Drew Lock To Miss Time; Giants Not Considering QB Addition

AUGUST 12: Daboll’s latest comments on the QB situation (via Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News) indicate New York will not, in fact, be making a move at this time. Lock is likely to remain sidelined at practice this week, but Daboll said tight end Tyree Jackson is a candidate to dress as a third QB if needed for the Giants’ second preseason game.

AUGUST 9: Drew Lock joined the Giants in part because of the rehab odyssey Daniel Jones required following his ACL tear. Jones, however, is now back and reclaimed his starting post. And Lock is now the QB in need of a rehab timetable.

The veteran backup sustained a strained oblique and suffered a hip contusion during a sequence in the Giants’ preseason opener Thursday night, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. The free agency pickup will not need surgery, but he will miss what sounds like a reasonable chunk of time — to the point the Giants may need another quarterback.

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Brian Daboll said (via the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy) the Giants will consider a QB addition. Jones and Tommy DeVito are now the only healthy QBs on New York’s roster. The team cut offseason addition Nathan Rourke upon Jones being fully cleared. Rourke is now with the Falcons.

Lock has a month to recovery in time for the season, but given Jones’ injury history, it is understandable the Giants are discussing an immediate move. DeVito stands to move into the backup role. While the team’s part-time 2023 starter is not a threat to Lock’s job security, his experience last season is suddenly relevant. Regardless of DeVito’s seasoning, the Giants will need another arm to get through preseason play.

Only a starter for one full season (2020), Lock began his career on the Broncos’ IR list a year earlier. The second-round pick did not debut until Week 13 of his rookie year. In 2020, Lock only finished 12 games; though, one absence came due to being a COVID-19 close contact. Lock has only worked as a Teddy Bridgewater or Geno Smith fill-in over the past three seasons, and he signed a one-year deal worth $5MM to back up Jones. Reports of Lock threatening Jones’ job security were quickly debunked, though it is worth wondering if the current Big Blue backup will make starts late in the season regardless of the starter’s health. A Jones $12MM injury guarantee enters the equation for the Giants in 2025, opening the door for Lock seeing time if Jones is parked to prevent guarantees vesting.

Ben DiNucci joins ex-Giants emergency backups Jacob Eason and Matt Barkley as available passers. Technically, Ryan Tannehill is also available, though it would be highly unlikely the ex-Dolphins and Titans starter was interested in a short-term gig. Now 38 and coming off a Raiders release, Brian Hoyer is also available. His Patriots tenure did not overlap with Daboll’s, however.

For now, the Giants have Jones ready to go once again and DeVito (six 2023 starts) a surprisingly experienced — for a second-year UDFA, at least — option behind him. Lock’s status, of course, will be worth revisiting as the season nears.

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