of going out and doing it."
What does Shurmur wants to see from Jones in camp and the team's four preseason games?
"Well, continue to grow," Shurmur said. "I think it's important that he learns something new every day. A lot of what he's doing, he's doing for the first time. And it's really a process. You go from not even practicing against a defense, to against your own defense, then you put the pads on, and then you're involved in preseason games. As we go through all of the steps, see him have success."
*Shurmur said tackles Nate Solder (ankle) and Mike Remmers (back), who did not participate in the spring after undergoing surgery, will be on the field tomorrow, though he did not specify to what extent.
"Solder and Remmers will be going," Shurmur said. "I don't see any of those guys, as we develop our list of guys that you're curious about, that it'll be any extended time (off the field)."
*Wide receiver Darius Slayton, the second of the Giants' two fifth-round draft choices, did not practice this morning.
"He just tweaked his hamstring a little bit (yesterday)," Shurmur said. "Nothing serious. He'll be back soon."
*Shurmur listed numerous benefits he expects to derive in his second season as the Giants' coach.
"I have a better idea of our team and how our team responds to adversity," Shurmur said. "How they push through. I have a lot better feel for my coaching staff and I have a lot better feel for our opponents that we're going to play on a yearly basis. We have a better feel for that. We feel like we're developing a winning team. We'll just go out and get to work."
*The Giants exchanged rookie tight ends on their roster, signing Isaiah Searight of Fordham and waiving Eric Dungey, the former Syracuse quarterback.
Searight, who was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from May 10-21, was a three-time All-Patriot League selection for the Rams. In four seasons, he caught 89 passes for 1,119 yards (12.6-yard avg.) and 10 touchdowns. As a senior in 2018, Searight had career-high totals of 42 catches and 479 yards, and tied his career-best with four touchdowns. Searight went to Monmouth Regional High School in Tinton Falls, N.J., located about 50 miles from MetLife Stadium.
