Giants to start Taylor over DeVito: ‘He earned’ it

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants will start Tyrod Taylor at quarterback Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, keeping rookie Tommy DeVito on the bench after six straight starts, coach Brian Daboll announced Wednesday.

DeVito, the undrafted rookie and local folk hero who quickly became a fan favorite, was benched in favor of Taylor during Monday’s 33-25 loss against the Philadelphia Eagles. Taylor threw a touchdown pass in the second half and almost led a game-tying drive in the final seconds.

“I thought [Taylor] did some good things in the second half of Philly, so he earned the right to start this game,” Daboll said. “Getting ready for the Rams. Really have nothing else to add on it. That’s where we’re at.”

The Giants (5-10) chose to stick with DeVito as the starter this month when the veteran Taylor returned from injured reserve, where he was dealing with a rib injury. Daboll justified the decision by saying that DeVito had earned the right to continue as the starter.

DeVito and the Giants beat the Green Bay Packers that week for their third straight win. They have since dropped two straight and Daboll benched DeVito while trailing 20-3 at halftime in Philadelphia.

DeVito’s ride lasted six starts and he threw seven touchdown passes to one interception while the team went 3-3.

“Yeah, continue to be a good teammate. Obviously, it’s a coaches’ decision. I have, obviously, no say in that,” DeVito said. “But I’m going to continue to be a good teammate, go out and compete. That’s it.”

Taylor was 7-for-16 passing for 133 yards with one touchdown and an interception on a final-second heave to end the game. The touchdown toss was a perfectly placed deep ball to wide receiver Darius Slayton for a 69-yard score.

The veteran, who had lost his starting job to DeVito because of injury, now gets another chance. It just so happens to come with free agency on the horizon.

Taylor, 34, is a free agent at the end of the season.

“It means everything to me,” Taylor said of getting the chance to start again. “Obviously the work that you put in week in, week out — been playing this game a long time — anytime you get a chance to lace up the cleats and go out and compete means the world to me. That is when I’m the happiest. It’s what I love to do, to be able to go out and not only show your peers but prove it to yourself what you can do.”

The decision to start Taylor is based in the belief he gives the Giants the best chance to win. It reinforces to the rest of the locker room that the priority remains winning, even though the Giants were officially eliminated from playoff contention this week.

DeVito will serve as the backup. The Giants don’t have another healthy quarterback after veteran Matt Barkley was signed off their practice squad Tuesday by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“I’ll just say both [Taylor and DeVito] are ready to go, doing their job and when their number is called expect them to be ready to go,” Daboll said.

Even though he’s not the starter, DeVito doesn’t plan to change his approach

“The same thing I’ve said since the beginning: Stay even-keel through it all,” he said. “Never too high or too low because like I said, when you’re up, everybody loves you. When you’re down, everybody hates you. So, for me, stay even though it all.

“That’s why I’ll be mellow and get through it all.”

It was a wild ride with DeVito at quarterback since early November. The six weeks created excitement in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area that some compared to “Linsanity,” when Jeremy Lin took the NBA and sports world by storm playing for the New York Knicks in 2011.

DeVito’s popularity skyrocketed in large part because of his performance (a three-game winning streak and seven touchdown passes to just one interception) and relatability to local fans. He embraced his Italian heritage, celebrating touchdowns by tossing pinched fingers in the air, and famously admitted to living with his parents at his childhood home in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. He affectionately became known as “Tommy Cutlets” by fans and teammates.

“We bang with it,” DeVito said of the nickname several weeks back.

Through it all, he even proved something to himself.

“That I belong in the NFL specifically,” DeVito said. “Just to go out and prove that to myself, to the younger me, to the me that was training to be here up until this point, that is all it is.”

DeVito started the season as the Giants’ practice-squad quarterback after going undrafted out of the University of Illinois this year. He returns to being the backup, the role he had when Taylor was originally hurt trying to scramble during an Oct. 29 game against the New York Jets.

The change comes just eight days after Daboll said DeVito had earned the right to start and didn’t want to keep going week to week with his quarterbacks. It’s still not out of the question that DeVito gets another start this season.

“I don’t know what the future holds, let alone tomorrow,” he said. “I’m just going to continue to be here and be in the moment. Be at my best every day.”

The Giants host the Eagles in Week 18 at MetLife Stadium.