Memo to the Giants quarterback: When Malik Neighbors is open, which may be quite often, throw him a pass.
Coach Brian Daboll held nearly all of his starters off the field for Thursday night’s preseason opener against the Lions at MetLife Stadium, but decided to put Neighbors on the field, wanting to give the explosive rookie wide receiver a few minutes to play in an actual game.
On the first play, Neighbors went deep and was running a go route all by himself, but Drew Lock didn’t see him and kept the ball on a five-yard scramble.
On the third offensive series, Neighbors broke free again and Lock was again unable to throw the ball, instead escaping a collapsing pocket and scrambling for no gain.
The Giants are certainly counting on Neighbors to continue to stay open and, once the real action begins, to throw passes to him when starting quarterback Daniel Jones is in action.
It was a tough and short outing for Rock.
He was hit several times, taken down by defensive lineman Nate Lynn with 2:03 left in the first quarter and took a while to get up.
He appeared to favor the left side as he headed to the bench, but his night’s play ended prematurely with a hip injury.
He was forced to leave the game, and fan favorite Tommy DeVito took the field early, cheering on from a sparse crowd on a rainy night.
General manager Joe Sean said on the televised broadcast that Lock was OK and could have returned to the game if needed.
Daboll opted to keep Jones on the bench because of his right knee, which underwent surgery, and with Lock injured and playing behind the second-team offensive line, Daboll may be hesitant to start Jones in either of the team’s two remaining preseason games.
Lock completed 4 of 10 passes for 17 yards and threw an interception straight into the hands of safety Brandon Joseph in a tough stretch.
DeVito was sacked on the first snap but shook off the slow start.
He completed passes from the backfield to running back Eric Gray and then up the middle to tight end Tyree Jackson for Gray’s 52-yard touchdown run with 9:12 left in the second quarter.
Gray then added a second goal in a strong performance.
The Giants are expected to be left with just two quarterbacks and DeVito’s roster spot is shaky at best. Lock, 27, signed a one-year, $5 million contract in mid-March.
He wasn’t the Giants’ first choice.
They wanted to bring back backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor for 2022 and 2023, but the 35-year-old Taylor opted to join the Jets on a two-year, $11 million contract to play behind Aaron Rodgers.
Lock was a second-round draft pick in 2019 and spent three years with the Broncos before heading to Seattle for the 2023 season.
He has a career record of 9-14 as a starter and his NFL stats include 28 touchdown passes, 23 interceptions, a 59.7% completion rate and a passer rating of 79.5.
The Giants liked his size, ability to get out of the pocket and arm strength, but they didn’t sign Jones to compete for a starting spot.
This was a game for backups.
The starting offensive line was rested for the night with the exception of Aaron Stinney, who is listed as the right guard but could be replaced by Greg Van Roten once he gets comfortable with the playbook.
Defensively, none of the team’s established stars played except for second-year cornerback Deonte Banks.
Safety Dayne Belton, who has been practicing with the first team all summer, also started.
At least the rainy night was calm.
The two teams clashed over two days this week, with fists flying, games being stopped for 12 fights and altercations and emotions running high.
The NFL took notice and fined both teams $200,000 for the shenanigans, and the league issued a memo/warning last month reminding teams that “fights and unprofessional conduct during practice sessions will not be tolerated.”
This will be his first time as an offensive play-caller, as offensive coordinator Mike Kafka has called the plays the past two seasons but head coach Brian Daboll will be taking over those duties this season.
Davol used a plastic tent to protect the playsheet from the rain.
He may have called for a few deep shots, but Lock, who was often forced out of the pocket, didn’t hit the ball.
