Wide Receiver Darius Slayton
Q. Obviously, the question of the day – what is your reaction to the news about (quarterback) Daniel (Jones)?
A: It's pretty disappointing. You don't ever want to see any of your teammates go down but for me personally, being here my whole career with DJ and kind of just the natural connection a receiver and quarterback have. Obviously, for me I think it's a bit personal.
Q. Obviously, it's always a little bit hard for us to read Daniel's emotions, you can do it much better. How would you describe him in the last 12 hours or so?
A: He's a competitor, you know? Even though we didn't know until this morning that he officially tore his ACL but those moments as a player, obviously, the thought goes through your head and the first emotion is devastation. We all work extremely hard to make the best out of the 17 opportunities we get every year to play the game we love and having that slip away is not easy for any of us to deal with. He's a very resilient person, a very strong individual – but he's also not alone in this. We'll have his back, we'll support him and be with him through this process.
Q. You we're here in 2021 when he had the six-game neck injury and the offense really struggled to move the ball with the two backup quarterbacks. Is that a concern that that can happen again? And how do you guys go about preventing something similar to what happened at the end of that season?
A: I think we have capable guys. I feel like (quarterback Tommy) DeVito did a good job coming in and played to the best of his ability. Obviously, we already have (quarterback) Matt Barkley, he's a veteran quarterback on the roster and has been in Buffalo so he's very familiar with the system. I'm sure whoever it is that they put out there will go out there and do a good job.
Q. Obviously, you hope that this doesn't turn into that type of season but take us back to 2021. How hopeless was it when you guys were playing out that string there? Obviously, the quarterback play, the offensive play was not very good to be QB1.
A: It was a bit of a different predicament then because there was a lot of other things outside of that. Our staff was at risk that season, obviously, both our – DJ and then (former Giants quarterback) Mike Glennon was our backup ended up going down. Then, we brought in (Commanders quarterback) Jake Fromm, from wherever we brought him at the time, basically off the couch. We were in a bit of a different predicament then, in a different space then than we (are) now as a team. Like I said, I think DeVito played pretty well yesterday with the time he had and will continue to build and get better. And Matt Barkley has been in the system for a long time so he's in a bit different predicament than even the quarterbacks we had back then where we're trying to learn something, whereas he already knows. I think the guys that we have will be able to do a good job for us going forward.
Q. Bigger picture. You guys are 2-7, you have this devastating injury, like you said, how do you keep things in the locker room from going off the rails? I'm sure you've seen that with some of your seasons here where things have gone in that direction.
A: Stay together. At the end of the day, it's a team and nobody is going out here and fighting these games by themselves. We have to stay together as a unit and continue to fight. Even if the odds may not be in our favor or whatever, but at the end of the day, our job is to go out there and play to the best of our ability and that's what we have to do.
Q. You've been one of Daniel's biggest supporters and you see all the stuff and you've responded to a lot in the past about what's out there about him. The natural thing now is that people are going to basically replace him, right? What do you say to that idea and how this affects you guys moving forward in the future?
A: You can't control what people say. Quite frankly, people have been trying to get myself and him and multiple others out of here since we've been here. That hasn't stopped us before and it won't stop us now. Like I said earlier, he's a resilient human being, he's a good football player and at the end of the day, he'll be back healthy again one day and he'll be back playing pro football somewhere, hopefully here, and I look forward to that day.
