BALTIMORE – There was no live scrimmage.
No other team was brought in for one of those joint-session workouts.
Heck, there hasn’t even been much as far as fullcontact goal-line drills. No one says the Giants aren’t getting their work in during training camp at the University of Albany but, two weeks in, they need something more.
“We need to play,” coach Tom Coughlin said.
No kidding. There are only so many 7-on-7 passing drills to run and tackling dummies to hit.
Enough is enough. The Giants need to up the tempo and raise the stakes, and both will be accomplished tonight when they open up their preseason schedule against the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.
While it’s true that Tiki Barber instantly responded “No” when asked if he could recall a single memorable preseason moment, those hoping to land a spot toward the bottom of the Giants roster need to come up big in a test such at this. Impressions, either favorable or negative, have been formed thus far in camp, but there’s nothing like the real thing – or as close to the real thing as preseason gets – to either open or shut a coach’s eyes.
“We need to play because that will be our best source of being able to analyze, critique and improve,” coach Tom Coughlin said. “It’s very timely for us. We need to get on the field, and [Baltimore] is a very good team for us to go against.
They’re a very physical team. It’s a good opportunity for us to work, and a good opportunity for them as well.” Jobs are there for the taking and there’s no doubt this will be an important evening for Jared Lorenzen. He’ll be third in line at quarterback after Eli Manning makes a cameo appearance (no more than two series) and Tim Hasselbeck follows him up.
Lorenzen figures to get on the field sometime in the third quarter as he gets first crack in his competition with veteran Rob Johnson, who won’t make his Giants debut until next week against the Chiefs.
The tight spirals, the eye-opening velocity, the astounding power in the left arm, it’s all readilyapparent out on the practice field. No one can deny that Lorenzen can throw the heck out of the ball, but he has to prove someone his size (289 pounds) can function as a quarterback in an NFL setting.
Other than 16 passes in the preseason last year, Lorenzen hasn’t played in a real game since the 2003 season, when he was starring for Kentucky.
“You want to see how they are in game situations,” Coughlin said of his quarterbacks. “What their poise is like, what situations are they confronted with, how do they handle it, how do they play under pressure. Everything is about pressure – what’s going to happen under pressure and how do they take care of the football. You have practice and you have the game, and you have an opportunity to take the intensity up to another level and evaluate them under those circumstances.” Johnson, a 33-year-old veteran who hasn’t played in two seasons after rehabilitating from reconstructive elbow surgery, has not been as impressive in camp as Lorenzen, but the Giants are willing to give Johnson more time to prove his surgicallyrepaired arm will strengthen.
“I can win you some games,” Johnson said. “I haven’t lost coming off the bench. I know my record’s like 12-17 or something [as a starter] but a lot of those we lost when I was off the field; we had the lead when I left in the fourth quarter. I’m not gonna screw up and give the game away.” He won’t get his opportunity until next week, and he knows what he needs to do.
“The games are going to decide everything,” Johnson said.
GIANTS at RAVENS
Tonight – 8:00
TV: Ch. 4
Radio: WFNY (92.3 FM)
Line: Ravens -3