Very few envisioned that halfway through this 2023 NFL season, the New York Giants would be in such dire straits whereas rookie free agent Tommy DeVito is their best option at quarterback.
But that’s exactly where they are two weeks before Thanksgiving — a losing team (2-7) that is about to embark on a nine-week run of meaningless football.
To DeVito, with Daniel Jones (knee) out for the rest of the season and Tyrod Taylor (ribs) out for at least the next three games, it’s a golden opportunity to show the world he’s an NFL-caliber quarterback.
DeVito has played in relief of both quarterbacks the past two weeks but this Sunday in Dallas, he will start an NFL game for the first time. The moment isn’t too big for the Jersey kid that head coach Brian Daboll calls “Deveets.”
“I think it’s a shock to everybody. Not to have one quarterback but two quarterbacks go down, I mean it’s tough,” he said. “The quarterback position runs the team, and to have one and two go down like that, you would’ve never guessed that to happen. But again, it’s a physical game, injuries happen, it’s part of it, it’s the worst part about the game, but it’s the next man up mentality and like I said before, I’m going to rely on everyone else around me.”
DeVito finally took first-team reps this week. He said he’s ready for the challenge.
“I’ll be able to run the plays that were going to be running on Sunday and I won’t be doing all the scout team things that I would be doing,” DeVito told reporters on Wednesday.
“I’ll be more prepared and comfortable in that aspect. But as far the mental, the meetings, everything else that goes into it is going to stay the same.”
DeVito won’t be alone. Jones and Taylor are still around to guide him, but essentially, it’s his ball now.
“I’m going to use Daniel and Tyrod, both of them. They’re both still in the meetings, they’re very open with giving me little tidbits of knowledge here and there about plays or little small things that go into it,” he said. “Obviously, I’m going to use them. They’re both — DJ’s a starting quarterback for a while, Tyrod’s been in the league for 12 to 13 years, whatever it was so those are two great resources.
“Along with (quarterback) Matt Barkley as well, he’s been in a league for a long time so you know, lean on all those guys around me that have been in this situation before because this is my first start, really my first time playing in this game so I’m going to lean on them as much as I can.”
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