NFL

LORENZEN A GIANT FLOP

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Tom Coughlin has not been happy with the work of his backup offensive players during the summer, especially the play of the reserve quarterbacks. It’s doubtful anything he saw during last night’s 27-20 preseason loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium made him feel any better.

Jared Lorenzen replaced Eli Manning late in the first quarter and was not impressive. He finished up 10 of 16 for 53 yards.

Continuing a trend, he had trouble navigating his way around pressure in the pocket and was sacked seven times for losses totaling 37 yards. That means in 23 pass plays, Lorenzen generated 16 net yards.

“Wasn’t very good,” Coughlin said. “Wasn’t good enough.”

Lorenzen has been sacked 12 times during the preseason.

“It was rough,” Lorenzen said. “A lot of things went wrong for me collectively and as a team.”

Could Lorenzen – the backup all summer – have jeopardized his roster spot?

Anthony Wright (5 of 8, 70 yards) led the Giants on a late touchdown drive. Tim Hasselbeck (3 of 6, 31 yards) was thought to be the odd-man out in the three-quarterback field.

The final cut-down to the 53-player limit is tomorrow by 4 p.m

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Giants GM Jerry Reese said there is nothing new to report on the Michael Strahan situation. Strahan informed the Giants last Tuesday that a decision on his future would come in the next two days, a timeframe that has come and gone. The club still expects Strahan to report and not retire.

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There were a handful of young defensive players the Giants wanted to get a good look at and one they particularly wanted to study was Manny Wright, the 345-pound defensive tackle from USC signed late in training camp to add some beef to the middle of the line.

He helped himself last night – despite a 15-yard facemask penalty – with four tackles and one-half sack, combining with rookie Jay Alford to drop 43-year-old Vinny Testaverde.

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The kicking derby produced no clear-cut advantage. Josh Huston hit a 33-yard field goal and Lawrence Tynes nailed a 43-yarder.

“Obviously they both did much better than they did a week ago,” Coughlin said. “I have to take a hard look and make a decision based on all of our facts.”