Throughout training camp, Jared Lorenzen was treated like the backup quarterback. He was next in line behind Eli Manning during every practice and once the preseason games arrived, Lorenzen was first off the bench.
With Lorenzen’s added experience of two full years with the team and the signing of veteran Anthony Wright, the Giants believed they fortified their quarterback depth. Now that the exhibition portion of the summer is done with, there is no reasonable way Tom Coughlin can say the state of the reserve quarterback situation is noticeably stronger.
The widespread belief was that Manning, Lorenzen and Wright would line up in that order for the season and Tim Hasselbeck’s time with the Giants was finished after two years (and no pass attempts). Hasselbeck predictably didn’t survive the last round of cuts and Wright probably didn’t do enough to supplant Lorenzen. In other years, Lorenzen had to sweat out the final cuts, but he’s back for a third season with the Giants despite some shaky times this summer.
Lorenzen had been adequate in the two preseason games he played in prior to struggling mightily in Thursday night’s 27-20 loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. In his most extensive work of the summer, Lorenzen directed the second-team offense for seven consecutive series, the first six ending in punts and the seventh resulting in Josh Huston’s 33-yard field goal. Lorenzen was 10-of-16 for 53 yards and, most blatantly, was sacked an outrageous seven times.
“There’s obviously some things I know [Coughlin] wanted to see out of me,” Lorenzen said. “I feel more comfortable within myself, I definitely have the confidence to be the backup. We’ll find out this week what he thought.”
Despite his 280-pound frame, Lorenzen intrigues the Giants because he possesses a rare arm in terms of strength and accuracy. The ball comes out of his left hand as if shot out of a cannon, and he throws with such velocity that he at times can make up for a release that is often too slow. The Giants remain unconvinced he can properly manage the nuances of an NFL game.
The seven sacks against the Pats were in part caused by breakdowns by backup offensive linemen, but Lorenzen accepted his share of the blame.
“That’s not on them, that’s on me,” said Lorenzen, who was sacked 12 times in his three preseason games. “I’ve got to get rid of the ball a lot quicker and I’ve got to make my reads a little bit faster so I’m not sitting back there like a sitting duck.”
For the entire preseason, Lorenzen completed 54 percent of his passes for 162 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions for a quarterback rating of 74.4. He was sacked a ghastly 12 times, and while that accurately reflects a problem with the reserve offensive linemen, it also reflects badly on Lorenzen.
“That’s unfortunately part of being a quarterback,” he said. “You might feel comfortable and you might think you’re playing well and you look at your numbers and they’re not good. It’s something I’m always going to be working on. I am the backup and I’ve got to strive to be better. I’ve got to strive to push Eli and just get better as a quarterback in general if I ever want to start in this league.”
Manning is close with Hasselbeck and did not want to see him leave. He has been around Lorenzen the past two seasons.
“I think Jared knows what he’s doing, it’s just a matter of you got to give him a shot to be in there and make some plays,” Manning said. “He does some good things. He has limited experience in the games and so I think the more time you give him, he’ll get comfortable and be able to make plays.”