The New York Giants have begun preparation for their Week 14 matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers by gearing up backup QBs Jake Fromm and Brian Lewerke to play meaningful snaps.
Neither Fromm nor Lewerke has taken a regular-season snap in their two-year careers.
With Daniel Jones suffering a neck injury that likely knocks him out at least another week and backup Mike Glennon in concussion protocol following Sunday's loss in Miami, Big Blue has no choice but to prepare to start one of the youngsters potentially.
"We'll get Jake and Brian ready for the game based on whatever we may have to do," coach Joe Judge said, via the team's official website.
The Giants signed Fromm off the Bills practice squad last week after Jones' injury, bypassing the undrafted Lewerke, who's been on the Big Blue practice squad. Fromm, a 2020 fifth-round pick out of Georgia, would be in line to start if Jones doesn't make a miraculous turnaround and Glennon isn't cleared.
"The plan right now is for Jake to go ahead and continue in his role," Judge said. "We have a lot of contingencies, whether it's the COVID contingency or the uncertainty in terms of the quarterbacks. Look, Brian Lewerke is working as well. I think COVID adds another element to it as well that we've got to prepare, to be honest. We're talking internally about a lot of options right now personnel-wise, scheme it up, to see what we can do to address it and make sure we're building in depth for a multitude of reasons."
After firing offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, Judge hoped the offense would find some spark under Freddie Kitchens. But the quarterback issues drown any hope.
If Fromm does get the start, it would come after just 11 days of practice time with the club. For a fifth-round pick who was on another team's practice squad, that's like scaling the Rockies without a safety harness.
The Giants open the week of practice trying to prep Fromm as much as possible.
"When you get a guy on a short-term basis, including last week, a quick turnaround for a guy like Jake, the biggest thing you want to do is just make sure that he has a grasp on what he would have to run within the game," Judge said. "While when you go from Daniel to Mike, you want to push and stay as close to the offense as you possibly can, and you expect them to go out there and execute the game plan. For a guy who's only been here in your system for a couple days, you've got to go ahead and select more of the menu of what he can go ahead operate in and that's not always limiting based on his ability. It's just based on being new in a scheme and system.
"What's he comfortable with going out there and playing aggressively and making the right decisions within? At this point, you really want to go ahead and let him continue to improve on it. He's an intelligent guy. He's demonstrated that already. He's got very good poise out there and he has a very good presence. One of the things that's very impressive about this guy is you talk to former teammates of his like we did before he got in here, most of those Georgia guys and every single one of them lit up and said, 'We'd absolutely love to have that guy on the team. He's got a very good presence. He's a good teammate. He's got leadership qualities about him.' He had a lot of things you would hear someone say at a banquet about him. He's got a lot of intangibles. In terms of him as a player, he's shown at practice a good competitiveness and the ability to go out there and handle some different situations."
At 4-8, with potentially big changes coming for Big Blue this offseason, the Giants' future stands on the brink. And it's Jake Fromm in a position to play a crucial role.
Sounds about right.
