Nov 19, 2023; Landover, Maryland, USA; New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito (15) is congratulated by fans after the game against the Washington Commanders at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
NFL: New York Giants at Washington Commanders
(East Rutherford, NJ) – Many New York Giants fans (if not most) have moved on mentally to “next year,” and started thinking about the upcoming NFL Draft.
With Big Blue stumbling and far from playoff contention, all while starter Daniel Jones was lost to a season-ending knee injury, speculation has begun – who will be the Giants future QB? Just don’t tell the current starter – third stringer Tommy Devito – that the games don’t matter here in 2023.
Devito tossed three touchdowns and led the team to a win over Washington, snapping a three-game losing streak in the possess. The Cedar Grove native said afterward: “It means a lot. It means a lot to a sports team, right? Not the season we wanted as far as it is to come back in, week after week and just continuing just to work and study and practice hard. After the last couple weeks of not getting the result we wanted, just to have that feeling in this game which is not getting the result we wanted in the end, you know it means a lot. We’re going to enjoy it. We’re gonna celebrate it but we know what it takes. We have what it takes so Monday we’re gonna be back to the drawing board and then on to next week.”
It wasn’t easy sledding for Devito, either. The undrafted rookie who played at Syracuse was sacked nine times, and took a physical pounding in the process.
Devito downplayed the abuse: “I hate to put it back to my college days, but I got beat up a little bit when I was in college. So I’ve kinda been in some similar situations like that before but I mean that’s part of the quarterback position. You have to stand in there and you’ll take those hits and deliver the ball to your teammates and do that element of it. I mean, I continue to trust in those guys.”
Devito also made it clear he wasn’t without blame, as some noticed he held the ball for too long on some of the sacks: “I’m sure some of them were on me [and] we’re not on the o-line or some of that maybe the defense was doing might have been a coverage sack like there’s a lot of other things that play into it than just the o-line so I definitely take some credit for that. But I’m going to continue to trust them, and I’m trusting everybody else.”
No matter what the future brings, for Devito and for the Giants as a whole, you have to appreciate the kid who played his high school ball at Don Bosco leading the local squad to a victory. Running back and team captain Saquon Barkley, who hauled in two of Devito’s touchdown passes, is a Tri-state area native as well.
Barkley, who was born in the Bronx and has spent his entire career with the Giants, feels his fellow local kid is making the most of the opportunity: “I’m happy for him. He comes in with the right mentality. He’s a confident dude from [New] Jersey, so I’m excited and happy for that. He got his first win as a starter … I definitely think he’s proving people wrong. We know what he is capable of doing. It’s the NFL, the National Football League. You don’t get here by accident.”
And for sure the season has largely been a wreck that makes you want to avert your eyes. But at least for one week, Devito, Barkley, and crew helped give Giants fans a reprieve.
