Davis Webb's solid game didn't guarantee him No. 2 quarterback job

Davis Webb may have had his best performance as a pro in Friday night’s game against the Lions, but it wasn’t good enough to earn him the backup quarterback job with the Giants. At least not officially.

Pat Shurmur insisted Sunday that when it comes to the hierarchy at the most important position on the field, “We have Eli [Manning] and then there’s really no depth chart there.”

Perhaps more tellingly, when asked if he has enough confidence in Webb for him to take the field in a regular-season game should he be needed — something Webb has yet to do — the coach did not say yes or no.

That’s not to say Shurmur is disappointed in Webb, who completed 14 of 20 passes for 140 yards and a passer rating of 106.2 as the starter.

“He did a good job the other night,” Shurmur said. “He played better than he did against Cleveland, and with the reps he gets this week, I expect him to play even better . . . Within a good performance — the numbers were good and he had a touchdown — there were still some things that he needed to clean up to have a winning performance.”

And to solidify his place as the No. 2 quarterback.

 Running backup plans

With only three healthy running backs available for practice, the Giants turned to a wide receiver and a fullback to fill in the gaps. Kalif Raymond and Shane Smith took third-team reps, and Raymond even ran for a touchdown in a red-zone drill.

Saquon Barkley appeared to be taking steps closer to a return to action. At the very least, those steps were faster. He did some running on the side that appeared to be near full speed and also worked on lateral movements. Jalen Simmons is in the concussion protocol, leaving Jonathan Stewart, Wayne Gallman and rookie Robert Martin as the only available true running backs.   

 Giant steps

Shurmur hit the snooze button on his schedule for Sunday, allowing the players to sleep in after their flight from Detroit landed in Newark at about 4 a.m. Saturday. “I mentioned that sleep is overrated, but not for the players,” he said. “The plan was to let them get their rest so we can put in a really good week of work.” . . . Linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong, who had an interception Friday, saw first-team reps in the nickel in practice for the first time. “As a linebacker, he’s long and he can cover,” Shurmur said. “He’s what linebackers should look like. We feel like he’s done some really good things.”

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.