New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones went down with a torn ACL in Week 9 and didn’t have his reparative surgery until Thanksgiving.
Because of that, many assumed Jones wouldn’t be ready to start the 2024 regular season. However, the injury itself was clean, and the surgery was successful.
Since then, Jones has been hard at work — never taking a day off — in an effort to return not only by Week 1 of next season but by the start of training camp.
General manager Joe Schoen now shares that same optimism.
“He’s doing well. He’s running in a pool now, so he’s progressed to that,” Schoen told SiriusXM NFL Radio earlier this month. “He’s in there every day working hard. Again, I’ve said it multiple times: He’s a kid you’re going to have to pull back.
“He’s (in there) with our early-morning workout people. He’s in there by 6:30. He’s already getting his workout in every day. So, he’s going to work hard at it.”
For many, that timeline feels a bit pie-in-the-sky. After all, it wasn’t too long ago that an ACL tear meant missing an entire calendar year. However, thanks to advancements in medical technology, athletes have been able to return much quicker.
ESPN’s Jordan Raanan broke down recovery times for some of the NFL’s top quarterbacks earlier this week:
If recent history suggests anything, Jones will be back at practice sometime this summer at the latest. The return-to-practice times for high-profile NFL quarterbacks in recent years following ACL tears: Joe Burrow: seven months; Deshaun Watson: six months; Ryan Tannehill: nine months; Jimmy Garoppolo: seven months; Joe Flacco: seven months; and Robert Griffin: six months.
Raanan notes that the longest recovery in recent history belongs to Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, who didn’t return for over nine months. However, some of that had to do with decision-making within the organization.
Jones will certainly have some obstacles to overcome because the healing process is never linear.
“Right side is a bigger deal in strength in terms of pushing off to be accurate downfield, but less in terms of being skittish because it’s the front leg that is always exposed,” said Dr. David Chao, the former team doctor for the Los Angeles Chargers. “[Jones] does run the ball but, believe it or not, the first thing to come back is acceleration and high-end speed. Straight line. But cutting and deceleration are the last thing to come back. But he’s kind of a straight-line guy. He doesn’t have much wiggle, right?”
Barring a setback, Jones will return at some point this summer and should assume his starting role under center come Week 1.
