'Welcome to the NFL, Jake,' Eagles tell Fromm

PHILADELPHIA — It was the chance of a lifetime, and Jake Fromm’s emotions matched the moment.

"I was juiced up," Fromm said of his mindset heading into Sunday’s game against the Eagles — the first start of the recently signed Giants quarterback’s career. "I was excited. I was amped up and ready to go."

Unfortunately for Fromm, the performance didn’t match the expectation.

A week after seeing his first game action in the fourth quarter of the Giants’ 21-6 loss to the Cowboys, Fromm’s debut as a starter didn’t end well. In fact, he didn’t even make it to the fourth quarter. Midway through the third quarter of the Giants’ 34-10 loss, with his team trailing 13-3, coach Joe Judge benched Fromm and put in Mike Glennon.

"It’s not ideal. I wish I would have played better," said Fromm, who was 6-for-17 for 25 yards and a miserable 19.5 rating. He was sacked twice.

"It’s frustrating for myself. I wanted to represent myself, my family and of course this organization. It’s tough. I’m going to learn from it. I don’t think it gets much worse than that."

Well . . .

Glennon was supportive of his teammate, even though he was the one who had to take a seat at the beginning of the game.

"I reminded him before the game that he belongs here," said Glennon, who was 17-for-27 for 93 yards, one touchdown and an interception that was returned for a touchdown. "He’s had a lot of success leading up to this point. There’s a reason why he was such a decorated player coming out of Georgia and all the wins he had there. I just told him he’s here for a reason, that he belongs, and should go out and have fun."

It didn’t quite work out that way.

Fromm was 5-for-15 for 18 yards in the first half, with the Giants’ only points coming on Graham Gano’s 54-yard field goal in the second quarter.

"Obviously, I wish the ball would have [gone] exactly where I wanted it to," said Fromm, a fifth-round draft pick of the Bills in 2020. He was signed off the Bills’ practice squad after the Giants ruled out Daniel Jones for the rest of the season with a neck injury.

"I wanted to spread the ball around, complete [passes], move the chains,'' Fromm said. "We had short fields there a couple times early and needed to put up six points. I wanted to get in the end zone, and it didn’t happen. It’s frustrating."

He wasn’t entirely surprised by the benching.

"Just kind of told by [quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski] they were going to switch it up and put Mike in there," Fromm said. "That’s just frustrating for myself. I wish I would have gone in, handled my business, led us to victory, and then we’d be having a nice ride home."

Instead, he’ll try to learn from the experience.

"I’m going to grind, I’m going to work my tail off, get better and play better, like I know I can," he said. "I’m going to give everything I can to the guys on offense, to this team, and be the best man I can be from here on out."

By Bob Glauber

Special to NewsdayBobGlauber

Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”