Things have been getting uglier and uglier in East Rutherford since the airing of “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants” this past July.
General manager Joe Schoen’s handling of running back Saquon Barkley has been widely criticized, and head coach Brian Daboll’s falling out with former defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and other assistants has left a stain on this regime.
Following the benching of quarterback Daniel Jones this week, the erosion has been kicked into high gear.
Defensive captain Dexter Lawrence publicly questioned the decision, while other anonymous players offered even harsher takes.
One player called DJ’s benching “trash” and “weak as (expletive).” Meanwhile, other reports surfaced suggesting that Schoen is not well-liked in the locker room.
With Jones now subjected to humiliating roles during practice, the locker room trust continues to evaporate, reports Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News.
There was no energy on the field at the start of the Giants’ practice on Wednesday.
“A little dead” is how one player described it afterwards.
The humiliating scene of Daniel Jones taking snaps as the No. 4 quarterback behind new signing Tim Boyle had everything to do with that. And it was just as much about the questions that Jones’ shutdown invited for the Giants’ players.
Wide receiver Darius Slayton joined Lawrence in speaking publicly and candidly about the ongoings in East Rutherford.
“I think ultimately anybody can respect and get behind any decision that’s made [when] you ask yourself the question, ‘Does this help us win? Yes or no?’ And the answer is yes,” Slayton said. “You can get behind any decision that is made as long as that answer is yes.
“When that answer starts being ‘I don’t know’ or ‘no,’ it doesn’t matter how you did or what you did, because at the end of the day, our job is to win. Nobody’s going out there risking their body to lose.”
Slayton stopped short of providing his own answer but the implication was obvious. He added that there were many reasons for the team’s eight losses beyond Jones.
Meanwhile, Leonard reports that a familiar theme is also playing out inside 1925 Giants Drive this year. Similar to last season, Daboll has apparently begun to place much of the blame on the defense, which is run under first-year defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.
It’s the same scenario that ultimately ran Martindale out of town.
Sources say Brian Daboll and the coaching staff, meanwhile, are ratcheting up pressure and frustration with the defense for giving up big plays — as if Daboll’s league-worst 15.6 points per game offense that just shut down its starting quarterback isn’t the root of the problem.
That blame game and discord sounds familiar to 2023, doesn’t it?
One anonymous player lamented that seven games remained this year, saying it’s like “a whole college season” left to play.
As many things change in East Rutherford, so many seem to stay the same.
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