Giants star Dexter Lawrence admits feeling a 'bit of confusion' with Daniel Jones benching: 'He's the QB1'

Daniel Jones' New York Giants career is all but done after head coach Brian Daboll confirmed the man the franchise signed to be their long-term quarterback has been demoted to third string following the bye week. 

Tommy DeVito, who won three games for New York in place of the injured Jones and Tyrod Taylor, was elevated to starting quarterback, leapfrogging Drew Lock, who was signed to a $5 million deal this offseason to be Jones' backup. 

Daboll called benching the No. 6 overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft a "hard decision," and it's one that has some Giants players confused, including defensive captain Dexter Lawrence. 

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"He's the QB1. To me, the best quarterback on the team," Lawrence said, via the New York Post, during a volunteering event at Community Food Bank of New Jersey on Tuesday. "But they see things differently. I guess that's all that matters."

Lawrence added that there was a "little bit of confusion," though he isn't sure what the conversations were like with the front office and coaching staff regarding the decision to demote Jones. 

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"I think we trust the coaches and where they’re going and where they think we can go," Lawrence explained. "That’s what you have to do. You have to be naive and trust the process. You think about the wrong s--- and then you start playing like s---."

Of course, Lawrence and Jones, both team captains, have developed a close friendship over the years, with the former calling the latter his "best friend." So, when Lawrence, arguably the best defensive tackle in the game, sees his best friend benched, he's going to defend him. 

"It’s tough for that [benching] to happen," Lawrence said. "I can’t control it. They made the decision based off their evaluations, and thoughts and feelings. You’ve got to respect it as a player, even though you don’t like it. As a player, you have to keep playing. As a human and as a brother, I feel for him."

While Jones' work ethic has never been questioned, the results just haven't been there since he signed his four-year, $160 million extension two offseasons ago – an offseason that is now infamous as Saquon Barkley was franchised tagged and walked into free agency to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles before the start of this year. 

Jones has gone 3-13 in the past two seasons, with 2023 ending early due to a season-ending knee injury. He also has the 32nd quarterback rating in the NFL (79.4) this season, and has thrown eight touchdowns to seven interceptions over 10 games. 

The Giants' offense is the lowest-scoring unit in the league this season with Jones starting every contest. 

Jones' benching is also a move for the front office to save money, as he has a $23 million injury guarantee built into the contract GM Joe Schoen signed off on in 2023. That won't activate, and with an opt-out built in after two years, the Giants are expected to release him after the 2024 campaign comes to a close. 

"He’s strong. He gets the business side of it," Lawrence said of how Jones has handled the news of the benching. "I guess they talked about it. He obviously doesn’t like the choice that was made. But he has to live with it, and I think he’ll grow through it."

But, at the same time, Lawrence knows that "teams lose games, not just one player," and the Giants have the league's worst rushing defense – an area they wanted to clean up after struggling in that department last season as well. Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, who was previously with the Tennessee Titans, was brought in because of his success in that area, but it hasn't worked out thus far. 

The reality of the Giants' situation is that the rebuild continues, and once again, they find themselves needing someone else to be their franchise quarterback. They thought that's what Jones was following a great 2022 campaign that saw them not only make the playoffs for the first time since 2016, but defeat the Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round. 

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Instead, they will look to free agency and the NFL Draft to see if there's a new signal caller that can get them out of the rut they've been snuck in for most of Jones' Giants career.

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