Drew Lock to remain as Giants' starting quarterback if he's healthy enough
Drew Lock of the New York Giants against the New Orleans Saints at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
After the Giants’ 14-11 home loss to the Saints on Sunday, Drew Lock said he felt fine after getting some X-rays. It’s just the cost of being the Giants’ quarterback.
Lock, who took 13 hits, including two sacks, in his home debut as the starter, will get another chance. Coach Brian Daboll named him the starter for Sunday’s game against the Ravens if his health permits.
Daboll said Lock was feeling sore and awaiting MRI results for a “couple of things.”
“Drew will be the quarterback this week unless he can’t based on injury,” Daboll said Monday on a Zoom call.
Lock’s first eight passes against the Saints fell incomplete, the first time a quarterback has done that since Cam Newton on Dec. 31, 2017, for the Panthers.
Lock finished 21-for-49 for 227 yards, setting a career high for attempts. He also ran for a career-best 59 yards on five carries. But he threw an interception and, for the second consecutive game, didn’t throw a touchdown pass.
Lock had what he called some “bumps and bruises” but said he felt good ahead of practice this week.
“That’s football,” he said. “I’ll go back and watch it and I’ll say that I probably brought myself into a couple [of hits] . . . That’s what you’re prepared for. You’re prepared to get hit a couple times at quarterback.”
What the Giants (2-11) weren’t prepared for was another poor offensive showing in their eighth straight loss. They had only 135 yards and three points through three quarters against a Saints defense that entered as the NFL’s third-worst in yards allowed per game.
Lock went 10-for-25 for 81 yards through three quarters. It was so rough that fans briefly cheered when backup Tommy DeVito came in for one play. He handed the ball off to Tyrone Tracy Jr. before yielding the quarterback duties back to Lock.
It wasn’t pretty, but neither is a Giants offense that is averaging 10.1 points through seven home games. And it won’t get any easier; their last four opponents have a combined 31-21 record, tied for the NFL’s fifth-toughest remaining strength of schedule, according to the website Tankathon.
In two starts, Lock hasn’t been the answer for an offense that had its eighth game without a first-half touchdown and sixth without one through three quarters.
So why not make a change at quarterback?
“He’s really had one week of practice to go out there and play,” Daboll said. “Again, things that everybody could do better, but he’d be the quarterback this week if he’s healthy.”
It’s a reminder that the Giants’ future quarterback isn’t on the roster and likely deciding whether to play in a bowl game.
That could be either Miami’s Cam Ward or Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders. Those are the prizes waiting if the Giants fail to win enough of their four remaining games.
Getting that quarterback is a greater priority than getting through Sunday with who they have. The Giants and the Raiders are tied for the league’s worst record and, according to Tankathon, the Raiders have a slight edge for the No. 1 overall pick because of strength of schedule. Unfortunately for the Giants, the Raiders also need a quarterback.
That won’t stop Giants fans from eyeing Ward or Sanders as a tantalizing upgrade from what they have now. That’s not Lock’s concern, however, with another chance this week to get a win (unless his body says otherwise).
“I think he has done a good job for us over the past couple of games [and] leading us,” wide receiver Darius Slayton said. “Obviously, we still haven’t performed quite at the level as we’d like to as an offense as a whole. But I think him individually, he’s done a good job under the circumstances.”
Notes & quotes: Daboll said left guard Jon Runyan Jr. is considered “week-to-week, maybe more” after suffering an ankle injury on the third play of the second half on Sunday. Runyan said on Monday that X-rays were negative . . . Safety Tyler Nubin is dealing with an ankle injury . . . Center John Michael Schmitz Jr. had an MRI for a neck injury he suffered on Sunday and Daboll said it “looks OK.”
Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
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