Giants' Tommy DeVito to get bulk of playing time against Jets
Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito throws during a joint practice with the Jets on Wednesday in Florham Park, N.J. Credit: Corey Sipkin
Daniel Jones will not play when the Giants face the Jets at MetLife Stadium on Saturday night in their final preseason tuneup.
The quarterback, who started last weekend against the Texans and participated in joint practices with the Jets this week, will be on the sideline along with many of his fellow starters.
“I think Daniel has done a nice job,” Brian Daboll said. “I thought he did a nice job in Houston bouncing back from the start he had, which is never easy, coming back from not having played for however long it was. I’m comfortable with where Daniel is at.”
Backup quarterback Drew Lock, who signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Giants in the offseason, has been sidelined for most of training camp with a hip injury. Daboll said he would use Lock only in an emergency on Saturday.
Lock was hurt in the first preseason game against the Lions when he was hit and went to the ground on a play late in the first quarter.
Lock, who completed 4 of 10 passes for 17 yards and an interception before suffering the injury, remained in the game for another play before falling to the ground in pain. He eventually walked off the field but remained on the sideline and hasn’t played since.
So on Saturday night, it is expected to be the Tommy DeVito show.
A year ago, DeVito was a relatively unknown local guy hoping to hang on to a roster spot.
Now he seems like part of the fabric, though there are no guarantees when roster spots are at stake.
Asked if getting extra reps in practice has been beneficial to him, DeVito said, “100%.”
“The more reps the better in any way, shape or form, no matter what group [of teammates] it is,” DeVito said. “The more reps and game-feel experience that I have under my belt, or for any quarterback, it means so much.
“You don’t always get those reps, especially when the season comes, which was the case last year.”
DeVito, who made his NFL debut last season against the Jets in Week 8, went 3-3 as the starter. He was a popular story — an underdog. But in this training camp, he has had a more businesslike tone.
“I know people get injured, people get dinged up, but for me [this is about competing],” DeVito said. “I don’t know how the chips are going to fall in any way, shape or form, but all I control is myself.
“In the beginning of last year, I was in practice just focusing on myself, my craft, the offense and diving into it. And then, obviously, when I got tossed in, things changed a little bit. Your time is focused on a little more of the plays, not so much on the little things and fine-tuning mechanics here and there.”
Notes & quotes: When a reporter noted to Daboll that his starters haven’t played in this game in the past two years, the coach said: “Yeah, again, every year is different.” . . . Jets star cornerback Sauce Gardner complimented Giants rookie receiver Malik Nabers this week. “[He’s] nice,” Gardner said. “He’s very sudden when it comes to getting in and out of his breaks. I know it sounds a little weird, but he reminds me of an LSU receiver — a little Ja’Marr Chase. A little Justin Jefferson. A little subtle. I don’t like to compare him to nobody, because at the end of the day, he’s Malik. You don’t really want to limit nobody to what their potential is, but those are the two guys he reminds me of. He’s going to be a pretty good player.” . . . Jets coach Robert Saleh had this to say about Nabers: “Dynamic, elite competitor. Freaky, freaky, freaky. He’s a very special talent, special mindset.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
