News York Giants Week 12 Storylines: Who Will Snap Their Losing Streak?

The Tommy DeVito era begins as the Giants and Bucs look to snap their respective losing streaks.

Aug 24, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito (15) runs with the ball against the New York Jets during the second half at MetLife Stadium. / Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

As the dust continues to settle on the New York Giants brass’s decision to demote starting quarterback Daniel Jones to third string, the team still faces the bigger problem of how to snap a five-game losing streak.

They’ll try to do it this weekend against a Bucs team that, like the Giants, is coming off a bye and is also on a multi game losing streak (four, one less than the Giants). The Bucs have a top-10 offense in the macro-categories, but their defense has struggled to keep up.

Will the switch at quarterback from Jones to Tommy DeVito be just what the doctor ordered for a Giants team that has placed winning games above tanking for a premium draft slot? We’ll find out who decides to show up with their A-game on Sunday, but in the meantime, here are some storylines to watch for the coming week.

The Locker Room Mood

Anytime a team benches a major player like the quarterback, it sends shock waves across the locker room. Why? Because the players view the game as a team sport, and so long as a guy is working at his craft and not skating by, he’ll more often than not have the respect of his teammates.

Such is the case with Daniel Jones. Even though the offense was struggling under his direction, there are no doubt those in the locker room who feel you win and lose as a team. The singling out of one player, however justified the tape reveals, usually doesn’t sit well with some players, especially if they have questions about the true intentions behind such a move.

Therein lies head coach Brian Daboll’s biggest challenge yet. Keeping the locker room together during a losing streak is one thing, but once finger-pointing (however it’s done) and subsequent action kick in, Daboll better have a few tricks up his sleeve to prevent this locker room from splintering.

Thibodeaux’s Return?

It’s been six weeks since outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux went on injured reserve following wrist surgery to repair a broken bone. The initial prognosis was that he could be sidelined for at least 4-6 weeks, depending on how quickly his bone healed.

There appears to be some good news on that front. Daboll said that they would re-evaluate Thibodeaux's location on Wednesday before deciding to open his 21-day window, but he sounded optimistic about that happening. 

That doesn’t mean Thibodeaux, if he’s activated, is all the way back–he’ll likely have to play with some sort of apparatus on his wrist for the rest of the season. But if he returns, it will be interesting to see how the coaches distribute the pass-rushing snaps, given how productive Azeez Ojulari has been in Thibodeaux’s absence.

Personnel Changes

The Giants roster is what it is, so it's not practical to expect Daboll to make wholesale changes at this point in the season.

But we could see the increase/decrease of roles among certain players. For instance, will Jalin Hyatt, who got the nod two weeks ago during Darius Slayton’s injury-related absence, continue to get more playing time even if Slayton returns? 

What about Dane Belton, who has taken a back seat to Jason Pinnock (a pending unrestricted free agent) and rookie Tyler Nubin? 

And will there be a bigger role in the passing game for tight end Daniel Bellinger, who remains an afterthought? 

Daboll, as usual, didn’t provide any definitive answers.

“I would say that's specific based on our packages,” he said. “Personnel groups offensively or defensively, a lot less than this where you just see the quarterback situation. 

“But there'll be different guys mixing in and out, and we'll look at some of these guys who have done a nice job since they've been here. Maybe they haven't had as many reps or we implement them into some personnel groups. That's what we'll do here over the next couple of days when we get ready for Tampa (Bay Buccaneers) to decide where these guys fit.”

It would probably behoove the Giants at some point to take a good look at those players who haven’t had large roles so far so that they can make informed decisions based not solely on practice film but also game performances.

Injury Updates

When we last left the Giants, they were without receivers Darius Slayton (concussion) and Bryce Ford-Wheaton (Achilles). Daboll was not required to give an update on their statuses over the bye.

But he did indicate when he spoke to the media on Monday that he anticipated having everyone on the roster doing “something” during practice, a positive revelation that could mean the bye week allowed those nursing injuries to recover.

“I think we'll be good,” Daboll said when asked about the health of his roster. 

“I don't have the injury stuff with me. You got ahead of me on that one. But we will have a walkthrough here today, and everybody will be a full participant.”

Speaking of which, it will be interesting to see if outside linebacker Brian Burns, who has been beaten up this season, feels better. Burns hasn’t complained since suffering a painful groin injury in Week 3, and he also hasn’t sought to be babied during the week or on gameday. But if you think he’s been effective these past few weeks, a healthier Burns should be even more of a sight to behold. 

In Search of the First Home Win

Maybe it’s something in the water pipes up around the Meadowlands because the Giants and Jets are both winless this year at MetLife Stadium, joining the Dallas Cowboys as the only other team in the NFL to find the old adage, “Home sweet home” to be a lie.

The good news for the Giants is that the switch to hometown hero DeVito at quarterback seems to have energized most of the fan base that seemed willing to abandon the team if things didn’t change.

The good news is that DeVito quarterbacked the team to three wins at home last season. Perhaps some of that will carry over starting this weekend against a Bucs team that is also coming off a bye.

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