Johnson gets start against Pittsburgh

In the New York Giants’ preseason debut, a quarterback controversy officially got underway. Eli Manning’s job is, of course, safe.

Backup quarterbacks took center stage in the Giants’ first preseason game, as Josh Johnson got the start, followed by Geno Smith and Davis Webb, the latter making his unofficial NFL debut. None of them, however, could reach the end zone.

“We had a lot of work to do, and we got some good tape on some guys who were on the bubble – a lot of teaching tape,” head coach Ben McAdoo said afterwards. “There’s some good and some bad; there’s some bad and there’s some ugly. We need to clean it up and get better.”

Johnson took the field to start the game and played four drives, ending the night 5-for-10 for 31 yards.

“There are a couple of plays that I wish I could have back,” Johnson said. “Everyone, we all have something to clean up; that’s part of the first preseason game. Besides that, it was just good to get back out there.”

Johnson gave way to Smith in the second quarter. Though Smith completed his first four passes for 43 yards on a drive that would end in an Aldrick Rosas field goal, his time was marred by a pair of interceptions, one of which was called back due to a penalty, while the other occurred in the red zone. He would finish 10-of16 for a team-high 114 yards.

“I was very excited and eager to get out there. It was a special moment for me, my first time putting this uniform on with these guys,” Smith said. “It was fun. I had a lot of fun, I was excited, eager to get out there.”