5 main NY Giants takeaways from the preseason loss to the Lions

NFL action is officially back and that's great news. On Friday night, the NY Giants and Detroit Lions went to battle at Ford Field, with the Lions coming away with a close win. Hey, let's not take the loss too hard for Brian Daboll and Co.

As a whole, though, there are plenty of things to improve on when looking at both sides of the ball for Daboll. Things were far from perfect, but there were also some positives despite suffering a 21-16 loss. In this piece, we've got our main takeaways from the action, of course including the dynamite play of a safety battling for a starting job.

5. Jason Pinnock did himself a favor with his strong showing

Who would have thought this would be the Jason Pinnock game? The young defensive back had himself a fantastic showing. To start things off, on the very first offensive play for the Lions, Pinnock picked off backup signal-caller Nate Sudfeld. This couldn't have been easier for Pinnock, as he wasn't going to let this easy INT fall to the turf:

Yup, that's solid from Pinnock. Also, you've got to give credit to Tomon Fox for that play as well. The pass-rusher did his job on getting pressure on Sudfeld, leading to Pinnock's pick. Pinnock wasn't done there for the night. The next time he took the field, he immediately posted a tackle for loss. On that same drive, on 4th down, Pinnock broke up a pass to get the Giants the ball back.

In the first half, Pinnock's play was easily the No. 1 positive for the Giants. Both Daboll and Wink Martindale must have loved what they saw from the defensive back. Pinnock is in a battle for the starting safety job next to Xavier McKinney and his performance on Friday night will only help his chances of winning that spot. He certainly delivered for his coaches, as did Dane Belton, who also reeled in an INT. Both these guys will fight like heck to start.

4. Cole Beasley still has plenty left in the tank for the Giants

It was a night to forget for backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor. In his short time running the offense, the veteran quarterback went 3-of-4 for seven yards. He also received an earful from Brian Daboll for a terrible opening drive for the offense. With that said, the main bright spot for the offense in the first half was veteran wideout Cole Beasley.

Plenty of New York fans are probably still a bit surprised that Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen decided to bring in the 34-year-old receiver, but goodness, his route running is still pretty head-turning. In the first half, Beasley finished with four receptions for 33 yards. Tommy DeVito looked his way often, with the two linking up several times.

No one is expecting Beasley to turn back the clock and play like he's in his late 20s again, but he still has the potential to make a difference for the offense. It's not a lock that he makes the 53-man roster, but something tells us he'll sneak his way on and provide the WRs room with needed veteran leadership in 2023.

3. Rookie center John Michael Schmitz impressed

Of all the rookie performances, we've got to shout out John Michael Schmitz as being the best of the group. Schmitz got the start in this one, with Daboll taking off the training wheels right away and giving him a shot to do his thing. He did just that, holding his own and more against the Lions on Friday night.

Schmitz did a solid job both protecting Taylor and DeVito, while also doing his best to open up holes for the NY running backs. Unfortunately, the run game was basically non-existent for the Giants against Detroit, but that's not on Schmitz at all. Schmitz comes off as a nice kid, but he's the first to admit that he plays with a nasty side as well.

As encouraging as it was to see Schmitz play well, the rest of the offensive line didn't look great at all. Depth is clearly still an issue for the Giants offensive line, and the backups will need to elevate their play the rest of the preseason, especially Wyatt Davis and Korey Cunningham. With Schmitz, this was his pro debut and things could not have gone much better for the former Minnesota hoss. The potential is there for the youngster.

2. Tommy DeVito did exactly what Brian Daboll was hoping to see

It's hard not to root for DeVito, as he's got a great last name, is a hometown kid and joined the G-Men as an undrafted free agent. The Don Bosco Prep product took over the offense early in the first half and he played about as well as you could ask a third-string, UDFA quarterback. DeVito was throwing the ball with some zip.

Were there mistakes from the rookie? Of course. However, he was able to help this team move the ball around and his night was highlighted by the 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tommy Sweeney. These two were actually high school teammates, with Sweeney being a senior at Don Bosco when DeVito was a freshman. Talk about a special moment for the two:

That's a TD DeVito is never going to forget. With Daniel Jones sitting this one out, DeVito was able to see extensive action and he certainly took advantage of things. The first-year QB will be headed to the practice squad once Week 1 rolls around, but it's great to see him get real game-time experience like this. He's gaining trust from Daboll too.

1. Brian Daboll was not happy with his team's intensity

Remember on Tuesday when the Giants had their worst practice of the summer? The G-Men bounced back on Wednesday with a fantastic showing, with Jones looking great. After that Wednesday session, the hope from Daboll and his staff was that his offense and defense would come out of the gates hot.

The defense did, with Pinnock hauling in his lovely interception. However, the offense looked sluggish in the first quarter and Coach Dabes was not pleased. Not only that, but he also let his offensive line have it for their poor performance too. We know this is the first game of the preseason and guys are shaking some things off, but Daboll will never let mental mistakes slide.

Daboll ripping into this team shouldn't be a surprise, as he always showcases a ton of passion. At this time next week, Daboll is going to want to see much better execution. Luckily for Big Blue fans, we should be seeing Jones, Saquon Barkley, Darren Waller and other studs take the field going up against the Carolina Panthers at MetLife Stadium.

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