Quarterback Jake Fromm waited his entire life to hear his number called in an NFL game, so you can bet the ranch he was going to make sure he was as prepared as possible.
That's exactly what happened Sunday as the New York Giants, going nowhere with veteran Mike Glennon at quarterback, inserted Fromm into the game with 3:41 left in the game.
Fromm didn't exactly light things up, going six of 12 for 82 yards, but he did engineer perhaps the best-looking drive on offense for the Giants all game long.
Stats aside, Fromm, who during the broadcast was revealed to have learned roughly 60 percent of the team's playbook, was a calm and steady leader who not only got the offense lined up quickly but avoided running the play clock down to the nub as Mike Glennon had done for most of the game.
He was not overwhelmed at any point and showed a strong huddle command while getting his passes out quickly and, more importantly, putting them closer to within the receivers' catch radius to where they didn't have to work as hard for the ball.
While still delivering the ball side-armed and not showing stellar mobility or arm strength, Fromm did just enough to prompt head coach Joe Judge to admit that the coaching staff would "open a discussion" regarding the starting quarterback for next week's game at Philadelphia if Daniel Jones remains sidelined with a neck ailment.
"We got to a point in the game where I wanted to see what Jake could do, point blank," Judge said after the game. "We weren’t doing enough moving the ball otherwise, so I wanted to make sure I had the chance to see Jake and that will obviously open up a conversation about what we’re going to do this week."
Fromm said he remained actively involved and in tune with the play calls coming from the sideline so that if he were called upon, he'd have a feel for the flow of the game.
"I was just trying to stay prepared throughout the whole game," he said. "I didn't know if I was going in at any particular time. I was just trying to stay ready. They told me there late in the fourth quarter, ‘Hey, you're up.’ I was just trying to get ready and try to make something happen."
In his limited snaps, Fromm seemed more certain of where to go with the ball and made sure to avoid just putting it up for grabs. In short, it was a performance filled with lots of smarts, accuracy, decision-making, and leadership.
Fromm, however, said he would have liked to have gotten the ball into the end zone on that one drive.
"When you get close like that, obviously you want to punch it in and definitely get six, especially in that situation we were in," he said.
"I was just trying to get shots at the end zone and give us enough time for us to get a drive there after that. There's always some plays you want back. Obviously, I just wish we would have executed there, got into the end zone, and got six."
He has a good chance of making up for that next week if Jones remains sidelined.
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