New York Giants quarterback Tyrod Taylor was designated to return from injured reserve (IR) on Monday, six weeks removed from a severe injury that landed him in the hospital.
Taylor finally revealed the full nature of that injury this week, telling reporters that he had suffered four broken ribs, two of which were displaced. There was a concern for internal injury, which is what led to a hospital stay.
“I feel good,” Taylor said. “That’s the most important thing.
“I feel like I’m right back in the swing of things. I don’t know how you ramp up from a rib injury, but everything that I’ve done rehab-wise has been positive. No setbacks along the last five weeks, five and a half, five and some change. Thankful for the progression, just God’s healing throughout the process, but I feel good, feel back to my normal self.”
Physically, Taylor feels fine. Mentally… Well, that’s a different story.
Taylor was informed on Monday that despite his return, the Giants would move forward with rookie Tommy DeVito as their starting quarterback. The news came as a shock to him and he wasn’t shy about expressing his displeasure with the decision.
“I don’t think life is fair,” Taylor said when asked if he’s been treated fairly. “I don’t know if there’s fair in this business. Some stuff happens that’s out of your control and unfortunately, this is one of them. 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 percent 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.”
For Taylor, it’s not the first time he’s lost his job due to injury. The same thing occurred during the 2020 season when a Los Angeles Chargers team doctor accidentally punctured Taylor’s lung while administering a painkiller injection. Justin Herbert replaced him and the Chargers never looked back.
“I’ve had that happen a number of times,” Taylor said. “It’s just the nature of the business. It’s the nature of the business. 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.”
Taylor intends to support the decision and do what he can to help DeVito, but he certainly isn’t pretending to be happy about it.
“I mean, it’s tough. Obviously, as a competitor not being able to go out there once healthy — I mean, it hurts, but at the same time, like I said it’s the nature of the business,” he said.
The decision to go with DeVito is one the Giants will have to stick with over the final five weeks. They can’t afford to create tension in the locker room by waffling, so barring injury to DeVito, this likely spells the end of Taylor in blue. It also signals a white flag on the 2023 season as Daboll is clearly looking ahead to next year and what DeVito can bring to the table as a backup.
