New York Giants head coach Joe Judge wants Daniel Jones to take off the red no-contact jersey at some point during training camp.
The intensity at New York Giants training camp this year has been higher than in the last few seasons as head coach Joe Judge prepares his team without preseason games.
Despite the rise in intensity level, one thing has remained the same. Daniel Jones and the rest of the quarterbacks are wearing red, no-contact practice jerseys, which is commonplace in NFL training camps. However, that could change soon for Jones.
On Tuesday Judge was asked if he’d consider having Jones take off the red practice jersey prior to the season opener on Sept. 14 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“You know, we’ve talked about it,” Judge told reporters. “With quarterbacks, you want to go ahead and be calculated with how you start banging them around. I don’t think we’re going to throw him into any Royal Rumbles or anything like that. But at some point, we’ll pop his pads a little bit in a controlled environment.
“Maybe that’s with a young guy who understands kind of hitting him a little bit. But I’m not in a hurry to go ahead and just beat the hell out of him. But at some point, we’ll prepare his body for what he may take in the first game.”
Receivers and quarterbacks warming up. pic.twitter.com/nHCKNs0sOY
— Jason Leach (@JasonKLeach) August 25, 2020
Having Jones practice without the red jersey in a controlled environment would make sense considering he’ll face a Steelers defense that led the NFL in sacks last season with 54. Judge won’t want the defense tackling or sacking Jones, but he’ll want the young quarterback to feel some pressure.
This could also be a psychological tactic by Judge as not having a red practice jersey may make Jones react quicker with his progressions as he would in a game.
The Giants will practice again on Wednesday and Thursday before their Blue and White scrimmage on Friday night. We’ll have to wait and see if and when Judge decides to take the red jersey away from Jones.
