Bet the under on Daniel Jones rushing yards in the first half of the Giants’ 2022 season.

Brian Daboll said at The Breakers in Palm Beach this week that he typically designed more running plays for Josh Allen during the gotta-have-it moments late in the Buffalo Bills’ seasons.

And that is one way the Giants’ head coach might balance protecting the injury-prone Jones with utilizing his mobility.

“You try to use your players the best way you can use them to try and win a game,” Daboll said. “It might not start early in the season like that, but as you figure out what you are and what you need to do, you can develop to that. Like with Josh, how many quarterback runs did we really run and design? Probably more a little bit later in the year when it was crunch time.

“But that’s knowing the player, too, where a guy wants the ball in his hands in the most critical moments of the game [and] you can count on him to do that,” the coach added. “Daniel has a really good skill set in that regard. How much of it we’ll do? You never know.”

Daboll will learn quickly that Jones wants the ball in his hands in the clutch, just like Allen. Jones will have to earn Daboll’s trust that his running won’t result in turnovers and injuries that compromise the quarterback’s make-or-break fourth year.

That process begins Monday when the Giants’ offseason program kicks off. Daboll said Jones (neck) “should be ready to go” for practices at the start of spring workouts.

MEET THE NEW GUYS

GM Joe Schoen said he’s been “a little bit handcuffed in terms of the players we can pursue” due to the Giants’ lack of salary cap space. But he feels he accomplished his three priorities in free agency nevertheless: signing a starting guard in Mark Glowinski, a starting center in Jon Feliciano, and a backup quarterback in Tyrod Taylor.

Schoen said the Giants are still trying to “get in a place” this offseason “where you can be a little bit more active in free agency, maybe not always at the top of the market, but you can find a way to get your quantity and quality at the right value.” That is one reason why a James Bradberry trade is imminent.

It’s unclear how effective Feliciano will be at center. He is a guard by trade. Daboll worrisomely cited Feliciano’s practice time at the position as proof of what he can do in the middle.

“He’s played guard, played some backup center where I was at and he’s done a good job,” Daboll said. “He’s played it a fair amount, maybe not in games, but I’ve seen him in practices and things like that.”

Feliciano played only eight of his 447 snaps at center last year, all in relief in the playoffs, per Pro Football Focus. He played 203 of 758 at center in 2020, when most of the stadiums had no fans in the stands. And he played 104 of 1,031 snaps there in 2019 and eight of 47 in 2016. He did not play center at all in 2015, 2017 or 2018.

Daboll and Schoen both cited Feliciano’s “familiarity” with Daboll’s offense, though, and the GM was adamant that “his best position right now in his career is at center.”

REBUILD TRIPPED UP BY CAP

Schoen said that the NFL Combine that he doesn’t believe in sacrificing his first year for the long term. He wants to “compete today” and “build for the future” simultaneously.

“You guys asked me about a rebuild before,” Schoen said at the combine. “I don’t wanna go out and get my head beat in ever. I wanna be able to have a competitive team and still do what’s best for the franchise in the future. I’d like to build the roster the best we can so we can be competitive this year.”

Reality does seem to have set in for John Mara and the Giants’ brass, however, that 2022 could be another difficult season as they clear the cap up for 2023.

Mara conceded that the Giants’ salary cap limitations have them going down to go up.

“I don’t think that’s unfair,” Mara said of that characterization. “We didn’t have a lot of cap space. It wasn’t gonna be a real active free agency market for us.”

And Daboll urged patience from everyone in and around the organization on expectations, with an important NFL Draft and offseason program still to go.

“I think the big thing is we’re still about five months out from playing a game,” Daboll said. “And nobody panic, everybody just take one day at a time and try to add as many pieces to make it as competitive as you can make it, and keep building a team all the way through the season. So team building and adding players, that’s still — we’ve got a long way to go on that.”

INJURY UPDATES

Schoen said the “goal” with rehabbing LB Blake Martinez (ACL) and WR Sterling Shepard (Achilles) is “to have them on the field in August.” The Giants won’t rush them. Naturally, they expect Martinez to be back sooner given that he got hurt in Week 3 of last season and Shepard went down late in the year … Schoen didn’t have an answer on center/guard Nick Gates, who continues to rehab from his gruesome Week 2 leg fracture. “Good question. Wait and see on that one. We’re still not sure,” Schoen said.

OWNER-SPEAK (OR NOT SPEAK)

The Giants conducted an extensive GM search but did not interview Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, a popular candidate eventually hired by the Minnesota Vikings. The highly-educated Adofo-Mensah has a less typical, analytical background, rather than a traditional scouting background. Mara was asked why he didn’t interview Adofo-Mensah, and his answer boiled down to: “I just wasn’t aware of him I guess. I don’t know.” Mara said he had started the vetting process by scouring the NFL’s video database of prospective coach and GM interviews — done every year at the combine — but he couldn’t remember watching one of Adofo-Mensah. “I can’t answer that,” he said. Mara was satisfied that the Giants’ did a “thorough job” in the search, though.

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Co-owner Steve Tisch was friendly when approached by the Daily News at The Breakers, but once again he did not do an on-the-record interview with the media. He hasn’t done one since Jan. 2020, prior to a personal tragedy that summer. He still owns 50% of the team, however, and tipped the scales in the firing of coach Joe Judge in January.

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Mara’s first quote was a memorable one. His interview kicked off with a reporter suggesting the Giants were having a quiet offseason.

“You think?” Mara said, incredulous with a laugh. “Well, in terms of free agency, yeah. But we hired a new general manager and head coach. Got sued. I mean…”

And later, when Mara was talking football, he expressed the primary hope that all fed-up Giants fans have for Jones, the offense and the team.

“Our offensive line should be better,” he said, “God willing.”

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