After New York Giants coach Brian Daboll benched longtime starting quarterback Daniel Jones, star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence was quick to vocally defend the veteran signal-caller.

Sensing acrimony in the 2-8 Giants locker room, Daboll announced on Thursday how he accepts any dissenting opinions in his locker room.

“I got a lot of respect from Dex. Dex has been a teammate of Daniel for a while, there’s a pretty good relationship there,” the beleaguered coach told the New York media.

“Look, everyone’s not going to agree with the decision, and I understand that. We make the decision we think is best and we move forward and get ready to go for practice here.”

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Jones and Lawrence were both selected by the Giants in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, and the latter has quietly emerged as arguably the finest defensive lineman in the league.

Following Jones’s demotion, Lawrence admitted, “He’s the QB1. To me, he’s the best quarterback on the team” at a Chunky Soup charity event.

“That’s my best friend. It’s tough for that to happen. I can’t control it. They made the decision based off their evaluations and their thoughts and feelings,” he continued. “That’s my boy. As a player, you got to keep playing. As a human and as a brother, I feel for him.”

Daniel Jones and Dexter Lawrence have been teammates in New York since 2019 (

Image:

Getty Images)

Not as Giants players in the locker room are in lockstep with Lawrence. “That’s the nature of the beast,” third-year defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux said when asked about Jones. “You know, when you’re 2-8 and things are changing, every position is up for grabs honestly.”

Jones’s demotion was not made in a vacuum; he owns a $23 million guarantee in his 2025 contract should he suffer a severe injury this season. For a team likely looking for a new quarterback this offseason, paying someone $23 million not to play is untenable.

Jones’s play has been equally untenable. The sixth-year quarterback is completing 63.3% of his passes – his lowest mark since 2020 – for just 207 yards a game with a lowly 8-7 touchdown-interception ratio.

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The former first-round pick signed a four-year, $160 million contract with the Giants following a strong campaign where he led the team to a road playoff victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

Third-string quarterback Tommy DeVito will start in New York’s next game. The second-year man started a handful of games down the stretch in 2023.

“After evaluating a bunch of things and looking at a lot of tape and being around Tommy last year where he created a little bit of a spark for us, that’s the reason why we’re going with Tommy,” Daboll said earlier this week.