The hush from the small gathering at MetLife Stadium, the sounds of silence, was the stunned reaction to what had transpired on the field. Prized rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux was down, grabbing his right knee, in obvious pain.

This was early in the second quarter Sunday night. For a short while that must have seemed like an eternity to everyone associated with the Giants, it appeared as if Thibodeaux would not get back to his feet. He did and the initial belief is that he dodged a serious injury, although further testing will determine the extent of the damage, if any, to the talented pass rusher.

“I’m good — I’ll be back,” Thibodeaux said as he walked — without a limp — out of the locker room. “We good. Good news. All good news and good wishes.”

The Thibodeaux incident overshadowed what went down in the Giants’ 25-22 preseason victory over the Bengals, although a strong showing by quarterback Daniel Jones was a welcome sight for an offense that has struggled to gain much traction this summer.

Thibodeaux went down when he was cut-blocked by tight end Thaddeus Moss on a running play and immediately went down to the turf, grabbing his right knee.

It looked bad but it was a legal block, coming inside the tackle box.

“That’s the rules, they allow it, we do it as well with tight ends and backs going back to the line of scrimmage,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll said. “It’s a tough block but whatever the rules are, those are the rules.”

The cart came out for Thibodeaux, who remained down. He got to his feet and wanted no part of any motorized help. He walked right past the cart, moving to the sideline under his own power.

 “I think it was a pretty scary moment there,” Jones said. “You never want to see anybody go down. It was a tough play, he saw the block and the collision there. I think he’s doing better.”

Thibodeaux, the No. 5-overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, is having a strong summer in his first NFL training camp, immediately working with the starting defense and expected to be a big contributor in his rookie year.

After getting checked out in the medical tent, Thibodeaux remained on the sideline and conversed with teammates, at times smiling and laughing, before heading inside to the locker room. He was ruled out for the remainder of the game.

Jones took a step forward with a solid showing, completing 14 of 16 passes for 116 yards in his three series — all against the second-team Bengals defense, as coach Zac Taylor opted to sit all his starters. Jones did throw an interception on a pass that was slightly high but hit rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger in stride. Bellinger should have hauled it in. Instead, it slipped through his hands and safety Dax Hill dove for an interception.

“We need to catch it,” Daboll said.

“It’s just getting on the same page with some of that stuff,” Jones said. “I can probably do a better job getting the ball down. I know he’ll make that play. He’s had a good camp and he’s going to be a good player.”

Running back Saquon Barkley was given the night off and it remains to be seen if he gets another snap in the preseason or if his next action comes Sept. 11 in the regular season opener against the Titans.

Jones’ third series was the highlight of his summer, thus far. He directed an 11-play, 84-yard drive capped with a 2-yard touchdown run by rookie Jashaun Corbin. Jones got into a rhythm on the drive, connecting three times with David Sills.

Daboll on Friday said he was going to “revisit” whether or not to play Jones, considering the depleted state of the offensive line.

“I just thought he could use it,” Daboll said. “Our offense could use it with him out there. He played well, was in good command.”

The Giants’ offensive line included Devery Hamilton at left guard filling in for injured Shane Lemieux (and other injured players at the position) and Max Garcia at center (filling in for five other centers whose injuries kept them out of the game). Jones was not under pressure, a good sign for the pass protection.

Davis Webb threw two touchdown passes to Alex Bachman, the second with 35 seconds remaining for the winning points. Bachman caught 11 passes for 122 yards. Webb was 22 of 27 for 204 yards.