Tyrod Taylor has been complimented for his rushing ability and his underrated passing skills throughout his career, but Saquon Barkley had a different compliment for the veteran quarterback.
The New York Giants signed Taylor to a two-year, $17 million deal this past offseason to be help play a role in Daniel Jones’ development in his fourth year. The 33-year-old has been getting first-team reps, but head coach Brian Daboll assured Jones remains the starter, with Taylor as the back-up.
The move does mean the Giants starters would be asked about their impressions of Taylor, and running back Barkley had an, admittedly, strange response to his assessment of the veteran quarterback.
“Tyrod, one thing I learned about Tyrod — this might sound weird, but he smells good, man,” Barkley told reporters Thursday, per SNY Twitter video. “I tell him all the time — we joke around all the time and say, ‘He’s the smoothest man in football.’ But no matter what, before practice, after practice, before workouts, after workouts, he doesn’t tell me his secret. He won’t let me know what he putting on, but he’s a smooth cat. Obviously, he’s a competitor, he’s a veteran, he’s a great quarterback. That’s someone (Daniel Jones) can lean on to. He’s just been a great teammate ever since he’s been here.”
That’s typically not a compliment fans tend to hear in the NFL, but if your teammate smells good, why not tell them? For Taylor, especially if his Instagram is any indication, the quarterback is very fashion-oriented, so it would only be logical his personal hygiene and skincare routine would match.
Though, some fans went for the easy joke, believing this was a back-handed way to say, “Daniel Jones stinks.” The Giants signal-caller hasn’t lived up to his top selection in the 2019 NFL Draft, but New York is banking on Daboll to turn around Jones’ play, in a similar way Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen turned his career trajectory around in 2020.
It’s anyone’s guess if Barkley had Jones in mind. Perhaps Taylor does indeed smell as good as advertised and fans are just being cynical ahead of the 2022-23 season.
While the 11-year veteran has taken first-team snaps in practice, he worked with the back-ups in the Giants’ first preseason game against the Patriots — a game where New England did not play Mac Jones and its starters.
Daniel Jones got the start with the first-team offense, and Taylor came on in the second quarter, working with the second-string offense. Taylor went 13-for-21, passing for 129 yards and a touchdown. The Giants beat the Patriots, 23-21, in the Aug. 11 exhibition matchup.
