EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones practiced fully on Wednesday for the first time since injuring his neck more than three weeks ago and pronounced himself ready to play against the Raiders in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Jones received medical clearance to practice fully before last Sunday's loss to the Jets. Wednesday was Jones' first chance to have contact in a workout.
Since he was wearing a protective red shirt, no one was supposed to touch him during the practice at the Giants' indoor facility.
Jones missed games against Buffalo, Washington and the Jets and backup Tyrod Taylor started all three. Taylor didn't finish Sunday's 13-10 overtime loss to the Jets after sustaining a rib cage injury in the second quarter. Practice squad quarterback Tommy DeVito played the last 2 1/2 quarters and ran for a touchdown, the only one of the game for the Giants.
“I’m excited,” Jones said after practice. “Excited to be back in the swing of things and going through the week preparing to play. So yeah, I’m excited to be back.”
Jones said he felt good on the field and he had no intention of dialing back the way he plays. Over the past two years, he has been the team's second-best rusher behind Saquon Barkley.
“I’m going to continue to be aggressive and look for opportunities to run when they’re there, and then be smart, get down and protect myself also,” he said. “That’s something I’ve always tried to do and try to continue to improve at so, yeah, that won’t change.”
It's uncertain whether Taylor will be available to be his backup this week. His ribs were examined by a specialist on Wednesday and he was not at practice.
DeVito, who made his NFL debut Sunday, was signed to the active roster and veteran Matt Barkley was signed to the practice squad.
The Giants (2-6) were 1-2 in Jones' absence although they had a chance to win all three games with the defense turning in excellent efforts with the league's worst-scoring offense struggling.
“I’m confident in our group,” Jones said. “I’m confident in what we’re doing, and we’ve just got to put it together, and we’ve got the guys to do it. I’m confident. I think we all are. We’ve got to go out there and show it on Sunday.”
Coach Brian Daboll was happy just to have his No. 1 quarterback back, and there was a chance the No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 draft would not be the only starter returning this week.
“It’s just good to have another player out there with DJ, I know he’s excited,” Daboll said. “He’s played with Saquon for a bit so it’s just good to have him back and we’ll see where these other guys are at the end of the week.”
Daboll said injured offensive tackles Andrew Thomas (hamstring) and Evan Neal (ankle) have a chance to return this week, too. Thomas has not played since the season opener and Neal has missed the past two games. They were limited at practice Wednesday.
Tight end Darren Waller, who left Sunday's game with a right hamstring injury in the second quarter, did not practice Wednesday.
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