Giants stole what was left of Daniel Jones' confidence with practice squad buffoonery

The New York Giants officially benched Daniel Jones this week in favor of sophomore quarterback Tommy DeVito, which has unleashed an entire onion of controversy. Layer by layer, the Giants look worse and worse. Not only did New York bungle the Jones pick and his subsequent development, but the Giants have handled his fall from grace about as poorly as an organization can.

Look no further than who was elevated to QB1 in Jones' stead. I think we'd all agree it's fair to bench Jones at this point, but DeVito is, uh, not the best option on New York's roster. The Giants signed Drew Lock to a hefty contract and promised him QB2 before the season. He appeared more than a little irritated with the decision to jump straight to DeVito, which reads as one of the most blatant tanking tactics in recent memory.

More than that, New York has gone out of its way to embarrass and disrespect Jones. It's one thing to bench him in the cold spirit of business. But to publicly humiliate Jones and undermine his own professionalism is a bridge too far, and folks, the Giants crossed that bridge on Wednesday.

According to reporters at New York's practice, Jones joined the scout team defense at one point, donning the red jersey to play safety during an offensive install period.

Giants pour salt on wound by making Daniel Jones practice at safety

That is utterly insane behavior from the Giants coaching staff. There's really no way around the bad optics here. Credit to Jones for taking it in stride and finding ways to help the team now that he's buried on the bench, but New York has to know how this looks. At least do it during the portion of practice that isn't available to the entire media.

Afterward, Jones released a deeply cordial statement about his tenure with the Giants and his respect for the organization. Again, he deserves props for navigating such a rotten situation so elegantly. We can knock Jones the player all we want, but he's doing exactly what he should as a teammate under less-than-ideal circumstances.

A winnable upcoming slate probably won't matter much for the Giants, possibly the worst team in the NFC. DeVito made a few plays during his brief stint on the field last season, but let's be clear: New York is openly and unabashedly throwing games in favor of a high draft pick. For all his shortcomings, Jones is still the "best" QB on the Giants roster. That is not ideal, and he was always hurling toward free agency. But, it's the truth.

We can't really ding New York for benching Jones under the circumstanes, and we can even justify shafting Lock for DeVito in the spirit of "player development." Making Jones line up on defense in practice, however, feels like a gimmick at best or a punishment at worst.

There are still seven weeks left in the NFL season. Odds are this isn't the last twist in the Giants QB room, so... stay tuned.