Before the Giants took the field for practice No. 1, general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll held their annual pre-camp press conference at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center. They spoke about everything from injury news to the direction of the quarterback position and their relationship heading into Year 4 with the Giants.

Below are takeaways from the media session:

📰 The Giants made a series of injury-related roster moves the day before the first practice. They placed left tackle Andrew Thomas (rehabbing last year's season-ending foot injury) and running back Eric Gray (knee) on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list and outside linebacker Victor Dimukeje (pectoral) on the non-football injury (NFI) list. Safety Anthony Johnson Jr. (shoulder) was waived/injured.

📰 Schoen said Thomas "should be ready for the opener" on Sept. 7 at Washington. "Again, things change," he added. "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."

📰 Staying on the injury front, wide receiver Malik Nabers was "ready to go" after he missed time in the spring due to a lingering toe issue.

📰 Running back Cam Skattebo and defensive lineman Darius Alexander, two members of the 2025 draft class, are also full-go.

📰 Schoen and Daboll like the "direction the [QB] room is headed." Russell Wilson is the starter, but what about QB2? "We're going to go out here, we're going to practice, guys are going to compete and the roster will be set when the roster's set," Daboll responded. "Our goal right now is just to improve each person every day and we'll take it from there."

📰 The makeup of the quarterback room, from Wilson to Jameis Winston and Tommy DeVito, allows rookie Jaxson Dart to learn from his peers. "I really like the room, so he was in there early, working hard, still learning the offense," Schoen said about Dart, the 25^th overall draft pick. "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."

📰 How and when will the Giants know that Dart is ready? Schoen said he will lean on Daboll for those answers. "I can watch practice and you guys can watch it and then you get back and even after games, I get in there with Dabs on a Monday morning or after practice and oh, he was supposed to run this, that wasn't on Jaxson. So I'm not in the meetings every day, I lean on those guys in our personnel meetings and these guys have been doing it a long time. We've got a really good offensive staff and when they feel he's ready, the time's right or the circumstance is right, then we'll have those conversations."

📰 Schoen sees "some real benefits" for a rookie quarterback to sit and learn, but he has seen it go both ways. "Going through the process, we have Mike Kafka on the staff obviously as our offensive coordinator. He was in Kansas City with Patrick Mahomes. I think he played one game at the end of the year. So we've seen that. Our plan in Buffalo was for Josh [Allen] to probably not play much his first year, but the way it worked out, halftime of the first game, we got blown out by Baltimore and we put him in and he played the rest of the year. I think there's some real benefits from sitting and learning specifically from some of the guys in the room that have the experience that they have. But if the coaching staff at some point feels it's right and he's ready, then I'll leave that up to them."

📰 The Giants are third in the claiming order on the waiver wire, which means it will be a "big preseason" for them in terms of picking up players who will be released. "Once the preseason starts and there's other games again, there's going to be roughly 1,200 to 1,300 players cut that Labor Day Weekend." Schoen said they call it "the second draft."

📰 Schoen on the overall roster: "Just going into day one, there's some young guys that we've just seen in shorts and t-shirts, so once the pads come on, interior O-line, D-line, we will get a chance to see how those guys do when the pads come on. We feel good about where the roster is right now with the 91 players that we have with the international exemption. Now is when the competition really begins over the next few weeks in training camp and I'm looking forward to that. We like the 91 we have now. We're always going to be looking if there's transactions or some of these cuts or trades, whatever it is, we're always going to look to do what's best for the team."

📰 Schoen and Daboll gave thoughtful answers when asked about how their relationship has developed over time.

Daboll: "There's a lot that goes on to running an operation. We laugh about it all the time, ten things that come up between 6 in the morning and 9, like it did today. Different things, organizationally, players from a rehab standpoint and then you work together. Look, we got a great personal relationship, we spend a lot of time together outside the building and a great working relationship. There's things you learn every year, maybe I shouldn't have handled it this way, what do you see from your end outside looking in and he asks the same thing and that's how you try to get better. You make mistakes, you communicate, try to get through the things you need to get through and improve on them, ask for advice, get advice. But the good thing is we do a lot of things, like I said, outside the building as well. I think that helps. I think it helps the team when players do things outside the building. So that when you hit rocky times or tough times or a decision that needs to be made that you can sit there and talk about it and then again, don't be disagreeable. You can disagree but you're not going to be disagreeable all the time. Have good discussions, do what's best for the team and that's why I enjoy working with Joe."

Schoen: "I would say that the relationship outside the building, inside the building and the communication and the respect that we have for each other, both have been doing it for a long time and the ability to have hard, honest conversations together with each other behind a closed door and evaluate decisions, whether it's things we did in-game or draft picks or players that walked out, came in, traded for, whatever we did. We're always evaluating our decisions, but those hard, honest conversations and the amount of respect that we have for one another helps this thing work."

Daboll: "I think it sucks when you're going through it, but the tough times help. We've certainly had a few tough times, but that's when you grow closer too. That's when you're able to have those honest conversations and you never want to go through those tough times. You wish you never lost a game, wish you were where you wanted to be at the end of every season. But that hasn't been the case, but those help you in the long run."