Game Preview: Tommy DeVito always ready to go

Coach Brian Daboll did not reveal any of his personnel plans for the game against the Jets. But this is the third consecutive year these teams have faced off in the last preseason game. Jones sat out the previous two. Lock has yet to take a team rep since he was injured. And Daboll said the Giants will not add a quarterback for the game.

He said nobody has told him if he’s in the running to be the No. 2 quarterback spot when the season begins against Minnesota on Sept. 8. As an undrafted rookie in 2023, DeVito began the season on the practice squad and was elevated to the roster for three games before joining it for good on Oct. 29. With Jones and Tyrod Taylor both hurt, DeVito went 3-3 in six starts.

“I know people get injured, people get dinged up, but for me, it’s just to come in here and compete,” he said. “I don’t know how the chips are gonna fall in any way, shape or form, but all I control is myself. In the beginning of last year, I was in practice just focusing on myself, my craft, the offense and diving into it. And then obviously when I got tossed in, things changed a little bit. Your time is focused on a little more of the plays, not so much on the little things and fine-tuning mechanics here and there.”

The possibility also exists that Lock will be ready to play next week, and the Giants will keep just two quarterbacks on the active roster, as they did each of Daboll’s first two seasons. The Giants will risk losing DeVito if they release him with the intention of putting him on the practice squad.

“I feel similar, honestly (to how he felt a year ago),” he said. “It’s the same thing. It’s not my decision. It’s not in my hands. So, for me, it’s just to continue, every time I’m out on the field, to show why I proved really to myself, first and foremost, that I belong somewhere in the NFL. Honestly, I want to be with the Giants, but when I’m out there on the field, I just continue to try to get out and get better each play and every day.”

DeVito became one of the NFL’s best stories and a favorite of Giants fans in his debut season. He completed 114 of 178 passes (64.0%) for 1,101 yards, a team-high eight touchdowns, and three interceptions for a passer rating of 89.2. He enters the 2024 season having not thrown an interception in his last 139 pass attempts. DeVito also rushed for 195 yards and one touchdown on 36 carries.

For three straight weeks (Weeks 11-14, not including Week 13 which was the bye week), DeVito recorded a 100-plus passer rating, making him the first UDFA rookie since 1970 to have three consecutive games with a passer rating higher than 100. He was the first Giants quarterback since Eli Manning in 2014 to record three straight games with a 100-plus passer rating and the first Giants rookie quarterback to win three consecutive starts since Phil Simms won four in a row in 1979.

This year, DeVito said he is more comfortable running the offense and makes decisions “so much faster” than he did as a rookie.

“I think Tommy’s had a great camp,” Jones said. “Obviously, he throws the ball well and trusts his arm, trusts his accuracy. The payoff is he makes a lot of great throws. I feel like he’s getting more comfortable in the offense and seeing the defense, understanding what they’re playing and getting through his reads.

Although Lock and DeVito might be competing to be the Giants’ No. 2 quarterback, they have become close friends. Indeed, all three quarterbacks have formed an alliance.

“When we first met, we hit it off the bat,” DeVito said of Lock and him. “We have the same interests, like D.J. as well. They’re both 27 and I’m 26, even though in year five or six and I’m in year two. D.J. and Drew have known each other for a long time, so they had a relationship already built, and then me and Drew built one through our OTA’s and we’ve come together, and I think the room is in a really good spot right now.”

“We have a lot of fun in there together,” Jones said. “We help each other on the field, talking about what we’re seeing, what we’re feeling and, and then off the field just hanging out. One of the best parts of training camp is just spending time in the room with your teammates and the quarterback room is always special.”

DeVito knows something that will be different than last year.

“The external noise will be less,” he said.

Beyond that, he isn’t certain what will happen in the short term.

“If it’s the same situation as last year, or if it’s a different capacity, I’ll be still in here grinding, doing my thing day in and day out,” he said. “We’ll see how it falls.”

*The Giants and Jets faced each other in 51 consecutive summers (1969-2019) before the NFL canceled the 2020 preseason due to the pandemic. The Jets have won the three games since the series resumed in 2021 and lead, 28-25-1. The tie was in 1972. Last year, the Jets won, 32-24.