Career backup quarterback Davis Webb remains hopeful of making Giants' roster

Giants quarterback Davis Webb drops back to pass against the Bengals during the third quarter of a preseason game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday. Credit: Brad Penner
Tuesday is the deadline for NFL teams to trim their rosters to 53 players.
It’s generally been an eventful day for Davis Webb.
“Let’s see, how many times have I been cut?” he asked aloud when the subject was broached this past week. “Here, obviously. The Jets. Buffalo twice. So yeah, I’ve been cut four times.”
The only time in his career he made a team out of training camp, in fact, was as a rookie with the Giants in 2017. He was a third-round pick and was named the backup to Eli Manning.
And yet he’s still around, still in the NFL and still grinding through his sixth training camp, where he continues to lead third-team reps in practices with and against other players whose roster prospects are far dimmer than his own.
Webb has propelled the Giants to two comeback victories in preseason games this summer. He engineered a drive that resulted in the winning field goal with no time remaining against the Patriots on Aug. 11 and threw the winning touchdown pass to Alex Bachman with 35 seconds left against the Bengals on Aug. 21.
Now, though, Webb is up against a different type of clock.
At some point he’ll hang up his cleats and make the transition to coaching. That is practically preordained. He had an opportunity to do that this offseason with the Bills who wanted to make him their new quarterbacks coach, but he decided he wanted to keep playing and instead signed with the Giants (and the Bills’ coach and general manager who loved him in Buffalo).
He’ll almost certainly be with this team in some capacity after Tuesday’s cuts, whether on the active roster or on the practice squad. His contributions and position group are invaluable, and the Giants would not have brought him here if they did not intend to squeeze every bit of that from him.
But even if he does make the 53, he’ll still be the third option at the position behind starter Daniel Jones and backup Tyrod Taylor. His chances of seeing the field after Sunday’s preseason finale against the Jets are slim.
In other words, this game — in which Webb figures to play significantly — could be the last time he plays in a game at quarterback.
It’s something he is aware of, even if he doesn’t want to dwell on it.
“Just have fun, be in the moment, have extreme gratitude,” he said of his outlook for Sunday. “Not many people get to play. I’m thankful to be back here and play with my teammates so just have fun and do your best. That’s all you can do.”
Will he take a moment to look around and soak it all in?
“I soak in every day,” he said. “I try to smell the grass and have appreciation for this being my sixth year. Not a lot of people get to do that. I know I haven’t played much, but I’m still around and I think I’m playing the best I ever have.”
Webb has appeared in just one regular-season game, making his debut last season with the Bills mopping up a 45-17 win over the Jets. He didn’t get to throw a pass but took two snaps and took a knee both times.
His career stat line: two rushes for minus-3 yards.
Coach Brian Daboll said it is possible that the Giants will keep three quarterbacks on the active roster, even as loosened practice squad restrictions in recent years have made it far less common for teams to do that.
“We could,” Daboll said. “I’m not saying we will. I think everything’s on the table at this point.”
Webb said that’s what he wants.
“Hopefully you do enough in the last preseason game to build off what you have been doing in practices and games and create a conversation,” he said. “That’s what you want to do. I’m just going to do what I can control. We have two other really good quarterbacks too. We have a good room. That’s something I’m really proud of, being part of a room with Ty and Daniel and [coaches Shea Tierney, Mike Kafka and Christian Jones].”
Webb is proud, too, of his role in the development of some players who have climbed the depth chart this summer, especially the receivers who began their summer playing with him and now are lining up with Jones.
“Any teammate’s success is fun to watch, especially on game day,” Webb said. “That’s why we do it, to see teammates succeed, and if those teammates are succeeding, you probably are as well.”
Will they be succeeding enough for Webb to avoid having his phone ring on Tuesday? Will he make a roster for just the second time in his career? Might he have an opportunity to gain positive yardage in a regular-season game? Or will Sunday be the last time he is on an NFL field without someone referring to him as “Coach Webb?”
“I would like to be on the roster,” he said. “That should be everybody’s goal.”
His goal on Sunday, though, will be less direct than that.
“Obviously, winning the way we did the last two weeks is fun,” he said of those comebacks. “Hopefully we can finish strong.”
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