Daniel Jones split the second-team offensive reps with Alex Tanney at Tuesday’s Giants OTA practice, with the rookie getting the lion’s share of the work as starter Eli Manning’s rough spring continued.

The incremental increase in Jones’ workload is by design.

“I think Daniel’s competing and getting better every day,” Giants head coach Pat Shurmur said after practice. “I think he’s like every player on the team. They’re getting themselves ready to play Day 1. If they’re in there, great. If not, they’ll continue to get better. I think that’s Daniel’s approach. He’s doing everything in his power to get ready.

“When he’s in there, it has to look like football. He has to get completions, drive the ball down the field, make the proper run-checks and do everything necessary as a quarterback and then fine-tune the fundamentals. I see him getting better every day.”

Jones’ most noteworthy throw of the day was an interception on a pass intended for wide receiver Darius Slayton, that slipped through the rookie receiver’s and into the arms of Henre’ Toliver.

However, Manning hasn’t exactly separated himself from the rookie through the two practices that have been open to the media.

Manning’s second pass of Tuesday’s practice was batted down by outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter, who came in unblocked and swatted the ball to the ground as Manning tried to roll to his left on a screen pass.

Later, Manning was intercepted deep over the middle of the field by safety Antoine Bethea, on a pass that wasn’t in the area of a Giants receiver.

Despite a sluggish start from Manning to the spring, Shurmur isn’t concerned as the veteran continues to work through getting his timing down with a new-look receiving corps.

“I thought they threw the ball fine,” Shurmur said. “A couple of balls might have got away from them, but that’s part of dealing with the rain. We all know we played a lot in the rain last year, so that’s important.”

Here’s a look at the observations from Tuesday’s practice:

* Spencer Pulley with first-team offense:

It appears that for the second straight season, there will be a battle for the starting center job. Tuesday, Spencer Pulley took the vast majority of the first-team reps with Jon Halapio working with the second-team. During the first-team drills, Jones took extra time taking snaps from Halapio to work on getting timing down.

This offseason, the Giants tendered Halapio and signed Pulley to a long-term contract extension. Pulley started nine games at center in 2018, after Halapio was lost for the season with a fractured leg and ankle in Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys.

* Dink and dunk offense?

Much of Tuesday’s practice was spent on running screen passes to running backs and shallow crossers or routes in the flat to wide receivers. It is still early in the spring, but the Giants’ offense has yet to develop a consistent deep-threat that’s capable of taking the top off the defense. Likewise, when the Giants tried to push the ball downfield with Manning, the pass was either intercepted or off target on Tuesday.

* Young cornerbacks take flight:

Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins was absent from practice, attending a graduation for a family member, which opened the door for first-round pick DeAndre Baker to take the first-team reps as one of the outside cornerbacks. The first-team secondary consisted of safeties Jabrill Peppers and Bethea, with Baker and Sam Beal on the outside and Grant Haley as the nickel cornerback. Despite a nearly complete overhaul of the secondary, this group continues to flash and frequently finds themselves around the football.

Matt Lombardo may be reached at MLombardo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardoNFL