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The first sign that Week 1 of Giants season has arrived was evident Monday, when head coach Brian Daboll started imitating a CIA operative.
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Daboll wouldn’t say who won the position battles to start at right guard — where it appeared Greg Van Roten easily held off challenger Evan Neal — or cornerback.
Cor’Dale Flott and Deonte Banks rarely were healthy at the same time after the first two weeks of training camp.
But Daboll’s biggest act of secrecy is trying to hide whether Jaxson Dart or Jameis Winston will be the No. 2 quarterback Sunday against the Commanders.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll speaking to quarterback Jaxson Dart #6, during practice at the New York Giants training facility in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
In fact, Daboll wouldn’t reveal the plan for splitting reps among quarterbacks in practice, beginning with Monday’s closed-to-media walk-through.
“We have a good idea of how we’re going to play,” Daboll said. “That will all come out on Sunday.”
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Daboll traditionally puts the No. 2 quarterback in charge of the scout-team offense while the No. 3 quarterback gets shut out of practice during the regular season.
Giants quarterback Jameis Winston (19) throws a pass at practice in East Rutherford, N.J. Bill Kostroun/New York Post
The blueprint left third-stringer Tommy DeVito behind the eight ball when pressed into action each of the past two seasons.
It sounds like Daboll is amenable to change given the unique circumstances of developing the rookie Dart and possibly getting Winston ready to be one snap away from replacing Russell Wilson.
Unless Dart is the No. 2 — as he was for all of training camp in practice despite Winston being listed ahead of him on the unofficial depth chart.
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“As the week goes on, the backup quarterbacks will get a lot of reps on the [scout] teams and then we’ll decide what we want to do on some of the [practice] periods,” Daboll said. “We’ve done it a variety of ways, but we’ll do what we think is best for each week.”
NFL rules allow teams like the Giants that carry three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster to only count two among their 48 active players for games.
The No. 3 quarterback can play in an emergency situation where both of the first two quarterbacks are injured, but he cannot enter the game for strategic purposes.