Tyrone Tracy injury overshadows rest of Giants’ training camp practice

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — An ankle injury suffered by exciting rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. cast a pall over the New York Giants’ training camp practice on Tuesday at Quest Diagnostics Training Center.

Tracy will be undergoing further imaging at the Hospital for Special Surgery after being injured when he muffed a kickoff on Tuesday. Tracy moved forward to field the ball, mishandled it, twisted to try and catch it before it hit the ground and had his right leg buckle underneath him.

He was carted off the field with an aircast on the lower portion of his right leg.

The fifth-round pick out of Purdue has been impressive thus far, and seemed to have the inside track on the second running back spot behind Devin Singletary.

With Dante Miller (hamstring) also sidelined, undrafted rookie free agent Lorenzo Lingard took some first-team reps near the end of practice. Lingard was just signed on Monday.

“I’m hoping he’s in for a speedy recovery so we can get him back out there on the field because he’s a pretty good back,” said fellow rookie Malik Nabers. “We need him in the backfield catching the ball out of the backfield. So, having him on the field, it makes our offense better.”

Malik is OK

Wide receiver Malik Nabers did not practice on Tuesday, but the rookie wide receiver’s ankle injury is “nothing serious,” according to coach Brian Daboll.

Nabers said Tuesday that he did some jogging earlier in the day without a wrap on the injured left ankle and has “no doubt” he will be ready for the Sept. 8 season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.

“I’m feeling good,” Nabers said. “I don’t think it’s (the ankle) really anything too serious, though.”

Baby steps

Center John Michael Schmitz and offensive tackle Evan Neal took steps forward in their recovery from injuries on Tuesday. Both did team drills for the first time since returning to practice on Sunday.

Schmitz, who missed nearly two weeks with a shoulder injury, took limited reps with the first team. When Schmitz was on the field, the offensive line aligned as follows:

LT Andrew Thomas; LG — Aaron Stinnie (Jon Runyan Jr. did not practice due to a shoulder injury); C — Schmitz; RG — Greg Van Roten; RT — Jermaine Eluemunor.

Neal worked as the second-team right tackle.

Both Schmitz and Neal took two reps at a time before coming off the field.

Rookie watch

Undrafted rookie free agent offensive lineman Jake Kubas continues to look like a player who has an opportunity to make the 53-man roster. When Greg Van Roten slid from right guard to center to replace Schmitz on Tuesday, it was Kubas who took over at right guard with the first team.

The former North Dakota State lineman has worked at both guards and center during training camp.

Earlier in training camp, Daboll had this to say about Kubas:

“He’s got good qualities for an offensive lineman. He’s tough and he’s smart, let me just start there. He’s got good enough movement skills and he had a good play style in college. He’s got a long way to go, I think (assistant offensive line coach) James (Ferentz) and (offensive line coach) Carm (Carmen Bricillo) have done a good job with him. He’s picked up our system. He’s a good communicator for it being only out here his fourth day of practice, albeit OTAs. We’ll try to keep developing him.”

Boom!

Undrafted free agent rookie placekicker Jude McAtamney, who played for Rutgers the past two seasons, had a turn kicking field goals on Tuesday. McAtamney went 6 for 6, with the last and longest kick coming from 60 yards

‘Fantastic job’ by Daniel Jones

Daboll has been complimentary toward quarterback Daniel Jones throughout training camp. Early on, he said he was “proud” of Jones for how he had worked to come back from last season’s torn ACL.

Jones is expected to see his first game action since suffering that injury on Saturday when the Giants face the Houston Texans in their second preseason game.

“He feels good,” Daboll said. “If everything goes as planned, I anticipate him playing and it’ll be good for him.”

Early in training camp, Jones’ accuracy was scattershot, particularly on deep throws. That has not been the case the past couple of practice. On Monday, he completed a beautiful deep ball to wide receiver Jalin Hyatt for a 70-yard touchdown. On Tuesday, he lofted a perfect deep ball to Darius Slayton. He also lofted an excellent touch pass over Kayvon Thibodeaux (yes, Thibodeaux in coverage) to Slayton just inside the left sideline for about a 15-yard gain.

“He’s made strides every day,” Daboll said of Jones. “Again, it’s some new guys that we’re throwing to. It’s the first time he’s been in team. It’s been a steady improvement from when we started when he had his first go through in team and had people around his legs.

“There’s new things, new pieces, new tight ends, new receiver. So, that’s always a work in progress. At least that I’ve been part of, in training camp, when you’re dealing with new pieces and things like that. Him coming back from the injury, I think he’s done a fantastic job. He’s continuing to grow and he’s done well here these last couple weeks.”

Unofficially, I had Jones as 10 of 13 (76.9%) with two drops (Jalin Hyatt, Chris Manhertz) on Tuesday.

Play of the day

As good as Jones was, the throw of the day was probably made by Tommy DeVito. Taking all of the second- and third-team reps, DeVito rolled right off a play fake and launched a deep ball back across the field to Allen Robinson. The ball dropped into Robinson’s arms over safety Jason Pinnock for a touchdown of about 50 yards.

Robinson is having a strong camp in his bid to make the 53-man roster.

Schedule

The Giants will be off Wednesday and will practice Thursday before traveling on Friday. They face the Houston Texans at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday in their second preseason game.