Giants Training Camp Quick Hits: What Greg Van Roten signing means for Evan Neal, Daniel Jones struggles

A few takeaways from Giants practice on Tuesday …

– Greg Van Roten signed. He watched practice from the sideline. He’s coming off the best season of his career with the Raiders. He finished with a ProFootballFocus grade of 75.3, including the ninth-best pass blocking efficiency among guards. I don’t think the Giants sign Van Roten, or Van Roten agrees to sign with the Giants, unless he expects to play quite a bit this season. This aligns pretty closely with Evan Neal (PUP list, ankle) falling out of favor with the Giants. You got the first indication of this when they began training camp with Jermaine Eluemunor at right tackle (he worked at left guard all offseason). This is another notable step. Van Roten is almost exclusively a right guard now. The same day the Giants signed him they started practicing Jon Runyan at left guard. Remember: Among the reasons the Giants had Runyan (a left guard in Green Bay) at right was to protect Neal. Hmm …

– This was an atrocious day for Daniel Jones and the offense. He finished 5-of-14 passing with two near interceptions (Brian Burns, Nick McCloud). He also ate the ball for two additional sacks. Jones missed Jalin Hyatt for a would-be big gain down the middle of the field early. He later completed one to Wan’Dale Robinson over the middle, but his pass forced Robinson to the ground. Robinson had a chance for serious yards after the catch if hit in stride. The final portion of practice for the offense saw them go against their defense. Jones and Co. ran eight plays. They gained yards on one of them: Short pass to Hyatt, incompletion to Malik Nabers, incompletion to Robinson, sack by Ryder Anderson, Devin Singletary run for no gain, Singletary run for no gain, incompletion to Nabers, Singletary run for no gain.

– I think it’s time for the Giants to consider giving Drew Lock some first-team reps.

– Center John Michael Schmitz is still out of practice. So is tight end Lawrence Cager (hamstring). Dexter Lawrence returned (illness) on a limited basis. Burns (ankle) did everything. Little unique one here: Nabers worked far less than he had been in recent days.

– Rookie tight end Theo Johnson saw some run with the first-team offense on Tuesday. He’s clearly impressing the coaching staff.

–  The Giants are off on Wednesday. They return to practice on Thursday.