EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — With Tommy DeVito still dealing with a sore forearm, Drew Lock will make his second straight start at quarterback for the Giants when New York plays host to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
Coach Brian Daboll announced the decision on Wednesday, saying Lock showed some good things against Dallas in a loss on Thanksgiving and he will get all the snaps with the first team.
“I think the reps help a ton," Lock said Wednesday. ”I’d say anybody in this position would say the same thing. Getting back out there, letting them hear your cadence, letting them hear you calling it in the huddle, rhythm and timing with the receivers, even rhythm and timing for me with my feet on certain plays, whatever we’ve got up this week, it helps tremendously."
Lock was 21 of 32 for 178 yards and an interception that was returned for a touchdown against Dallas. "He ran for a career-high 57 yards, scoring on an 8-yard run and setting up Tyrone Tracy’s short TD run with a 28-yard scramble.
DeVito was hurt in his first start after replacing Daniel Jones for the game against Tampa Bay on Nov. 24. He missed the Dallas game and was limited at practice Wednesday. Daboll said it remains to be seen whether he can be the backup Sunday at MetLife Stadium, where the Giants (2-10) are winless in six home games.
If he can't go, the recently signed Tim Boyle would be the backup against the Saints (4-8).
The Giants have had three different starters at quarterback in the past three games.
“It’s professional football,” said Lock, who started against Dallas without any practice because of the short turnaround before that game.
“You expect roller coasters here and there. But, just excited to be able to go out and play one more time and get to practice with these guys, let them feel my energy a little bit.”
Lock, who was signed as a free agent in the offseason, was Jones' backup for the first 10 games. When Daboll benched Jones after a 2-8 start, he jumped DeVito ahead of Lock because the New Jersey product sparked the team to a three-game winning streak with Jones and then backup Tyrod Taylor hurt last season.
DeVito hurt his right foreman late in a 30-7 loss to the Buccaneers, and Lock got his chance.
New York is dealing with several injuries this week. Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence (elbow) and rookie tight end Theo Johnson (foot surgery) were placed on injured reserve on Monday. Defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches (neck/shoulder), left tackle Jermaine Eluemunor (quad), right tackle Evan Neal (hip), inside linebacker Bobby Okereke (back) and cornerback Deonte Banks (rib) are all considered week to week.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Rachaad White (1) leaps over New York Giants cornerback Cor'Dale Flott (28) and linebacker Bobby Okereke (58) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Dallas Cowboys defensive end Carl Lawson (55) sacks New York Giants quarterback Drew Lock (2) during the first half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
New York Giants quarterback Drew Lock (2) celebrates after running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) scored a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys during the first half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Just off a state highway in New Jersey, one of the largest statues of the Buddha in the United States appears unexpectedly in the middle of a backyard.
It rises 30 feet high from the woods in Franklin Township, near Princeton, where it was built a decade ago under the leadership of a Sri Lankan monk ordained in Theravada, one of the oldest forms of Buddhism. His dream? Uniting people of all faiths.
Today, the statue in the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center has become a hub for interfaith efforts and a spiritual home for practicing Buddhists, Hindus and Christians, reflecting New Jersey’s diverse religious landscape.
Among them: a Princeton University professor who grew up in a Korean Christian church and who follows Tibetan Buddhism; a leader of the local Nepali community who organizes interfaith gatherings and tends to a peace garden at the premises; and a woman who — after living near the statue for years — became a practicing Buddhist.
“It just seems to be a nexus where a lot of people connect,” said Daniel Choi, who teaches writing at Princeton and has been meditating in front of the Buddha statue since 2015.
“It definitely feels like a public shrine,” he said, adding that it’s hard to find such places. Most Buddhist centers in the U.S. are run by private organizations, “where you wouldn’t be able to go in for open practice," he said. "So that’s what’s unique.”
It’s also uniquely New Jersey, he said.
“You hear traffic; you hear cars rushing by; you hear airplanes flying above … You hear the construction work going on," he said. “Even though there are signs that say, ‘Please observe noble silence,’ you have people laughing, chatting, as they ’re coming out to give their offerings.”
“It’s on Route 27!” he added, laughing at the untraditional location of such a shrine.
“And then, the mix of people: you have Sri Lankans…you have Koreans, such as myself, or you have Chinese Mahayanas," he said. "You have people who are Indian practicing, you have new Japanese Buddhists coming in, you have Nepalese Buddhists. … it’s open, and that’s very New Jersey.”
The New Jersey Buddhist Vihara, a monastery, follows Theravada, the predominant form practiced in Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand. But it’s welcoming of all Buddhist traditions and other faiths.
When Choi first visited, he was pleasantly surprised to find a statue of Kuan Yin, the Buddhist goddess of compassion who is a prominent figure in Mahayana Buddhism commonly practiced in Tibet, China and Korea. After growing up in a Korean church, he had practiced Zen and Tibetan Buddhism.
“For me that was very welcoming because I thought: ’OK, so there’s something for me as well,'” said Choi, holding mala beads in his hand and with a maroon meditation shawl draped over his shoulders as he prepared to chant in front of the statue.
“I’ve seen Buddhists of different stripes practicing,” he said, adding that the statue also draws in curious tourists and passersby.
“They just sit in front of the statue on the benches, take in the moment, and just drink in the vibe.”
The center’s trees are covered in colorful Tibetan prayer flags that flutter in the wind near an interfaith peace mural painted by local students. It’s decorated with symbols representing different world religions – from Baha’i and Christianity to Sikhism and Zoroastrianism – all practiced in the Garden State.
“Our Somerset County has become a microcosm of the world,” said Tulsi Majarjan. As a director of the Friends of Nepal-NJ organization, he has led interfaith projects, including the mural and a peace garden.
“When I first came here to New Jersey 35 years ago, I used to drive all the way to Long Island to go to the Buddhist temple,” he said of the almost the three-hour drive.
“Now, within ten minutes…from my home, I can go to the Buddhist temple. But there are so many others,” he said listing nearby Jain, Sikh and Hindu temples that make him proud of the religious diversity in central New Jersey.
“And obviously, the statue of the Buddha in this temple,” he said. “Anybody who comes to that temple, feels so calm and collected once they see that big Buddha. There’s no magic to it. But you have to be there to feel it.”
Carol Kruhen knows that feeling: “It’s the first thing I look at in the morning,” said the 76-year-old retired high school teacher.
From the windows of her home next to the monastery, she awakes to a sight of the impeccably white brick and mortar Buddha sitting on a pink concrete lotus flower.
Raised as a Presbyterian, she became interested in Buddhism after reading Herman Hesse’s novel, “Siddhartha.” She also began practicing yoga.
But she only became a practicing Buddhist after her saffron-robed neighbors arrived in 2002. Buddhism, she said, helped her deal with grief after the death of her husband.
“The whole point of Buddhism is to live in the moment,” she said. "That’s been a major change in my life, dealing with grief. Meditation gave me a way to focus on the positive.”
On a recent chilly evening, she walked a few steps from her house into the monastery home of the center’s abbot, the Venerable Hungampola Sirirathana Nakaya Thero. Surrounded by framed posters of Sri Lanka, they chanted sutras in Pāli language in front of a flowered-decorated altar overlooking the Buddha in the yard.
“It’s something I can look at and think about the qualities that the Buddha stood for,” Kruhen said. “It’s peace, understanding, compassion, respect for all and living in the moment.”
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Carol Kruhen lifts up her pressed palms as she chanted sutras in Pāli language at the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center in Franklin Township, N.J. on Sunday Nov. 30, 2024. (AP photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Monks chant sutras in Pāli language next to a flowered-decorated altar overlooking a giant Buddha statue in the yard of the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center in Franklin Township, N.J. on Sunday Nov. 30, 2024. (AP photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Tibetan prayer flags flutter in the wind at the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center in Franklin Township, N.J. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Daniel Choi stands in front of a statue of Kuan Yin, the Buddhist goddess of compassion, at the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center in Franklin Township, N.J. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP photo/Luis Andres Henao)
The Venerable Hungampola Sirirathana Nakaya Thero, left, tends to a peace garden at the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center in Franklin Township, N.J. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Daniel Choi shows his praying beads and Buddhist medallion at the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center in Franklin Township, N.J. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP photo/Luis Andres Henao)
An image of one of the largest statues of the Buddha in the United States is located in the backyard yard of the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center in Franklin Township, N.J. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Daniel Choi meditates at the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center in Franklin Township, N.J. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Daniel Choi prostates in front of a giant statue of the Buddha at the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center in Franklin Township, N.J. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Daniel Choi lifts his arms during his chanting and meditation practice in front of a statue of the Buddha at the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center in Franklin Township, N.J. on Friday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP photo/Luis Andres Henao)
A close-up of the 30-foot statue of the Buddha – one of the largest in the United States -- at the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center in Franklin Township, N.J. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP photo/Luis Andres Henao)
Carol Kruhen lifts up her pressed palms next to a statue of the Buddha after meditating at the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center in Franklin Township, N.J. on Sunday Nov. 30, 2024. (AP photo/Luis Andres Henao)