This is what you want to see out of your head coach. During Day 1 of NY Giants and Lions joint practices, temperatures were rising for the players throughout. There were multiple fights that broke out, including one that featured quarterback Daniel Jones.
At one point, Jones had enough and got in the middle of a skirmish, which no one wanted to see. Before that went down, though, there was a play where Lions defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike got too close to Jones and batted one of his passes down. QBs are supposed to be off limits. Head man Brian Daboll took major issue with this per The Athletic's Dan Duggan, letting the Lions youngster have it:
Calm Daboll has been replaced by game-day Daboll today. He has been fired up. He blew up on Lions DL Levi Onwuzurike for tipping a Daniel Jones pass from his hand. QBs are off limits in practice and Daboll didn’t appreciate how close Onwuzurike got to Jones. Daboll also very…
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) August 5, 2024
Brian Daboll was not happy with Levi Onwuzurike for going after Daniel Jones
It's easy to see why Daboll would have this reaction. How do we think Dan Campbell would have felt if Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns or Kayvon Thibodeaux got up in Jared Goff's face when they weren't supposed to? Yeah, he would have been livid.
Jones had a solid day of work against the Lions, despite the several brawls breaking out. It should be a confidence boost, while it will also get some of his haters off his back. Even the biggest Jones doubters can't deny the fact that this dime to Malik Nabers was downright impressive:
THE THROW. THE CATCH. pic.twitter.com/zuh7xVlWZj
— New York Giants (@Giants) August 5, 2024
Boom. The only negative from that play is that the officials ruled it out of bounds, which it quite clearly was not. Despite that, Jones can hold his head up high for a great day and Daboll can be pleased with what he saw out of his signal-caller.
So, what about all the fights that broke out? Coaches are never going to complain about passion and fire being showcased, but this is also something that's going to need to be cleaned up. As for the Detroit defenders, lay off Jones on the practice field. Save it for MetLife Stadium in the preseason tilt.