The Giants’ quarterback pecking order was a state secret. That’s what the franchise would have you believe, at least, with the lack of transparency on the switch from Daniel Jones to Tommy DeVito this week. To be clear, no one should question Jones’ benching. Forget the injury guarantee that the Giants obviously wanted to avoid paying — sitting Jones down made sense from a football perspective. The team is 2-8 and Jones was 21 games under .500 in six years. Enough was enough. The problem, though, is that the staff gave no insight into how DeVito suddenly leapfrogged No. 2 quarterback Drew Lock at the 11th hour leading up to Sunday’s home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “We went back and we looked at a lot of stuff,” coach Brian Daboll said vaguely Monday when asked about picking DeVito over Lock. “We talked about a lot of things and just felt like this was the right move at this time for us.” Lock was clearly unhappy, and he had every right to be. The former second-round pick signed a $5 million contract in March and worked as Jones’ top backup throughout the summer and the fall, only to suddenly be told by Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen that the No. 3 quarterback would be the new starter. Lock said they referenced the spark that DeVito gave the Giants last year as they went 3-3 with the Livingston native under center. But then why was DeVito not the No. 2 quarterback all along? “That’s a question I might still have for myself,” Lock said Wednesday in the locker room. “It was expressed to me that I was going to be the ‘two.’ I don’t know, it’s an interesting situation. Not much I can really say about it besides, again, I’m going to be here for him. We’re still communicating, still very good friends.” Credit Lock for being a good teammate, but that’s crummy business by the Giants. If they didn’t like what they saw in Lock’s limited preseason action or in the fourth quarter against the Eagles on Oct. 20, then they should have made DeVito the backup quarterback on game days. A source told The Trentonian that the Giants essentially held a competition between Lock and DeVito where the two quarterbacks split reps for one day of practice last week when the Giants were on a bye. One notion is that DeVito can spark the offense because of his ability to make off-platform throws in the pocket — a tool that was lacking in Jones’ arsenal. But why can’t the coaches just come out and say that? Why tiptoe around explaining the decision like this is youth football where big money isn’t involved and players’ feelings need to be protected? There’s no need to throw anyone under the bus, but by not being transparent, you leave your fans and players to wonder whether inserting DeVito into the mix now is more about tanking for draft position than putting your best players on the field. “All those discussions that we had during the bye, leading up to the week, we certainly talked about them as a staff,” offensive coordinator Mike Kafka said Thursday. “I’ll just keep those in-house.” What the Giants certainly didn’t keep in-house, however, was having Jones practice in front of media on Thursday as a scout team safety. The NFL Network reported Friday that Jones volunteered to do so because the team needed extra bodies on defense for their walk-through, but still. It was an embarrassing look for the Giants to sign off on less than 24 hours before granting Jones’ request to be released from the roster. Did anyone really think that having Jones show up to practice as the No. 4 quarterback was a good idea, anyway? The Giants obviously had no intention of playing him in another game, so having him go through the motions in practice for seven weeks would have been a waste of everyone’s time, so it was no surprise that they severed ties on Friday. So now the focus shifts to the — gulp — final seven games of the season as the Giants try to salvage something positive before a pivotal offseason. These are ultimately meaningless games, yes, but fielding a competent roster and earning at least a couple wins down the stretch should matter. John Mara and Steve Tisch still need to evaluate whether Daboll and Schoen are truly the men that they want picking a quarterback in the draft. Think about it: They misevaluated Jones when giving him a four-year extension after the 2022 season, they aren’t confident enough in their Lock signing to have him start games now, and they aren’t even committing to DeVito beyond this week. If Giants brass doesn’t want to be transparent about decision-making with the quarterback position, then it better lead to good results. Giants Gameday The Game: Buccaneers (4-6) at Giants (2-8), MetLife Stadium, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (FOX) The Line: Tampa Bay by 6 History: The Giants lead the all-time series, 16-9, but the Bucs have won the last two games with the most recent one coming in 2021 in Tampa. This is their first meeting in the Meadowlands since 2020. Key Matchups: Giants C John Michael Schmitz vs. Bucs NT Vita Vea: This is a tough test for the Giants’ second-year center. Vea leads the Bucs with five sacks and also has seven QB hits. Vea, a 2018 first-round pick, is also known as a strong run defender. Giants WR Darius Slayton vs. Bucs CBs Zyon McCollum/Josh Hayes: Slayton is back after missing the Germany game with a concussion. He was Tommy DeVito’s favorite target last season with 193 yards and a touchdown in DeVito’s first five starts, and he’ll be a key weapon against a Tampa Bay defense which is allowing the 10th-most yards per pass attempt. Giants WR Deonte Banks vs. Bucs WR Mike Evans: Evans returns after a three-game absence with a hamstring injury, and you can bet that Baker Mayfield will target him often, especially with Chris Godwin sidelined. Banks has had an uneven sophomore campaign and will likely struggle to contain the Bucs’ 6-foot-5 future Hall of Famer, who is tied for fourth in the NFL with six receiving touchdowns. Giants LBs vs. Bucs RBs Rachaad White/Bucky Irving: Tampa Bay’s two backs lead the NFL’s 10th-ranked rushing attack in yards per game, and they also present problems in the passing game with 479 receiving yards. The Giants’ linebackers will have to be on their keys to help slow down White and Irving out of the backfield. Injury Report: Giants: QUESTIONABLE: OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux (wrist), WR Malik Nabers (groin), WR Bryce Ford-Wheaton (Achilles), ILB Darius Muasau (hamstring), ILB Micah McFadden (heel). Buccaneers: DOUBTFUL: DB Tykee Smith (knee); QUESTIONABLE: WR Mike Evans (hamstring), CB Zyon McCollum (hamstring), CB Jamel Dean (hamstring), CB Troy Hill (ankle/foot), NT Greg Gaines (foot), OT Tristan Wirfs (knee/foot). Giant Facts: The Giants commit the fifth-most penalties per game (5.4). … Malik Nabers ranks seventh in the NFL in creating separation, according to Pro Football Focus, as the rookie has beaten coverage on 70.59 percent of his routes in which he’s been covered by the defense. … Brian Burns’ 23 pressures on third and fourth down are the second-most in the NFL, according to PFF. The Prediction: Bucs 23, Giants 17