Respect for former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has not waned despite a tumultuous week that saw the former Duke star tumble from his perch as starter to fourth-string and now free agent.

Teammates praised Jones for his leadership, class, work ethic and support. However, with time standing still for no one, the team’s focus has shifted to the future, which for now is newly appointed starter Tommy DeVito.

Playful and fun to watch, DeVito is in his second season in the NFL, having signed with the Giants last year as a 25-year-old undrafted free agent out of Illinois, who immediately charmed the masses when he once played his Italian the starting quarterback was named. proud of his life at home with his parents, and his love of his mother’s homemade chicken cutlets.

All of that made for a good story, but it’s what DeVito does on the field that matters most. In three straight wins last year, DeVito, like Jones and Tyrod Taylor before him, became a human pinball machine behind a poor offensive line.

Still, he took care of the ball exceptionally well, recording eight passing touchdowns and just three interceptions while showing off an NFL arm and the ability to make almost any type of pass.

Now a year older and wiser, DeVito’s teammates, especially his receivers, are seeing the growth and improvement in his game from a year ago.

“He looked good and looked sharp,” receiver Darius Slayton said Wednesday after the first practice of the year, with DeVito taking first-team reps. “He threw it well and was accurate.”

Wan’Dale Robinson said DeVito, who looked confident as a rookie last year, appears even more confident throwing and directing the offense and throws a much better ball.

“I would say compared to last year, (the passes) are much more catchable,” Robinson said. “He’s learned a little bit more about touch and things like that, but he can put it in any window.

“If he wants to zip it in there, he can. If he wants to give some touch and let some defenders go, he can do that too. So you can see the improvements he’s made from last year, and it’s just nice to have that.”

Receiver Jalin Hyatt, who, like DeVito, was a rookie last year and who was able to gain an edge over his teammates by getting a feel for how DeVito throws, had his first and so far only 100-yard receiving game with DeVito taking the threw the ball. ball (week 12 of the 2023 season).

“Tommy is a very accurate quarterback,” Hyatt said. “I have matches with him that we played together, so we have a little connection. I think just because we came in together, he has a lot of confidence in me,” Hyatt said. “He likes to throw me the ball.”

Perhaps the one receiver with the most to gain from moving to DeVito is rookie Malik Nabers, the only one of the wide receivers who wasn’t here last year.

Coming out of LSU, Nabers was known for his yards after catch (YAC) prowess, among other things, recording 1,252 YAC of his 3,015 receiving yards (41.5%) in three seasons, the fifth-most YAC among receivers in the 2024 .design class.

But for the Giants, the YAC on New Year’s Eve didn’t exactly flow like champagne for this year’s first round. Currently, Nabers has just 204 YACs among his 607 receiving yards (33%), 21st of 50 league-wide.

That could change if DeVito throws the ball.

“His intentions with the ball are precise,” Nabers said when asked what he observed in DeVito’s practice as a passer. “He is able to deliver the ball before you come out of your break. So (head coach Brian) Daboll said to me, ‘Make sure you keep your wits about you pretty quickly because the ball is coming.’

“So that’s my main focus: just getting my head around. He’s going to throw the ball before I get out of my break. So having that as a quarterback, waiting for him to throw the ball before you come out of your break, that’s what we need.

Assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Mike Kafka agreed with the trustees’ assessment of DeVito.

“I think you’ll see a lot of growth,” he said. “He’s definitely got another year in the system, another year on offense. He’s getting better at the little things, those details. Talking about protection, demonstrating with his hands at the line of scrimmage, setting up the defense, lining up guys talking to those guys, communicating, not only on the field, but also off the field, on the sidelines between series.

“All that growth is really picking up, and you can see it happening in the meeting rooms as he talks to guys this week. It’s happening on the field, on the practice field, and it’s only going to get better.”

Slayton agreed that every quarterback throws the ball differently, noting that DeVito is slightly shorter than Jones and thus puts a different kind of trajectory on it to ensure it finds its way to the intended receiver.

But he’s not worried that because he’s had so few practices with DeVito, the passing game will be slow out of the gate.

“At the end of the day, we are professionals, and our job is to get on the same page quickly, and we will do that,” he said.