Ryan Perrilloux is actually on the field!
New York Giants quarterback Ryan Perrilloux #17, who had a video camera mounted to his helmet during training camp at the Timex Performance Center. (Aug. 20, 2011) Credit: Newsday/Joe Epstein
Ryan Perrilloux had a strange job with the Giants last year. He was the practice squad player who never practiced.
Because they needed more bodies at other positions, the Giants kept releasing Perrilloux, a quarterback, nearly every week. Then they would sign him back to the practice squad and release him again.
“For the team, I’ll be that guy,” Perrilloux said today. “It was one of those things that I had to do to better our ballclub and I was willing to do that.”
It helped that the Giants kept reminding him that they wanted him around, they just couldn’t afford to have him on the field.
“That let me know they were confident in my ability and they know that I was going to grow into an NFL quarterback and they knew I was going to continue to work hard and continue to prove to everybody that I can play this position at a high level,” he said. “They were like ‘Perrilloux, we like you a whole lot, there’s nothing you’re doing wrong out there, we just have things going on and we have to move guys around a little bit but we definitely want you here and we want you to be a Giant.’ They gave me stability by letting me know they were going to bring me back this year and I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I just kept a positive attitude and worked to get better.”
Perrilloux practiced only six of the 21 weeks of the 2011 season. This weekend he’s at rookie minicamp playing the role of Eli Manning. He’s the veteran, the one who has a grasp of the offense, the one who can guide the draft picks and tryouts through their first weekend as a Giant.
“I feel good,” he said. “I feel confident. I feel like I’m continuing to get better. I’m still grooming as well. I’m working hard myself and I feel good.”
He looked particularly good when he threw a pretty deep ball down the right sideline to Rueben Randle.
“I’ve been here a year, I understand the system,” he said. “This year I feel more comfortable with the play calls, I feel more comfortable with my reads, I just feel more comfortable all the way around as a player … I wish I would have had a little bit more on the field work on the practice squad, just getting those extra scout team reps and getting more up to speed.”
But the Giants had him back. Again. And again. And that tells him something.
“I’m excited about this year and excited about where I’m at as a football player,” he said.
