Giants star trashes Commanders ahead of Week 2 clash: 'They're not really a rival'

New York Giants defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux may have just provided the perfect bulletin-board material to the Washington Commanders ahead of their Week 2 game on Sunday.

On Thursday while speaking to reporters, Thibodeaux dismissed any references to Washington being a rival to New York.

"Washington... they're not really a rival," he said. "They're in our division, so it's always a great game."

Thibodeaux did, however, heap praise on opposing quarterback Jayden Daniels, who is from the same area in California as him.

"I'm excited," he continued. "Jayden Daniels is a great quarterback... grew up with him... He's a great player and I'm excited to go against him."

Thibodeaux has a point when it comes to the recent history of the New York-Washington series. The Giants have an 8-3-1 record against Washington since the start of the 2018 season and lead the all-time series 108-71-5.

However, that doesn't mean the two teams haven't had their rivalry moments.

Most notably, Washington fans will never forget when legendary New York linebacker Lawrence Taylor sacked quarterback Joe Theismann and (accidentally) broke his leg in 1985 , ending the Super Bowl XVII champion's career.

Thibodeaux may be fired up to take on the one team New York hasn't seemed to have a problem playing against in recent years (especially with how bad the Giants have been of late), but he should probably take a breath and focus on taking care of business on Sunday.

If New York can't get its first win of the 2024-25 season in Landover, Maryland, then he'll be sure to hear his words thrown back in his face for a while (or at least until they meet again in November).