Giants fans are so disgusted with their team that they might prefer paying for a small Pepsi at Lincoln Financial Field to splitting a free medium at MetLife Stadium.
The fans are even thirstier to see Jake Fromm’s first NFL start on Sunday in Philadelphia, mainly because he isn’t Mike Glennon, .
But there really is no telling what The Full Fromm will look like compared to his one respectable fourth-quarter drive in last weekend’s pro debut against Dallas.
That’s why the fans should be careful what they wish for when the Giants (4-10) take on the Eagles (7-7). Fromm was buried fourth on the Buffalo Bills’ depth chart and practice squad before the Giants signed him three weeks ago.
“There’s a drastic difference between starting an NFL game and just coming in at the end,” head coach Joe Judge said of Fromm’s 6-of-8 passing for 82 yards against Dallas. “There’s a lot of things you’re going to see structurally, defensively, the situations in the game. Playing the entire game is a lot different than coming in at the end of the game and just playing a snapshot for us.”
Judge had nothing to lose and no choice but to give Fromm a chance here against the Giants’ division rival, however, given Glennon’s clear and unwatchable deficiencies. So it’s up to the former Georgia standout Fromm to manage a low-scoring win the way one month ago in New Jersey.
“I’m very confident in myself and what I can do,” Fromm, 23, said this week. “Winning football games is winning football games. Sometimes it may be pretty, it may not be, but at the end of the day, all that matters is a ‘W’ in the column. However we can do it, however it happens, let’s just go do it. Looking to go 1-0 this week.”
Jones sprained his neck in that Week 12 win over the Eagles, . The Giants’ season ended with his.
They will likely be officially eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday by one of several scenarios, courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau: a Giants loss or tie, or a win or tie by the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota Vikings or Washington Football Team.
Judge at least kept the Giants in the hunt through Christmas Day for a second straight year. Co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch would do well to remember how much worse it was not long ago as they sit back and ponder where to go from here.
Not long ago, this franchise was being eliminated on Thanksgiving weekend.
Mara and Tisch really can’t use these final weeks for any barometer of this program, either. There’s not much to evaluate other than individual player development with this quarterback situation, all the injuries and this offense.
What the owners should be doing is having honest conversations about whether they’re still committed to a true rebuild upon this new foundation. Their postseason state of the union is fast approaching. They’ll need their ducks in a row.
With big picture discussions looming, meanwhile, Judge used a humorous and unorthodox approach to motivate his players and keep it light Thursday by playing the Eagles’ fight song during the stretch period of practice.
Judge grew up in the Philadelphia area but he has worse memories of that song than any Giants fan, having lost Super Bowl LII to Nick Foles’ Eagles with the Patriots in February 2018.
Playing the song seemed a playful combination of simulating Sunday’s environment and reminding the Giants players not to let the Eagles do the two things that trigger that song: score touchdowns or win the game.
“I’ve heard that enough times,” Logan Ryan said with a smile.
Fromm has not heard it in person. As if making his first NFL start weren’t daunting enough, he’ll be doing it in front of one of the most hostile and vocal crowds in the league.
“I heard a lot about the environment and for me, it’s just preparation and making sure everybody’s on the same page,” Fromm said. “Really, it’s just going out and executing whatever the plan is and just trying to tune it out the best you can and go play football.”
Count wide receiver Kenny Golladay among the Giants players excited to see Fromm start. That’s no surprise considering Fromm hit Golladay twice for 46 yards on consecutive plays last Sunday — after Golladay had caught just one pass from Glennon for seven yards all day.
“He really just came in and made the most of an opportunity,” Golladay said of Fromm. “Things weren’t going well, so I think he kind of just went in there fearless really and kind of, ‘Let me sling it around a little bit.’ He did a hell of a job.”
Still, as Judge said, a full game is different than one drive. And if Giants fans thought their team’s stingy Fan Appreciation Day Pepsi giveaway was ridiculous last week, just wait until they get a taste of a hungry Eagles team and rabid fan base descending upon New York’s rookie QB.
