Daniel Jones has a shot to play Sunday for Giants

Daniel Jones took the first rep of passing drills with the Giants receivers in Thursday’s practice, just like a starting quarterback normally does.

Then, as if to underline his apparent return to that role, he bumped backup quarterback Mike Glennon out of the way so he could take the second rep as well.

Jones still is not cleared to play on Sunday and remains in the NFL’s concussion protocol, but he has progressed rapidly through the first four steps of the five-step process. Thursday he was a non-contact participant in the team’s practice, listed officially as limited. The next and final hurdle for him to clear is a full practice and the approval of an independent neurologist, both of which could come as soon as Friday.

"At this point," Joe Judge said before the practice, "everything looks positive."

Judge conceded that he could not say for certain whether Jones will play on Sunday.

"The one thing about these situations is it’s out of our hands," he said. "This isn’t like some kind of soft tissue or joint that the medical staff can make an assessment on. This is an independent doctor [who has to sign off on Jones’ return]."

But based on Jones’ role in Thursday’s workout, and his sprint through the protocol, it seems obvious the team is operating under the assumption he’ll be on the field to face the Rams.

"He seems like he’s doing fine," offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said. "He seems like himself."

If Jones is cleared, the Giants say they will use him like himself, too. There will be no pulling of plays to minimize the hits he takes, no trying to avoid the kinds of situations like Sunday’s when he received the helmet-to-helmet hit against the Cowboys and was so dazed he could not walk off the field.

"If he’s back and ready to go, we’re going to play football," Garrett said. "We’re going to ask him to do what we need to do. You don’t want to constantly put your quarterback in harm’s way. We have other guys who can make plays for us. But DJ running the ball has been a positive thing for us and we want to find that balance."

Garrett did not admonish Jones for lowering his head and shoulder and trying to reach the end zone on the play when he was injured.

"It’s pro football," Garrett said. "Guys go out and try to make plays. Unfortunately it didn’t work out for us . . . He thought he had an opportunity to score and he’s proven he can be a tough, competitive player and make some of those plays for us."

Garrett did say, though, that he has spoken to Jones about curtailing risks as much as possible as a runner.

"You don’t want to overdo that," he said. "I think he’s understanding more and more the balance of that."

It’s a similar balance that the Giants must consider when determining whether to play Jones a week after his concussion, assuming he is cleared.

"We would never put a player back out there if he wasn’t healthy enough to play," Garrett said. "Certainly in a situation with a concussion we wouldn’t do that as an organization, as a coaching staff. We care too much about these guys to put them in a situation where they aren’t right."

Jones is close to being declared right.

And right back on the field without missing a game.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.