Darius Slayton is here to shield his quarterback, Daniel Jones, from the slings and arrows of verbal critics.
The latest viral incident flaming the Giants QB came earlier this week as Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner struggled to find words when asked about Jones following joint practice on Wednesday. Slayton, who joined the Giants in the same draft class as the QB in 2019, said Jones is an easy target.
"I don't know what his intent was," Slayton said of Gardner, via Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. "I think I saw a tweet [in which] he said maybe he got distracted or something like that and that's why he paused. But whatever it was, regardless … it's easy to say negative things once there's a negative narrative around a person. But it doesn't always make it -- well, in this case it doesn't make it true. Nor does he see him on a day-in, day-out basis."
Slayton said part of the issue surrounding Jones is all the attention on the Giants, whether it be prime-time games or being in the biggest media market in the country. The 27-year-old wideout launched stray criticisms at Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence and the Chargers' Justin Herbert while defending his own QB.
"I think because we play in prime time a lot, we're media-covered a lot, we're the Giants," Slayton said. "If we were the Jaguars -- like you don't hear anybody say anything about Trevor Lawrence. Or Justin Herbert, for that matter. Matter of fact, if you ask most people about Justin Herbert, they'd probably tell you that he's a top-five quarterback, but under what logic? Can you really make a case for that, that he's a top-five quarterback?
"You just believe he's capable of that, because you see the big arm, basically that he's big, he's tall, he has a rocket of an arm. You assume his processing is good. You assume he's smart and all these things. You don't actually know, though."
It's admirable for Slayton to carry the torch for his quarterback. However, there is a reason the Giants looked into trading up during the draft to potentially select a QB.
Comparing Jones' game to Herbert's, whether through statistics or film, doesn't land in the Giants' favor. Jones has never thrown for more than 3,205 yards. Herbert has been over 4,300 yards in three of his four seasons (3,134 in 13 games in 2023). I think we can believe coaches -- former and current -- who have gushed over Herbert's talent, smarts and processing.
Slayton continued to back his QB, who signed a $160 million extension in March 2023, by suggesting that others don't face the same heat.
"The thing with the money is, that's what quarterbacks get paid," Slayton said. "You don't see anybody talking about Derek Carr. And I actually think Derek Carr's a good quarterback. But I'm just saying, what did the Saints do?
"Derek Carr could do something bad three weeks in a row and you would hear nothing about it. I don't even know what he did this preseason. I don't know if he's played good or bad this preseason. But D.J. is on Good Morning Football. It's just not the same. But it is what it is."
Slayton clearly hasn't read any of the press clippings from the Bayou, which have noted the struggles of Carr and the offense this offseason.
Those are probably enough whataboutisms.
The Giants wideout is correct that New York players are under scrutiny others might avoid. That's the double-edged sword of playing for a Big Apple club. Win, and you're immediately enshrined. Struggle, and you're lambasted at an extraordinary level. Those blaring lights helped Jones get paid $40 million per year. They're now shining on struggles as the QB comes back from injury.
The best thing about “narratives” is that they blow with the wind. Jones, Slayton and the rest of the Giants can change the storylines when the season commences in 16 days.