Giants desperately trying to prevent winless start from spiraling into something worse

The Giants took an important first step toward preventing a spiraling season from going off the rails Monday when Bobby Okereke blamed himself.Even though Devin Singletary lost a fumble, Malik Nabers dropped a crucial pass, 10 other defensive starters shared culpability in allowing seven field goals on seven possessions and head coach Brian Daboll repeated his failure to manage the roster for the worst-case scenario, the workhorse middle linebacker thinks he could’ve changed the outcome of a 21-18 loss to the Commanders.“My focus wasn’t 100 percent on doing my job,” Okereke said.“If it was, I think we would’ve had a better result.”Why not?“Talking about me specifically, three-quarters doing [my] job, one-quarter trying to do someone else’s job, trying to make a play,” said Okereke, who has played all 1,255 defensive snaps since he signed with the Giants in 2023.

“And that trickles down.I think everybody should just focus on doing their job.”The Giants are 0-2 for the ninth time since 2013, and Daboll’s third season feels like it has reached a teetering point.

The final records in those previous eight seasons were 7-9, 6-10, 6-10, 3-13, 5-11, 4-12, 6-10 and 4-13.A new-look locker room minus Saquon Barkley — who, teammates believe, was largely responsible for salvaging last season by getting others to join him in rallying around undrafted rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito during desperate times — and fellow longtime voices Xavier McKinney and Sterling Shepard is about to get tested.“Teams take on the personality of their coach, but I think the best teams police themselves,” left tackle Andrew Thomas.“Coaches put us in position to make plays, but it’s really up to us.

They don’t cross the white lines.It’s up to us to have the mentality to be dominant, physical and execute.”Dexter Lawrence — the Giants’ best defensive player — already picked a battle he can’t win with the home crowd by saying he doesn’t “respect�...