The Tommy DeVito experience has been anything but steady for the Giants in the last three weeks. DeVito, a New Jersey native who grew up fewer than 20 miles from MetLife Stadium, has done his best impression of a rollercoaster down at the Jersey Shore, with flashes of brilliance and struggles in his young career.
In Sunday’s 31-19 thumping of the Washington Commanders, though, DeVito showed something different: Jersey Juice.
“I think the players have confidence in him,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll began. “Particularly because he’s the third quarterback going in and he’s got a little juice about him.”
The “juice” DeVito has brought to the table seems infectious, providing some positivity in an otherwise downtrodden season for the Giants.
“When things are going right, the game is going right and it’s a lot of fun because it feels like you’re just enjoying playing the game of football like when you were a kid,” Devito, who threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns, said.
Leading the Giants to only their third win of the season, the Don Bosco Prep product has taken a little of the heat off of him and his teammates they have seemingly dealt with all season. Sunday’s victory showed maybe not all hope is lost for this Giants team.
“When they’re calling plays, they’re calling plays that they’re going to let me go out and do what I do,” DeVito said. “There’s no handcuffs, there’s no none of that. So I appreciate that for that.”
The appreciation seems mutual.
“He comes in with the right mentality,” star running back Saquon Barkley said. “He’s a confident dude from [New] Jersey, so I’m excited and happy for that.”
Barkley did his best to take the load off of DeVito’s shoulders, with 14 carries for 83 yards while adding in four catches for 57 yards and two touchdowns.
The Jersey Juice is infectious, even on the defensive side of the ball.
“I thought we all rallied around Tommy. He did a great job showing leadership and we came out with the win,” linebacker Bobby Okereke said. “I thought in the first quarter he came out and was pretty dynamic in the passing game, and that really sparked everything. Defensively, we felt confident going out there knowing that the offense was going to strike back if they struck us. It was just great complimentary football all the way around.”
From living at his parent’s house to his mom still making his bed, the first couple of weeks as an NFL starter have been anything but ordinary for DeVito. Now his infectious energy and charisma have rallied the Giants’ locker room when it looked like all hope was lost.
New York is set to square off against the New England Patriots in Week 12 on Sunday, another opportunity to get a win. The Patriots have been even worse than the Giants this season, touting a 2-8 record. With momentum building at Metlife, the Giants are in a prime position to build off this week’s victory, the juice, and a locker room coming together in hopes of finding their first win streak of the season.
“My job is to come in here and play football to the highest of my ability and help put my team in situations to win and be successful,” DeVito said. “So that’s my mindset every week going into it. That’s the team’s mindset going into it every week. That’s what we try to do every single week.”
