New York Giants players react to quarterback change

It’s “a part of the business,” says Dexter Lawrence

New York Giants players on Wednesday reacted diplomatically to this week’s change from Daniel Jones to Tommy DeVito at quarterback.

With a crush of media in the locker room, the quarterback switch was of course the only question anyone really cared about.

“I haven’t seen discouragement, I haven’t seen guys fall apart, and that starts to happen first,” said Dexter Lawrence.

Lawrence, who entered the league with Jones in 2019, admitted to taking the news hard.

“Definitely hard, but I’ve been a part of this business, just like last year when they traded away my best friend in the middle of the season,” Lawrence said. “It’s a part of the business.”

Lawrence was referring to the 2023 trade that sent defensive tackle Leonard Williams to the Seattle Seahawks.

Wide receiver Darius Slayton, another player drafted the same year as Jones, has long been one of the quarterback’s staunchest supporters:

“Obviously first he’s a friend, so you don’t want anyone to end up in the predicament that he’s in,” Slayton said. “I’ll support him and be there for him in any way, shape, or form.”

Kayvon Thibodeaux, who is expected to return this week after missing five games with a fractured wrist, seemed matter-of-fact about the move:

“That’s the nature of the beast. You know, when you’re 2-8 and things are changing – every position is up for grabs honestly.”

Here is veteran linebacker Bobby Okereke, on what he termed a “tough situation”:

“You rally around your teammates,” Okereke said. “Obviously a tough situation, we all get paid, we all take a lot of pride in this business. You move forward and we have a great opportunity this week.”

Drew Lock was hurt by being bypassed for the starting job, but still supportive of DeVito:

“That’s a question that I might still have for myself,” Lock said. “It was expressed to me that I was going to be QB2. Interesting situation … I’m gonna be here for him, we’re still communicating, still very good friends … he needs to get a win. We start winning everything gets a little better around here.”