How wild has the last week been for new Giants quarterback Jake Fromm? As he noted, by the time the team leaves Arizona and heads to Los Angeles for Sunday’s game against the Chargers, he’ll “have more time as a Giant here than in New Jersey.”
The Giants are optimistic that Mike Glennon will clear concussion protocol and be able to start Sunday, but on Wednesday, he was still sidelined, so Fromm got the “most reps I’ve gotten in a while” preparing to be QB1.
“It’s fun. You feel like a football player and just going out and doing what you love, and just trying to do it at a high level, but it’s pretty much the same as every week,” Fromm said. “Happy to get more reps, but I prepare the same week in and week out.”
Fromm has been a Giant for just eight days, and hasn’t had time to learn the full playbook – heck, he hasn’t even had time to get all of his stuff, just ‘a suitcase and a duffel bag,’ although he’s happy to be in the nicer weather of Arizona than what he saw in Buffalo on Monday night.
The Giants are unlikely to employ the Pats’ strategy from that game, although it’s fair to say the Giants’ offense would be a little more limited if Fromm is under center.
“It's a lot to learn – like preparing for a final test where you didn't show up for any of the classes – but it's fun,” Fromm said. “Learning is what I like to do, but there are definitely some things I feel more comfortable with and some things I feel less comfortable with, so when it comes down to it we'll have a good plan going out there, something we feel good about and we'll try to execute as best as we can.”
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That said, this is a case where Fromm doesn’t necessarily need to know all the material, but just enough to be able to pass the test for now.
“It's hard for me to say how much I really know because I hadn't really seen the whole thing,” Fromm said of the playbook. “For me it's just focusing on the game plan, knowing everything on it. There's definitely some late nights, definitely a lot of studying, but when you get the opportunity you just want to do your best.”
Further complicating matters is that quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski is in COVID protocols, but he has been able to work with Schuplinski via Zoom, and he’s gotten a lot of help from offensive quality control coach Nick Williams.
“Nick's great. He's helped me out a ton and I'm learning a lot of football from him. I couldn't thank him enough,” Fromm said. “And Jerry’s in his room looking at football all day, so I’ll probably give him some calls, too.”
He’s also gotten a lot of help from the two quarterbacks above him on the depth chart, too.
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“Both of them have been a tremendous help. I thank them for just allowing me to pick their brains and figure things out,” Fromm said. “Things will be said in a meeting and if I don't know exactly what that is, I can ask Daniel; he'll do me a favor and draw it up for me, so I really appreciate them and all the ways they're helping me and trying to get me prepared, as well.”
Fromm’s parents in Georgia are on standby, and he’ll likely fly them out to Los Angeles if he does indeed start on Sunday and realizes a dream.
“It would be a dream come true, something I've always wanted to do as a kid growing up,” Fromm said. “I would love it; having a chance, especially for an organization like the New York Giants, would be incredible. It’s crazy to think about, but I think when you just have that mindset of preparing every week to be the guy, hopefully it pays off. We'll see.”
And no matter how much of the material he knows, he’s going to give it his all.
“I’ll bring a lot of effort, a guy who's going to make good decisions,” he said. “Just be accurate with the ball, move the chains and score some points.”
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