The first day of the rest of Daniel Jones’ dwindling time with the Giants arrived Wednesday, with Jones in the building, in the meetings, on the practice field (although not doing very much) and not at all part of the game plan for the next game, relegated to a non-participant role for the remainder of the season.

Jones is now the No. 3 — or maybe even No. 4 — quarterback, behind newly installed starter Tommy DeVito, and backup Drew Lock. Sometimes, when the starter gets benched and he has an injury guarantee written into his contract, a player will be told or at least given permission to stay away from the team. That, for now, has not happened with Jones and the Giants.

“Look, Daniel’s been a pro, he’s been a good teammate for us,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “This is the role that he has right now for us and I’m glad he’s part of our team.”

Jones on the cloudy afternoon was on the practice field as the Giants (2-8) began preparation for Sunday’s game with the Buccaneers (4-6) at MetLife Stadium.

Jones did not do much to break a sweat in the early periods open to the media.

The way this is going to work is that DeVito gets all the first-team reps, Lock runs the scout team as the backup — as he had done throughout this season — and Jones and Boyle participate in individual drills and throw to receivers running routes.

This is more than a benching for Jones, as the $23 million injury guarantee for 2025 if he suffers a major injury necessitates that the Giants make sure he does not get hurt. So, no real practice for Jones, who might as well be protected with bubble wrap whenever he is at the team facility.

“Not the easiest situation, I understand that,” Daboll said.

Jones, 27, was informed of his permanent demotion on Monday. The next day, Jones, as per usual, went into the team facility to work on an off day. Daboll said Jones attended meetings on Wednesday with a “good attitude.”

That good attitude masked plenty of hurt feelings.

“Obviously he’s upset,” Lock said of Jones.

That did not prevent Jones from being a supportive teammate.

“Honestly, it’s not surprising,” Lock said. “It’s what I expected, him being in there, helping Tommy. Good quarterback rooms are fun to be in. The ones that get ugly, it’s just a tough environment to be in.”

This is an adjustment for all concerned. Nose tackle Dexter Lawrence, a 2019 draft classmate of Jones, said Tuesday he believes Jones is the best quarterback on the team and he did not understand why this move was made. Lawrence and Jones are close friends.

“Dex has been a teammate of Daniel for a while, pretty good relationship there,” Daboll said. “Look, everybody’s not going to agree with the decision and I understand that.”

A day later, the news settled in for Lawrence.

“It’s part of the business and I understand that part of it,” Lawrence said. “I feel for Daniel. Works hard, great dude, relatable, it’s just tough.”

Lawrence said he told Jones, “You’ll get another opportunity and wherever it is, you’re gonna take advantage of it.’’

As for how this decision will play out in the locker room, Daboll sounded confident it will be business as usual, despite the change at quarterback and the financial motives behind making sure Jones does not again take the field.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in our locker room,” Daboll said. “We got a close-knit group. Obviously not where we want to be with the record but I have a lot of confidence in the players and the coaches and the chemistry that we have.”

There is certainly a chance the Giants opt to make Jones inactive on game days and either designate Boyle as the emergency No. 3 quarterback or go with only two quarterbacks — DeVito and Lock — on game days.

Jones’ career record is 22-44-1. Since signing a four-year, $160 million contract in March 2023, Jones is 3-13. He closes out his Giants chapter completing 64.1 percent of his passes for 14,582 yards, 70 touchdown passes and 47 interceptions. He also ran for 15 touchdowns and was sacked 208 times. His career passer rating is 84.3.

If this is all too tough for Jones to handle, he could ask to stay away from the team for the remainder of the season and it is doubtful the Giants would deny that request.

Jones is scheduled to speak with the media on Thursday.

His teammates expect him to stay around.

“Knowing the guy he is,” Lock said, “they’d probably have to kick him out of here for him not to be here.”