Giants quarterback Bomar looking forward to opportunity

ALBANY - Rhett Bomar was talking about having to be smart with the football, make good decisions and play within the confines of the offense. In fact, he said it several times before someone noted that he was starting to sound like another Giants quarterback.

"Of course," he said with a big smile. "I'm trying to be like Eli."

Saturday, he will be the de facto Eli Manning, the starting quarterback by attrition. With Manning unable to put a helmet over his stitched-up scalp and veteran backup Jim Sorgi out two to three weeks with a torn capsule in his throwing shoulder, Bomar will have the quarterback position all to himself in the preseason game against the Steelers.

The Giants have added rookie Dominic Randolph to the roster and have told safety-slash-Wildcat quarterback Antrel Rolle to "limber up," but for the most part, it will be Bomar's game.

"There's a lot of pressure on him because I'm sure he feels the weight of the world," offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said. "Instead of looking at guys who he has been on the scout team with, he's looking the starters in the eye and they're expecting him to lead and do the things that Eli would do. It's not fair to expect that from him."

Bomar could be playing for a spot on the roster. The Giants kept only two quarterbacks on the active 53-man roster the previous two seasons, and it looked as though Manning and Sorgi would be the two this season. But if Bomar can put together another solid showing on top of his already steady performance Monday against the Jets, he could prove to the team that he belongs as the primary backup.

More important, with Sorgi out for the rest of the preseason, he could prove that the Giants do not need to go searching for a veteran backup.

"It's a great opportunity to show them what I have in an extended period of time and in a game-type situation," he said. "I'm looking forward to that."

It comes at a cost, of course. After playing the unpredictable Jets defense in the first preseason game and sticking with a basic script, the Giants had hoped to widen their play-calling for this Steelers game and expand the offense. Now, with the inexperienced Bomar in there, Gilbride said the team will have to go back to vanilla.

"We were kind of looking forward to this week to get guys moving and broadening what we're doing," Gilbride said. "We'll try to do a couple different things, but it's certainly going to curtail some of the things we wanted to do because we want to keep Rhett in a place where he's comfortable."

Bomar said he'll be comfortable. He said he felt that comfort Monday when he had his first taste of game competition. After playing a very limited role last year in preseason and then spending most of the year on the practice squad, Bomar is looking forward to his first extensive playing time since his senior year of college.

Even with the different role and different expectations, Bomar said he has not been treated any differently by coaches or teammates.

"We haven't really talked about it," Bomar said. "Everybody understands what the situation is. Eli can't go and Jim can't go and it is what it is."

Then he walked away and signed about half a dozen footballs for fans waiting for an autograph from the new - if only temporary - starting quarterback. Yup, he admitted after obliging those fans, that was different for him.