The NY Giants' wise man: Why Tyrod Taylor isn't bitter about his challenging NFL journey

EAST RUTHERFORD - Tyrod Taylor has every reason to be bitter about how his NFL career has gone, given the ups and downs he has endured at each one of his stops in 13 years.

Yet Taylor refuses to ride the roller coaster; rather, now as a veteran quarterback of the New York Giants, his sixth team, he appreciates all the dips and climbs for what they have come to represent.

Experience. Presence. Perspective.

"Ty has seen a lot," Giants quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney said of Taylor, who will start again at quarterback against the Rams on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium. "He’s very wise, as I always like to say about Ty to the other guys. He just knows how to keep it at the same level, no matter what’s going on around him."

No one would blame Taylor, now 34, for screaming aloud about how for years, it has seemed like the football gods were out to get him. It's hard to imagine a player having the rug pulled out from under him as many times as he has without becoming jaded.

Taylor sat on the bench for the Baltimore Ravens for four seasons behind Joe Flacco after they used a sixth round pick on him in 2011. He wound up in Buffalo and went 22-20 with a Pro Bowl selection as the starter with the Bills, leading them into the playoffs for the first time in 17 years.

And in that playoff game, with his Bills down 10-3, Taylor suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter. He never took another snap in Buffalo, instead being dealt to the Cleveland Browns that offseason with the Bills drafting Josh Allen, who has been their quarterback ever since.

Taylor was the starter for the Browns, who drafted Baker Mayfield to replace him.

Then he was the starter for the Chargers, who drafted Justin Herbert to replace him.

And then he was the starter for the Houston Texans, who drafted Davis Mills to replace him.

All three rookies (Mayfield, Herbert and Mills) had their clock sped up and took the job when Taylor suffered an injury.

Sound familiar? It should for the Giants (5-10), considering Taylor suffered a similar fate after taking over for Daniel Jones earlier this season when a rib injury against the Jets greased the skids for undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito's opportunity to lead the offense as the starter for six games, much sooner than anyone anticipated.

"The reality of it is, yes, I have been through a number of things in my career," Taylor told NorthJersey.com at his locker Thursday. "But that doesn’t make me different than anybody else in this locker room."

For sure, Taylor is not the only player in the NFL with a journey dotted with twists and turns, however unfair they have been. Make no mistake: Taylor was a rising star through his time in high school at Hampton (Virginia) High School and at Virginia Tech.

Taylor scored 100 touchdowns over four seasons in high school, winning a state title his junior year while also playing safety and serving as Hampton's kick returner. The scouting report on his game spoke to not only his skill set, but his approach, and that has continued throughout his life as a quarterback at every level.

"He's the type of quarterback that's gonna always figure it out," Mike Smith, Taylor's high school coach, told USA Today in a 2015 interview. "He's got a linebacker's mentality and that's the kind of guy you want at quarterback. He's tough, physically and mentally, so he can handle it. My dad always used to say, 'You crawl, then you walk, then you run!'

"Well, Tyrod came out of the shoot running!'"

Giants coach Brian Daboll went to Taylor at halftime on Christmas Day against the Eagles, seeking a "spark" as the DeVito-led offense had sputtered in a 30-6 loss to the Saints the previous week and for the first half in Philadelphia.

Taylor was a bit rusty, missing throws to Saquon Barkley and Darren Waller that could have changed the game. He completed 7-of-16 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown, and put the Giants in position to tie the game late before his final throw was intercepted in the end zone, leading to a 33-25 defeat.

The Rams (8-7), winners of five of their last six games, are in the thick of the NFC playoff race and would be in the postseason as a wild card if things ended today. Taylor is a pending free agent, so there is uncertainty regarding what's next. That's why his focus is on making the most of Sunday.

"Any time you get a chance to compete, and they’re keeping score, you want to win. That’s why we’re all here today – because we’re competitors," Taylor said. "We all love to compete within this locker room. If they’re keeping score, we want to win. Yes, we can shorten their chances and possibly knock those guys out of the playoffs. They’re coming in here to our stadium trying to get a win, and it’s our job to go out there and protect our home, and finish off the season on a strong note."

Taylor gave the Giants that spark for which Daboll was searching in the fourth quarter, this time with an unbelievable throw that traveled 53 yards in the air resulting in a 69-yard touchdown for Darius Slayton. Slayton's body control on the play was sensational, yet all he could talk about was Taylor's placement of the football.

"I've seen him make that throw a bunch of times," Tierney said, "so I was not surprised."

The Giants would not mind seeing a few more of those Sunday against the Rams.

“A hundred more,” Tierney said with a laugh. “As many as Ty can give, we’ll take.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Tyrod Taylor: 'Wise' man of NY Giants gets another chance vs. Rams