Make it two straight for quarterback Tommy DeVito and the New York Giants after defeating the New England Patriots 10-7 at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
New York secured the victory when New England kicker Chad Ryland missed a 35-yard field goal with six seconds to go.
DeVito was not great, but he was good enough; he completed 17 of 25 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown; he had zero interceptions, but he did lose a fumble.
However, this game was about the defense, who intercepted QB Mac Jones twice in the first half, and his replacement Bailey Zappe once in the second half, which led to 10 points for the Giants.
In the last two weeks, the Giants forced nine turnovers, but according to a report from FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer, there’s a rift between head coach Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale.
After their win over the Patriots, Daboll discussed his relationship with Martindale.
“I’d say the biggest argument that Wink and I have had is who has the last piece of pizza,” Daboll said. “I got a lot of respect for Wink. He’s done a good job. I’ll leave it at that…
“I got a lot of respect for Wink. He’s a heck of a coach. I’m glad he’s on the staff.”
Back to DeVito, the New Jersey native, who played a high school state championship game at MetLife Stadium, got his first start at MetLife as a pro on Sunday, and he was happy to get another win.
“It feels great,” DeVito said about winning at MetLife Stadium. “Any game after a win is awesome, but to be able to do it here at home for my first time is surreal. I’m going to enjoy the moment.”
The undrafted rookie free agent was excited to hear his name introduced to the Giant faithful.
I’m not going to lie, I kind of blacked out,” he said. “I was kind of just in my element. I didn’t know if people were cheering or booing or what was going on. It could’ve been anything, but I was just locked in, enjoying it.”
Jones(ACL) is out for the season, and Tyrod Taylor(ribs), but Daboll did not wholly rule out going back to the veteran quarterback.
“We’ll have our bye week here,” Daboll said. “We’ll discuss a lot of things. Look at a lot of things. So, over the next few days, that’s what we’ll do.”
New York returns on Monday night, Dec. 11, at home against the Green Bay Packers.
What a difference a week makes for New York Giants rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito.
In his second career start, the undrafted rookie free agent completed 18 of 26 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns against the Commanders(4-7). Two of his touchdown passes went to Saquon Barkley, and the third went to Darius Slayton. The Giants (3-8) forced a season-high six turnovers, including an Isaiah Simmons pick-six to seal the game late in the fourth; New York would end their three-game losing streak and defeat Washington 31-19 at FedeXField on Sunday.
DeVito gets his victory as starter in the NFL.
“It means a lot. It means a lot to a sports team, right?” DeVito said after the win. “After the last couple weeks of not getting the result we wanted, just to have that feeling in this game which is not getting the result we wanted in the end, you know, it means a lot. We’re going to enjoy it. We’re gonna celebrate it but we know what it takes.”
The Livingston, New Jersey native, who became the first Giants quarterback with at least five touchdowns in his first two NFL starts since 1950, took a beating on Sunday. He was sacked nine times. This is the first victory in Giants history in a game when their quarterback(s) was sacked at least nine times.
“I hate to put it back to my college days, but I got beat up a little bit when I was in college,” DeVito said. “So I’ve kinda been in some similar situations like that before but I mean that’s part of the quarterback position. You have to stand in there and you’ll take those hits and deliver the ball to your teammates and do that element of it. I mean, I continue to trust in those guys.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll added: “Yeah, I mean, he’s tough. He’s a tough guy. Again, when you have that many sacks, and they weren’t all on the offensive line, I’ll tell you that right now. We could have done some things better, but we did a good job of sometimes capitalizing on them. In terms of getting backed up, a lot of times we had to punt the ball because we got behind the sticks, but he’s a tough-minded guy.”
Despite DeVito’s struggles against the Jets and Cowboys, the Giants stuck with DeVito, and Daboll has been happy with his work ethic and progress.
“Yeah, I mean I was asked a fair amount of questions about bringing in some older guys and thought this guy was a good young player to work with,’ Daboll said. “Again, he’s played in two and a half games, so there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, but he certainly has put the work in… There’s a lot of things he did good and a lot of things we can help him improve on.”
Notes:
The Giants improved to 2-2 in NFC East games. Including their 14-7 victory last month in MetLife Stadium, the Giants swept the season series against Washington for the first time since 2020. The Giants are 8-2-1 in their last 11 games against Washington. Both losses occurred in 2021.
The Giants last had three interceptions in a game on Nov. 21, 2021, in a victory against Philadelphia. Darnay Holmes had one of the picks in that game and one Sunday. *The Giants’ three fumble recoveries were their highest total since they had three on Oct. 2 2022, against Chicago.
New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones’ season ended on Sunday after he left in the second quarter of New York’s 30-6 loss to the Raiders.
Jones, who signed a four-year, $160 million contract with the Giants in the offseason, suffered a torn right ACL when he went down without being hit.
The 26-year-old missed the previous three games because of a neck injury, and now, he will miss the rest of the season and possibly parts of next season.
On Wednesday, Jones discussed how he injured his right knee.
“That play before the end of the first quarter, I just tried to make a cut, felt my knee kind of shift a little bit, kind of buckle in a different way,’ Jones said. “Wasn’t exactly sure what it was, just knew it kind of felt different. And then, tried to jog on it, do some light cutting in between the quarters and it felt okay, so I went back out there. I got to the top of my drop, felt that same kind of kind of shift and buckle in my leg, my knee kind of gave out a little bit there. So, I knew something was up at that point. I had to go in and get checked out.”
According to Jones, he has not set a date for surgery, but he expects to have the surgery in the coming weeks.
After making the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and winning a postseason game for the first time since 2011, many expected the Giants to be playoff contenders in 2023; however, injuries have hurt this team. Their best offensive lineman, LT Andrew Thomas, just returned after missing multiple games with a hamstring injury. In addition, Saquon Barkley missed a few games with an ankle injury, and tight end Darren Waller was placed on injured reserve last week due to a hamstring injury. Plus, multiple offensive linemen have gone down with injuries, and now they lost their starting quarterback.
Jones talked about how he’s feeling emotionally after the injury.
“I mean, it’s tough, for sure,” Jones said. “You put a lot into the season; you put a lot into preparing to play, and to get it taken from you through an injury is definitely tough. That’s real, and that’s something that you deal with as a player, but it’s part of the game at this level. At any level, really, it’s something that you have to deal with, and part of it. I understand that, and it’s unfortunate, but I can’t afford to feel sorry for myself or sulk. It’s part of it, and I’ll be fine. I’ll bounce back, attack the rehab process like I have anything else, and come back stronger.”
Giants coach Brian Daboll says Tommy DeVito will be the team’s starting quarterback when the Giants head to Dallas to face the Cowboys on Sunday. At this point, the 2-7 Giants are one of the worst teams in football and will probably be in line for a high pick in the 2024 draft, which means they could grab USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye, which could mean that Jones may have played his last down in New York.
However, at this point, Jones is just focused on getting healthy.
“I’m focused on what I’m doing right now and what I can control and what’s in front of me, and that’s this rehab process, my knee, healing that up and then doing everything I can to help this team finish strong and play well,” Jones said. “That’s what I’m focused on, and I’m excited to watch these guys finish.”
On Sunday, in the battle of New York between the Jets(4-3) and Giants (2-6), the Giants were one yard away from winning their third game of the season. The Giants played most of the game without either of their top two quarterbacks. Daniel Jones missed his third consecutive game with a neck injury. His replacement Tyrod Taylor, suffered a rib injury in the second quarter, and undrafted rookie free agent Tommy DeVito had to play the rest of the way
With 28 seconds to go, the Giants led 10-7 and had a 4th and one from the Jets’ 17-yard line. The Giants had been running the ball well all day against the Jets and racked up 203 rushing yards. If they get the first down, the game is over. If they make the field goal, the Jets would have to score a touchdown to win.
Ultimately, Giants coach Brian Daboll decided to kick the field goal, and the unthinkable happened: Graham Gano missed a very makeable 35-yard field goal. Gano missed two field goals on Sunday.
The Jets, who struggled on offense all game long, were able to drive 58 yards, and Greg Zuerlein would make 35-yard at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
In the extra session, Zuerlein would make a 33-yard field goal, and the Jets would win 13-10 in OT.
After the game, Daboll was asked about his decision to kick the field goal.
“Kick a field goal there, and they have 24 seconds with no timeouts, and they need a touchdown,” he said. “So, counted on making the field goal, and then they’d have 24 seconds with no time outs, still have to drive it the length, and our defense was playing well all game. That’s why I made the decision.”
Before their game-tying drive in regulation, the Jets had struggled on offense. After scoring a touchdown in the first quarter, the Jets either punted, had a fumble, or a turnover on downs, which led to Daboll’s decision to kick the field goal.
“It’s a decision that we made to try to kick a field goal with Graham(Gano),” Daboll said. “Our defense was—they were like, 0-for-12 on third down. They were playing well. That’s the decision we made. It didn’t work out.”
Jets coach Robert Saleh thought kicking the field goal was the right move.
“I felt like kicking the field goal was the right thing to do,” he said. “You make it a touchdown lead, no timeouts, 30 seconds left. I probably would have done the same thing.”
Saquon Barkley, who rushed for 128 yards on a career-high 36 carries, wanted the ball in that spot, but he’s okay with Daboll’s decision.
“We have Graham Gano, one of the greatest kickers of all time to be honest,” Barkley said. “That’s life, sometimes it doesn’t go your way, but we’re going to continue to have faith in him. We had faith in him coming into that moment, and we’ll continue to have faith in him after that moment. That’s football. That’s life. It didn’t go our way and that’s the situation, but as a competitor – yeah you want the ball, but I’m not going to harp in that situation. I’ve got to find a way to get the first down before that.”
In hindsight, it wasn’t the right call, but in all reality, Daboll made the right call. The Jets were not scoring a touchdown in that spot. In fact, it’s shocking that the Jets were able to get in position to kick the game-tying field goal.
Regarding the Jets, their defense is carrying this team. They have now won three straight, and they are finding ways to win games. Zach Wilson(17/36, 240 yards, touchdown) found a way late in regulation and OT.
In the future, they will need Wilson to make a few more plays, and if he can do that, the Jets can make the playoffs.
Notes:
-Both offenses struggled on Sunday; the Giants and Jets converted only four of 34 third-down opportunities, including zero on 18 attempts in the first half.
-The teams combined for 24 punts, the highest total in an NFL game since Oct. 11, 1998, when the Raiders and Chargers punted 27 times
-Kayvon Thibodeaux recorded a career-high 3.0 sacks of Zach Wilson to raise his team-leading total to 8.5 – more than twice his rookie total of 4.0.
The New York Giants released its initial 53-man roster on Tuesday. To get down to 53 players, the Giants waived 15 players and terminated the contracts of six vested veterans.
New York waived the following players:
Quarterback Tommy DeVito, who played most of the Giants’ preseason snaps; running back Jashaun Corbin; wide receiver Kalil Pimpleton; tight end Ryan Jones; tackle Tyre Phillips; defensive tackles Ryder Anderson and Kobe Smith; defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado; linebackers Darrian Beavers, Tomon Fox, Ray Wilborn and Dyontae Johnson; cornerback Gemon Green; safety Alex Cook; and long snapper Cameron Lyons.
Those whose contracts were terminated were linebacker Oshane Ximines, wide receivers Jamison Crowder, Cole Beasley, and David Sills, cornerback Amani Oruwariye, and center Sean Harlow.
Tight end Tommy Sweeney was placed on the reserve/non-football list (NFI), and wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, who is returning after tearing his ACL as a rookie last November, was activated off the physically unable to perform list (PUP) after he passed his physical.
In addition, third-year cornerback Aaron Robinson was moved from active/PUP to reserve/PUP and must miss at least the season’s first four games. The team’s third-round draft choice in 2021, Robinson was limited to two games last season because he had his appendix removed and tore his ACL.
This is the initial 53-man roster, so a lot can change, which Giants head coach Brian Daboll discussed.
“Long couple of days here, obviously made some cuts,” Daboll said. “I’m not going to talk about who was released today. It’s kind of still a fluid situation right now, so really all-encompassing – the roster, whether it’s the practice squad, who we have so that’s really more for tomorrow.”
Giants name team captains:
Daboll today announced the team’s 2023 captains, which consists of 10 players: Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley, Andrew Thomas, Darren Waller, Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams, Bobby Okereke, Adoree’ Jackson, Xavier McKinney and Graham Gano.
Barkley is a captain for the fifth consecutive season, the team’s longest active streak. Jones is a fourth-year captain, and Gano is in his third season in the leadership position. Thomas, Lawrence, Williams, and McKinney are second-year captains. Jackson, Waller, and Okereke were selected captains for the first time, the latter two players in their debut season with the Giants.
“The way we do it is I have six slots, and I have all the players vote, and then if you get a certain amount of votes, then you are named captain,” Daboll said. “I think there were 22 people on the team that received votes, which to me is good for our team in terms of the way players perceive other players in leadership roles. Just because you are not a captain doesn’t mean you are not a leader on the team. There was a considerable number of guys who got, maybe it was five votes or three votes. Some guys got over 50 votes, but that was all by the players.”
In the New York Giants preseason opener, where they lost to the Detroit Lions 21-16 at Ford Field on Friday night, the Giants got an extended look out of undrafted rookie free agent quarterback Tommy DeVito.
The 25-year-old, who relieved backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor late in the first quarter, played the rest way and led the Giants on two scoring drives, including a 16-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tommy Sweeney.
DeVito finished the night completing 15 of 24 passes for 155 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. At times, he showed his scrambling ability and had some decent throws.
“Yeah, I thought he did a nice job,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll said after the game. “He operated well. He had a play; obviously, we threw the interception there at the end, but it was fourth-and-15, and he hit a play like that in camp early on. Where it was fourth-and-15, and he threw checkdown for five yards. And obviously, he threw it up to try to give him a chance. They made a play on it. But I thought he operated well. Made some good decisions. Used his legs. He was under some pressure sometimes there. Took care of the ball on some of those sacks. So definitely a performance to work off of.”
As a whole, DeVito was happy with his play.
“I think it turned out well at times,” he said. “There were a lot of things to clean up, a couple throws that I missed that will haunt me tonight, that I’ll be sitting up thinking about. But I think it’s just a step in the right direction, and I look forward to getting up tomorrow and watching the film.”
According to DeVito, Giants starting quarterback Daniel Jones, who got the night off, and Taylor encouraged him from the sideline.
“Everybody was, especially (Giants QBs) Daniel (Jones) and Tyrod (Taylor), just going back and picking their brains as to what they saw, what can I do here, what can I do better, just small things in that detail just looking at the iPads and they helped me a lot throughout the game.”
As Daboll said, this is a “performance to work off of” for DeVito.
New York will return to the practice field on Monday as they prepare for their next preseason game, Friday, August 18, at MetLife Stadium against the Panthers.
