Giants’ Devin Singletary focusing on ending concerning fumble woes: Letting ‘my guys down’

Devin Singletary is working to drop his reputation for fumbling. 

The Giants’ clearest path to victory against the Cowboys on Thursday night is to keep feeding Singletary — who has been an early-season workhorse with 71.8 percent of the offensive snaps — against the NFL’s worst-ranked rushing defense. 

Let an offensive line that feels it has gained an identity with direct runs setting up play-action passes turn the tables on defensive linemen who are used to teeing off on Daniel Jones and protecting big leads. 

The only problem with that plan is that Singletary has fumbled in each of the last two games, upping his career total to 16, which is the fourth-most by a running back since he entered the league in 2019.

Devin Singletary of the Giants runs for a touchdown during the first quarter against the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium on September 15, 2024 in Landover, Maryland. Getty Images

The sixth and seventh lost fumbles of his career both happened coming out of halftime. 

“I don’t look at myself as a fumbler,” Singletary said after Tuesday’s walk-through. “It comes with the game. Guys get paid to do this, just like me. You have to have thick skin and you have to be tough mentally, and keep rolling. I definitely don’t want to let my guys down any more.” 

Fumbling isn’t a new concern for Giants fans — all-time franchise great Tiki Barber had to change the way he carried the ball to avoid losing his job early in his career — but it has been a dormant one.

Saquon Barkley fumbled only six times (three lost) on 1,489 career touches from 2018-23. 

Singletary otherwise has done a nice job replacing Barkley, averaging 4.7 yards per carry with back-to-back games over 95 yards from scrimmage.

But “two good punch-outs” can offset the positives. 

Quarterback Daniel Jones of the New York Giants hands the ball off to Devin Singletary during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Browns on September 22, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. Getty Images

“I wouldn’t say it’s bad luck,” Singletary said. “Definitely something I have to correct. Shoot, when I’m running, I have to cover it up in traffic with two hands. I’ve been doing a lot of drill work. Teammates have been helping me out, trying to do punch-outs and stuff even though we are doing walk-throughs. I have to clean that up because we can’t be turning the ball over.” 

Singletary had a career-high 246 touches for the Texans last season with only one fumble, but his sudden ball-security issue is not without precedent: He fumbled three times during his final season with the Bills in 2022 and four times over a season-opening four-game stretch when Brian Daboll was calling the plays in 2021. 

The Bills decreased Singletary’s carries per game from 12.3 over the first four in 2021 to 5.7 over the next five, but he eventually regained Daboll’s trust.

He still has it. 

Giants running back Devin Singletary (26) leaves the field after the Minnesota Vikings beat the Giants 28-6 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Bill Kostroun/New York Post

“You can’t let one bad or two bad plays [negate] a lot of the good things,” Daboll said. “So, you keep working on your ball security, and he’ll do that.” 

Jones corrected a fumbling issue of his own since he was a rookie. 

“That’s not changing any of our confidence [in Singletary],” Jones said. “He’s played well, come back and been big-time for us.” 

The Cowboys look vulnerable after allowing 137 rushing yards to the Browns, 242 to the Saints and 182 to the Ravens.

Running the ball could be the best formula to keep at bay the pass rush that has 20 sacks in the last four meetings with the Giants. 

“All three of those [games] kind of took on a life of its own,” Daboll said, referencing the big leads one way or another in Cowboys games. “Those numbers are those numbers. But I think the games are all different, and you evaluate how they call it.” 

New York Giants running back Devin Singletary (26) spikes the ball after scoring a touchdown during the first quarter against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field. Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

For the Giants, it’s easier said than done to run the ball at the Cowboys, who haven’t finished with a top-15 rushing defense since 2019. 

“There’s not going to be anything easy about it,” Singletary said. “It’s a week-to-week league. The first few weeks, that’s what they put out there, but it’s a new opportunity, division game, so you know they are going to come with their ‘A’ game.” 

Daboll showed faith in Singletary by going back to him with a toss right to close out the win against the Browns.

He caught the toss, ran 43 yards and slid down at the 1-yard line as instructed in the huddle — the kind of heady play that would not have happened if he were rattled. 

“As a ballcarrier, that’s your job description — to protect the ball,” Singletary said. “That’s a good example because if you are dwelling on that, your next play can be even worse. You are always trying to score a touchdown, but in that situation, when you are trying to get a win, I would do it again if I had to.”

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