Report: Daniel Jones spotted playing scout team safety at New York Giants practice

Daniel Jones was playing safety for the New York Giants during practice on Thursday. Per Dan Duggan of The Athletic, the veteran quarterback spent part of the open portion of practice wearing a red scout team jersey lined up at safety during an offensive install period. The scout team defense also included QB coach Christian Jones, practice squad offensive linemen, tight end coach Tim Kelly and offensive assistant Christian Daboll.

This comes after the Giants benched Jones as the starting quarterback. On Monday, Giants head coach Brian Daboll announced that Jones has been moved to the third-string QB position and will be behind new start Tommy DeVito and backup Drew Lock. It was then reported that Jones is the team’s fourth quarterback on the depth chart after the team signed Tim Boyle to the practice squad.

“I got a lot of respect for Daniel, I’ve said that before,” Brian Daboll said, per ESPN. “Those conversations will remain private. Certainly, you’re not going to be happy about [being benched] as a competitor, and I respect that.”

While Jones’ performance on the field seems to be the reason the Giants made this move, the former Duke quarterback has a $23 million injury guarantee for 2025. With the addition of Boyle, Jones may not even dress as an emergency option on gamedays. And based on him reportedly lining up at safety during Thursday’s practice, his time in New York has likely come to an end.

Daniel Jones has had an up-and-down career with New York Giants

The Giants selected Jones at No. 6 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. He was named the starter over Eli Manning early in the 2019 season and finished his rookie year with 3,027 yards, 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions with an 87.7 passer rating.

Jones had his best season in 2022, completing 67.2 percent of his passes for 3,205 yards 15 touchdowns and five interceptions with a 92.5 passer rating. He also led the Giants to the playoffs and won a playoff game. In the two postseason games in 2022, Jones threw for 436 yards with two touchdowns and one pick.

Last year, Jones played in just six games due to a torn ACL. In 10 games this season, the 27-year-old completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 2,070 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions with a 2-8 record.