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Giants Tyrod Taylor: ‘I came in here ready to compete’

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Giants Tyrod Taylor
Photo Credit: Christian Arnold

If there’s one thing Tyrod Taylor has noticed about his fellow Giants quarterback, and the man he’s responsible for backing up, is how much Daniel Jones reminds him of some of his friends that he grew up with in Virginia. 

In the little over a week that training camp has been going on, Taylor has gained plenty of respect for Jones while watching him work. Taylor was brought in to be Jones’ understudy after there had been plenty of questions surrounding the former first-round pick’s ability after three years in the NFL. 

“Much respect for Daniel. The way he approaches his job each and every day and the way he goes out and leads,” Taylor said after Wednesday’s practice. “I think just the quarterback room as a whole, we all bring out the best in one another. Whether it’s in competitions, whether it’s in the weight room, whether it’s on the field. We tally up who has the best throws for the day. If you see our board of tallies it can get crazy but much respect to Daniel. He’s doing a great job throughout camp.”

Taylor has looked good in camp so far while working with the second unit. He has come in under Brian Daboll and quickly found comfortability in the Giants’ newly installed offensive scheme. 

The offense as a whole had seen progress over the past few days of camp after starting off somewhat slow. The Giants did not practice on Thursday and will return to the field on Friday for an open practice at Metlife Stadium that evening. 

“I think we’ve taken a step in the right direction each day,” Taylor said about the offense. “Throwing a lot of information in the spring. We were together, what? Nine weeks. I got a chance to get familiar with the offense so once we were able to get into training camp, it wasn’t necessarily zero. We were already leaving on a high note, so we wanted to keep that energy rolling.

“I think (Head) coach (Brian Daboll) has done a great job of mixing different concepts but also allowing guys to do what they are most comfortable with.”

Taylor has been around the block a bit during his time in the NFL with stops in Baltimore, Buffalo, Cleveland, Los Angeles and Houston. His best years came in Buffalo, where he helped lead the franchise to the playoffs in 2017. 

Ironically it was current Giants GM Joe Schoen in the front office in Buffalo when they opted to trade Taylor despite having a strong season the previous year. So it was somewhat of a surprise that he opted to sign with a team headed by Schoen and Daboll, who had just been hired as an offensive coordinator before Taylor was cast off. 

The veteran QB said there was no grudge. 

“That’s the NFL. Sometimes it’s business,” Taylor said. “I know what I’m capable of doing in any setting and I think I’ve proved that every time I’ve had a chance to play. The opportunity presented itself for me to come in – I thought that it was the best decision out of the choices that were available.” 

For more New York Giants news, turn to AMNY.com

The 32-year-old was under no impression of what his role would be when he came to New York to throw on a Giants jersey. However, that hasn’t changed his focus or approach this year. 

“I came in here ready to compete and that’s what the nature of this game is,” he said. “There is only one quarterback that can play, and you have to be ready at any time when that opportunity presents itself. I’m working each and every day just trying to get better and ready for the opportunity that presents itself.”