EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Daniel Jones was taking snaps as the New York Giants began preparations for Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But this time, something was a little different.
The 27-year-old Jones would catch a football sent underhanded to him by an equipment man and either hand off to a running back or roll out to the right and throw a pass to a stationary coach.
That part was nothing new for the No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 draft. He has done it for the past five-plus years with the Giants, except there was one difference on Wednesday. Jones was last in the rotation of quarterbacks behind Tommy DeVito and Drew Lock.
He was the No. 3 quarterback.
With seven games left in the season, the Giants (2-8) are DeVito's team. After being the third quarterback all season, he is the No. 1 guy and being asked to spark the team and end their five-game losing streak.
DeVito and Lock talked to reporters on Wednesday.
DeVito said the quarterbacks are close and he felt for Jones after the decision and for Lock, who was bypassed in favor of him.
A New Jersey native who grew up 20 minutes from MetLife Stadium, DeVito plans to focus on football the next two months. He is downplaying his love of chicken parm sandwiches — “Tommy Cutlets”, and anything else not related to the game.
“Last year was a good story,” DeVito said. “It was kind of like how it happened, but all the fun and games outside, it was fun, it was last year, I’m kind of over that, I’m sticking to football now, not that I wasn’t before, but really focused on that, the external stuff will be on pause.”
DeVito said he has his inner circle to keep things tight and focus on Sundays.
Since last season, DeVito said he is a smarter player and will try to avoid things such as holding the ball too long and taking sacks.
“I bring a certain confidence, energy, swag, whatever you call it, to the team, to the people around me,” he said. “I think I’ve kind of always had that growing up from when I was even younger, so I kind of just bring that energy.”
DeVito got a good piece of advice early in the season from Bret Bielema, who was his coach at Illinois. It was a text telling him to prepare for the moment because it is going to come.
It did for DeVito and didn't for Lock, who was the No. 2 quarterback all season after signing in the offseason as a free agent.
Lock said he told coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen he disagreed with the decision to move DeVito ahead of him, but he will support it and help DeVito as much as he can.
"If you get to be the backup all year and the time comes and you end up still being a backup, you’re upset,” Lock said.
Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence was also a 2019 first-round draft pick of the Giants.
“Definitely hard, but I’ve been a part of this business,” said Lawrence, who saw fellow defensive lineman Leonard Williams traded last season to Seattle. "It’s part of the business and I understand that part of it. And like I said before, I feel for Daniel, works hard, great dude, relatable.”
Lawrence said DeVito showed flashes last season in six games and he trusts him and is excited for him.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Tom Canavan, The Associated Press
