The Giants had just run down Hill Belichick after their first joint practice with the Patriots when one of my old friends from the New England press stopped me to ask, “Which of the New York newspapers will have the headline:“ We Got the Wrong Jones! ‘”?
Of course, the Patriots ’first-round draft pick, Mac Jones, taking advantage of Cam Newton’s COVID-related absence, had a day that wasn’t going to go well in the movie session with Joe Judge and the Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, while Daniel Jones was not as sharp as he should be and is expected to be once the cavalry returns to the city and everyone can calm down for a serious practical interception by the center by the safety of Patriots Kyle Duggar.
Everyone – and no one but the Giants ’Jones – is breathlessly waiting for the return of Saquon Barkley, Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney, so it’s no wonder why the Giants’ Jones was working a bit on his reading option in the swelter. .
But let’s not forget what a veteran under the radar with skin on the wall, especially as a red zone threat, has a chance to mean for the Giants ’Jones.
It is named after Kyle Rudolph, who was a spectator for sore eyes dressed in his blue number 80 for the first time as a giant after low-season foot surgery and activation of the PUP list on Wednesday.
“For me, this is the first football I’ve had to play since December,” Rudolph said, “so I still have a long way to go, a lot of work ahead, but that’s what I love to do. So the last few months have been hard to see every day, but I have to give a lot of credit to our medical staff, our coaches and our doctors …. Here I am back in practice today, and I thought it was damn good. ”
Rudolph got his feet wet with limited repetitions and did not predict whether he would be ready for the opening of the Sept. 12 regular season against Denver.
“One of my favorite sayings is,‘ You eat an elephant biting yourself every time, ’so if I see myself in two weeks,‘ Ohmigod, how will I prepare to play a game? “I’ll never get there,” Rudolph said.
Can’t wait to get there and play catch with the Giants’ Jones.
“It’s been amazing to see him,” Rudolph said. “I was a big fan of his from afar. Viouslybviament, we came to the Vikings a couple of years ago and our defensive guys had fun with their talent. And now, knowing him as a player and as an individual, his ability to lead, the guys gravitate towards him, and that goes a long way, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The continuity is huge and we are meeting behind Daniel. “
From 2015-19, before his 2020 season was reduced after 12 games, Rudolph took 30 touchdown passes. Remember it’s a 6 foot 6 and 260 pound goal that was Pro Bowler in 2012 and 2017. It had a drop over the last three seasons.
“He’s played a lot of football at a very high level, he knows the game inside and out, he knows how to play, he knows how to open up and catch the ball,” the Giants ’Jones said. “I think it will make a difference for us and he’s excited to make it out.”
Since he took six touchdown steps as a rookie, these are Evan Engram’s total TDs in the last three years: 3, 3 and 1. Rudolph’s presence could give offensive judge and coordinator Jason Garrett a tight tandem of Belichick-ian.
“It’s a receiving threat, it’s a blocking threat, it’s very smart in the movie theater; every meeting teaches me something,” Engram said, “and I know it’s the same for the rest of the guys. So, literally, he will help us in all aspects of the game, I am very excited for him ”.
Rudolph, who will turn 32 in November, had played 93 consecutive games before the Vikings placed him on the injured reserve after a foot injury at week 13. I asked him: What makes Kyle Rudolph a weapon of the week? red zone?
“A great goal. … I have a lot of basketball in my background, “Rudolph said.” You see the continuity between the game of basketball and the tight end position. What happens with the red zone is that the windows are much narrower, there there is a lot less space, I try to be very proud of making tight window closures and when the quarterback has the confidence of me to throw the ball to me window, take it for him ”.
Asked what he can do for his Jones, the judge said: “We haven’t seen him in the field with Daniel, which would be unfair to make him some kind of prediction or statement right now. I know he’s working really hard. Obviously he has a very complete curriculum, he is a good player, he brings a lot of value in situational football, he is a great goal with good hands “.
Rudolph also adds a wealth of experience, wisdom and maturity off the field to a young and evolving team.
“I have a bit of the Patriot Way and the culture that the coach’s judge came from because I played coach Charlie Weis at Notre Dame,” Rudolph said. “I followed this program for a long time and you see the culture you are trying to instill here with us as the New York Giants.
“We have a very young team. It’s a team that has to learn to win. And he says it all the time, “You can’t start winning until you lose.” And you see that day if day also the way it pushes us in our foundations, in our technique. For me, it’s the first time I’ve had a head coach who isn’t a defensive coordinator. He is a head coach in charge of the whole team and it has been a lot of fun for me to learn from him ”.
“He said it the first day …‘ It’s not rewarding if you haven’t worked for what you earn, ’and this team will work for everything we earn this year … the guys are very proud of the product we put on the field because we have worked for it “.
When I asked Rudolph, a 2011-2020 Viking, if he had been on a better-equipped team than this, he laughed and said, “Not at all. There is no possibility. “The X factor for the Giants’ Jones.