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The New York Giants' massive letdown of a 2023 season hit a new and likely fatal low on Sunday, as the team lost starting quarterback Daniel Jones for the rest of the season after he suffered a torn ACL in a 30-6 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. The injury dashed any optimism for the Giants' prospects for the rest of the season and brought a sad end to what had already been a trying season for Jones coming off of signing a contract extension during the offseason.

Many have already written Jones his epitaph: With the Giants saddled with by far the worst offense in the NFL and seemingly destined to become one of the worst teams in the league, fan and media chatter has already begun about the Giants using a top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to take another quarterback to replace Jones. Such talk, however, is nothing new for Jones and his companions in the Giants' locker room, who already have fought through a great deal to win a playoff game in 2022 and win their futures in New York.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, wide receiver Darius Slayton -- who was drafted alongside Jones in 2019 and has become his fiercest advocate -- let on to his emotions about Jones' injury, saying that it was personally disappointing for him to see given the personal and professional link that the two have.

"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," Slayton said.

Slayton's comments of commiseration, though, also contained a great deal of resolve. When asked about the narrative shifting to the concept that Jones' Giants career is over and that the Giants will replace him in 2024, Slayton brought up how the core of the Giants has persevered despite continued attempts to try and run them -- and Jones specifically -- out of town.

"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," Slayton said. "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."

The past year and a half for Jones and Slayton alone illustrates that point. Jones was seemingly left for dead after the Giants declined his fifth-year option, only to lead the Giants to their first winning season since 2016 and their first playoff victory since Super Bowl XLVI with a sensational performance in the Wild Card Round against the Minnesota Vikings. As Jones was rewarded with a new four-year, $160 million contract, Slayton -- who was nearly cut at the end of the 2022 preseason and had to take a pay cut to remain with the Giants -- signed a two-year contract extension of his own.

Jones and Slayton's continued mutual survival with the Giants, however, may hinge on the fate of both their head coach and front office. Overseeing a 2-7 record this season that has featured a catastrophic level of injuries, Brian Daboll will have his work cut out for him to scrounge up wins the rest of the season and avoid becoming the fourth-straight Giants head coach to get fired after only two seasons.