School is officially back in session.

The Giants returned to the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Wednesday for the team's first practice of training camp.

General manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll spoke to the media before practice, while defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, quarterback Russell Wilson, and wide receiver Malik Nabers met with reporters after.

Pads don't come on until next week, so practice was slightly lighter than normal. However, there was still plenty of action as the offense focused on red zone work.

Here is what we learned Wednesday.

Dexter challenges defense

Following the selection of Abdul Carter with the third overall pick, the Giants' defensive front has been garnering a lot of buzz heading into the season. With Carter joining the likes of Lawrence, Brian Burns, and Kayvon Thibodeaux, the group certainly has the potential to be one of the best in the league, as several different media outlets have predicted over the last few weeks.

But with only one day of training camp complete, Lawrence made it clear it's too early to anoint the unit with any sort of praise. First, they need to go out and prove it, something the star defensive lineman expressed to the rest of the defense.

"It's exciting, it's new challenges," Lawrence said about the atmosphere on Day 1. "As a leader I try to challenge everybody to prove themselves every day, even myself. Prove who we can be. Yesterday I challenged the defense. They want to talk about our D-line and all this, but we haven't done anything yet and we have to come out here every day and improve and get better and challenge each other and just work and be critical and be coachable…

"We have to win on the first and second down first, and that's the most important thing. We can't get to third without winning first and second. And that's the challenge."

Following the team's playoff run in 2022, the Giants have struggled over the last two seasons, despite Lawrence's continued individual success. The 27-year-old told the media he feels a sense of urgency to start winning more games this season, which he shared with his teammates.

"It is a very important thing to me and that's my challenge," the three-time Pro Bowl lineman said about helping the team win. "I didn't hold back meeting with the defense, letting them know if we want to get where we want to go, and that's the Super Bowl, that's the ultimate goal, we got to prepare for that every day. We got to train like that every day. We got to recover like that every day. You got to meet like that every day, you know what I'm saying? So, it's a process. Everything's a process and you have to enjoy it. And if you get bored, find something, challenge yourself like what can I work on today? What can I improve today? And that's the challenge and that's where you see greatness and that's when you get in the flow state."

Thomas "should be ready" for Week 1; Dex, Malik good to go

The Giants made several roster moves Tuesday afternoon ahead of the start of training camp. Left tackle Andrew Thomas and running back Eric Gray were placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, delaying the start of their respective camps. Thomas missed the final 11 games of the season last year due to a foot injury that he's still recovering from. While the star left tackle wasn't on the field for the first day of practice, the team does not seem too concerned about his availability for the start of the regular season.

"He should be ready for the opener," Schoen said before practice. "Again, things change. You can never be one hundred percent, but we're going to take it day by day with him. When he is ready, he'll be out there, but we anticipate him to be ready for the opener."

Thomas wasn't the only star player not on the field during spring practices, as Dexter Lawrence and Malik Nabers also spent most of the offseason workout program as spectators. But that changed with the start of training camp, as the defensive lineman and wide receiver were both out there during team drills. Nabers made his presence felt on Day 1 with several touchdown grabs from Russell Wilson.

"Still in that process, but it's going good," Lawrence said after practice. "I think we all have a good plan right now. I got some reps in today, felt good, felt solid. It is a day-by-day thing, but I'm feeling good."

"The toe is good," Nabers told the media. "In spring, we had a great rehab to try to get me back, so I'm back feeling good, feeling a little bit better and healthy. Out there running around, I feel good."

Rookie draft picks Darius Alexander and Cam Skattebo were also both participating in team drills Wednesday after sitting out for most of the spring. The first-year running back showed off his strong hands with a couple of touchdown catches.

Giants like direction of QB room

One of the biggest storylines surrounding the Giants all offseason was the reformation of the quarterback room. Veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston were signed in free agency before Jaxson Dart was selected in the first round of the draft. The three signal-callers joined Tommy DeVito, the lone returnee, in the team's new-look QB room.

With it being his first NFL training camp, Dart was the subject of many questions when Schoen and Daboll met with the media.

"I think it's important for all the players to develop," Brian Daboll said when asked about the development of Dart. "That's what this time of year is for. And then once we're ready to go against Washington, we put the best guys out there that we see fit. Russell's had a really good spring, the other quarterbacks have as well. I like that room. I like the direction the room is headed. But for all young players, I know you asked about Jaxson, but it's really every young player, our goal is to develop those guys and when they're called upon, be ready to go."

"He had a good spring," Schoen added. "Again he's a rookie so there's going to be some mistakes obviously, and it's good. The makeup of the room allows him to learn from some of his peers. To echo what Dabs just said, I really like the room so he was in there early, working hard, still learning the offense. It's a lot and you got to know what everybody's doing, but you saw leadership, you saw arm talent, you saw athleticism and again, he's a rookie. He's got a long way to go and again, he's got a really good supporting cast in there to help. We've got a really good coaching staff as well, so he's in a good spot right now."

On Wednesday, Daboll reiterated the same message he has been telling the media since the start of the offseason workout program – Wilson is the team's QB1.

"These guys will be out here competing, but Russ is our starter," the head coach said.

Russ: 'It was a great first day'

Speaking of Wilson, the veteran looked sharp in his first training camp practice as a Giant. He connected with several different pass-catchers for touchdowns, including one to Wan'Dale Robinson, one to Tyrone Tracy Jr. and several to Nabers. The 36-year-old was pleased with the offense's performance on Day 1, although he did say there is always room for improvement.

"It was a great first day," Wilson told reporters. "I thought we did a really good job. I thought we executed well. I thought we did some really good things, there's always things that we could always get better at after first day especially, but I thought we did a really good job. Obviously Wan'Dale in the first play, scoring a sweet touchdown. Just some of the things we did well. I thought Malik had two or three nice touchdowns. Some guys made some big-time plays. Tracy had a good day in the end zone, as I mentioned, Wan'Dale, the offensive line did a great job communicating and being crisp and we're so much further ahead than where we were in OTAs, but we still got more to go, so that's the good part."

As mentioned above, Daboll made it clear before the team took the field for the first practice that Wilson is the starting quarterback.

Not only does he bring a ton of experience to the quarterback position, not to mention a Super Bowl championship, but he also provides a level of leadership that is unparalleled. We're only one day into training camp but his presence is already being felt by those around him.

"I've been watching him since the Super Bowl when he won, so I've been watching him a long time," Nabers said of Wilson. "My favorite team was the Seahawks at the time, but I was really on defense at the time, so Legion of Boom was really going up. I've been watching him a long time and to get great passes from him, get to see his leadership – I understand now why he's been doing it for so long. To have that on side of me in my locker room is just an extra mentor that I have on side of me. I'm kind of taking that challenge up to move forward and better myself and hopefully we can do some great things this year."