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EAST RUTHERFORD — Tyrod Taylor says he has lost his job as a starting quarterback “a number of times” throughout his 13-year NFL career because of an injury.
This is just the latest instance.
In the wake of the news that Tommy DeVito will make his fourth start for the Giants next Monday night, Taylor wants to be a good teammate but is clearly unhappy.
“It’s the nature of the business,” Taylor said. “Obviously, this league is a ‘right now’ league. It’s not what have you done or in the past time, it’s about what makes sense right now. Coach feels that this is the right decision for the team, and I support the decisions that our coaches make, that our personnel, people who make decisions on personnel. I trust that day in and day out. I’m just on the other end of it.”
Head coach Brian Daboll said the decision came down to DeVito’s improvement as an undrafted rookie and, as always, what gives the Giants (4-8) the best chance to win going into a home showdown with the Packers (6-6).
“I wasn’t surprised but at the same time, I didn’t know what was going to happen,” DeVito said. “I was told during the bye week that there was a decision that was going to be made and as soon as it was made that I would be made aware, and I was. I’m happy about it but at the same time, it’s still a job. You still have to go out and perform and do everything.”
Still, Taylor has a legitimate gripe as he returns to practice this week following a four-game absence with a rib cage injury.
Taylor posted the highest yards per pass attempt (9.6) this season of all three Giants quarterbacks during his last healthy start against Washington on Oct. 22, and in both of his healthy starts he produced a higher Adjusted Total Quarterback Rating than DeVito has in any game. He’s also been better than DeVito at avoiding sacks and making plays happen on the run.
On the flip side, DeVito has led the Giants to two straight wins with four touchdown passes and no turnovers.
“I thought he earned the right to play,” Daboll said of anointing DeVito as the starter early in the week rather than fostering a competition in practice. “I just think he’s played well. He’s made good decisions, he’s thrown the ball where he’s supposed to throw the ball, he’s been accurate with the ball.”
Daboll said he had a good conversation about it with Taylor, who responded like a “true professional.” And that’s not easy for the 34-year-old journeyman, who lost his job as the Chargers’ starting quarterback in 2020 after suffering a rib injury and accidentally having his lung punctured by the team doctor, which led to Taylor suing the doctor for medical malpractice.
Taylor started six games for the Texans in 2021 while battling through a hamstring injury and later being benched for poor performance, leading him to sign a two-year contract in 2022 to be the Giants’ backup to Daniel Jones. He finally had a chance to start again when Jones torn his ACL on Oct. 5 and was taking advantage of it, so losing his job to an undrafted rookie following another injury is difficult to swallow.
“It’s tough. Obviously, as a competitor not being able to go out there once healthy,” Taylor said. “It hurts, but at the same time, like I said, it’s the nature of the business.”
Taylor said he had no comment when asked if he wanted an opportunity to ask Daboll what it would require for him to win back the starting job. He did admit that DeVito has played well with the opportunities given to him, and he’ll continue to trust the process.
“Some stuff happens that’s out of your control, and unfortunately this is one of them,” Taylor said. “In the grand scheme of things this rib injury was kind of out of my control. The main thing is that I’ve bounced back and that I’m 100% healthy and if the opportunity presents itself where I’m able to go out there and perform and help this team win then I’ll be ready to do so.”
Daboll insisted his decision was only about this week’s game, but there is likely a big-picture approach in mind. DeVito is auditioning to return to New York as a backup next season, while Taylor is set to become a free agent and will likely sign elsewhere — especially if the Giants draft another quarterback in April.
So it’s fair to wonder how many players in the Giants’ locker room agree that DeVito truly gives the team a better chance to win than Taylor. And that’s still important because the Giants are mathematically alive in the NFC playoff hunt.
Daboll didn’t say DeVito will necessarily start for the remainder of the season, so the Don Bosco product knows he has to keep winning.
“Everything that we want is in front of us but at the same time, we just take it one week at a time and try to focus on this week,” DeVito said. “If we start looking ahead and we miss one, there’s nothing going forward. Let’s say just one at a time, focused on this week.”
Jones’ Surgery
Daniel Jones, who had surgery two weeks ago, said Wednesday that he only had a torn ACL and there was no other structural damage to his knee. His goal is to get back on the field by training camp next July.
“Doing everything I can to check all the boxes and go through it as thoroughly and as well as I can,” Jones said.
Jones will be entering the second year of a four-year, $160 deal that contains no guaranteed money after the second season. So there is a chance that he’ll be competing with a draft pick next summer.
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