The Giants have declined to make backup quarterbacks Jaxson Dart and Jameis Winston available to talk football with reporters this week ahead of Sunday’s season opener at Washington, putting the team in violation of the NFL’s media policy.
Starting quarterback Russell Wilson conducted a solo press conference before Wednesday’s locker room opened. But when Dart began having a cordial, non-football conversation with reporters minutes afterwards at his locker, a Giants public relations staffer interrupted to inform the reporters that the backup quarterbacks would not be talking.
The Giants later clarified that requests could be submitted to interview the backup quarterbacks about football ahead of time, and those requests would be considered. But the team since has denied multiple requests for interviews, including a Daily News request to interview Dart “about his emotions and approach to his first NFL regular season game.”
The motivation for the team’s stance is unclear, but it’s not difficult to speculate:
They either seem to be trying to avoid questions about Dart being elevated to the No. 2 QB spot above Winston on the most recent depth chart, or they are trying to protect Wilson by keeping Dart and Winston out of the public eye.
The fact that this change is happening in Wilson’s first season in New York seems like a strange coincidence.
Wilson has a reputation for being high maintenance: He rubbed a ton of Denver Broncos teammates and employees the wrong way by having his own private office in the team’s facility during his brief time there.
Multiple former Seahawks teammates have thrown shade at Wilson about receiving special treatment in Seattle and being unapproachable. And now Dart’s locker in the Giants’ locker room is noticeably distant from the veteran’s.
Wilson’s locker can’t even be seen directly from the rookie’s locker in the Giants’ room. He is positioned next to top wide receiver Malik Nabers on one side with an entrance to the showers and training room on the other.
Even Wilson’s standalone press conference is a marked difference from how the Giants routinely made Eli Manning and Daniel Jones available every week: at their lockers in a room with the rest of their teammates.
The News asked the Giants if Wilson was involved in the creation of their media policy regarding the backup quarterbacks. The Giants responded: “We have not established a new policy. The communication department oversees media availability procedures, and neither Russell Wilson nor any other player is involved in these decisions.”
Broadly, the Giants insisted in a statement to The News that “we have not introduced a new policy; our approach to backup quarterback media availability remains consistent with our established practice.”
The team described its policy this way: “The way we operate remains unchanged: we do not schedule weekly availability with the backup quarterback, regardless of their draft status or salary. The starting quarterback has a set weekly availability. However, if you’re working on a story that specifically requires input from the backup quarterback, we are open to arranging a conversation.”
But the Giants’ claim that their policy is unchanged is inaccurate. Backup quarterbacks such as Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito and Tyrod Taylor have been consistently available in previous seasons.
It is understandable for the Giants not to want Dart doing dueling press conferences every week on the same day as Wilson, with the rookie only weeks away from possibly taking over the starting job.
But that’s not what the Giants are blocking. They are screening all football-related conversations with the backup quarterbacks. And they could easily have Dart simply speak on a different day to a group of reporters, as well.
This is not normal, and it is a violation of the NFL’s media policy.
The NFL media access policy dictates that “players must be available to the media following every game and regularly in person during the practice week as required under league rules and their contracts.”
It specifies that “it is not permissible for any player or any group of players to boycott the media” and says a maximum of one or two players per team is allowed to limit their availability to “at least once during the practice week in addition to their required postgame media availability.”
The Giants have qualified that Dart will be available postgame on Sunday at Washington if he plays in the season opener. But they are required to make him available then.
That also reinforces why Dart is an important player to interview this week prior to the game: he would be one play away from making his NFL debut on Sunday if he dresses as the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart, as the Giants have listed him.
Brian Daboll’s comment that “all three quarterbacks are going to be ready to play” was also a nod to the fact that Dart’s first opportunity could come in Week 1.
Bottom line: this Giants organization led by Joe Schoen and Daboll seems focused on the wrong things in Week 1. And by refusing to let Dart and Winston talk about football, they made that the story.
THOMAS BACKED OFF
Left tackle Andrew Thomas (foot) did not practice on Thursday after being limited on Wednesday. It is difficult to imagine he will be able to play Sunday against the Commanders after missing almost all offseason due to rehab from Lisfranc surgery last fall. James Hudson III would be the expected starter at left tackle if Thomas doesn’t play … Jude McAtamney notably was the only kicker with a helmet kicking footballs during the open portion of Thursday’s practice. Veteran Graham Gano walked out of the indoor facility at the very end of the open practice period but did not have a helmet with him.
