With Daniel Jones done for the 2023 season after an MRI on Monday confirmed that he tore his ACL during their Week 9 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, Giants head coach Brian Daboll isn’t left with much to work with ahead of Big Blue’s Week 10 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys down in Texas.
Tommy DeVito, who was forced to come in during Week 8 when Tyrod Taylor went down with a ribcage injury and then again a week later in Las Vegas, is in line to get his first career start, at the moment.
“Well, we have DeVito,” Daboll began on Monday. “[Matt] Barkley’s on the practice squad. We have been back for less than 12 hours, so, I’ll have some meetings today with [general manager Joe Schoen] as the day goes on, and we’ll see where it goes.”
The veteran backup Barkley was brought on last week after Taylor’s injury, shortly after Jones was cleared by team doctors for contact after recovering from a neck injury suffered in Week 5 that sidelined him for three games. He hasn’t appeared in a regular-season game since 2020 and at 33 years old, has just seven career starts under his belt (19 career appearances).
DeVito was an undrafted signing out of Illinois during the offseason and was elevated from the practice squad to backup Taylor after Jones went down last month but was forced into action for the second half of a 13-10 loss to the Jets two weekends ago. He attempted just seven passes, completing two for -1 yard.
Playing in three quarters on Sunday against the Raiders, the 25-year-old completed 15-of-20 attempts for 175 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.
“I think Tommy did a good job, but again I’m not going to give you one thing and it’s a different thing,” Daboll said. “I have confidence in Tommy. He’s done a good job. But I’ll sit down and talk with Joe and figure out what’s next.”
When asked whether or not Taylor was close to returning to take over under center again, Daboll left it open-ended.
“I can’t give you that answer,” he said. “I can’t tell you how he’s going to heal or things like that. So, we’ll see.”
That leaves Daboll with one option, at least for now: Get DeVito ready for his first-career NFL start against a Cowboys team that thrashed the Giants 40-0 in Week 1 and sacked Jones seven times.
“My focus is on getting DeVito ready to go,” he said. “Getting Barkley up to speed and doing as good as a job we can do with the guys that we’re going to have out there.”
For more on Tommy DeVito and the Giants, visit AMNY.com
Read more: Rangers Fall 5-1 to Sabres as Kakko Injury Adds to Woes
