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Is Curtis Painter a legitimate threat to David Carr as the likely backup quarterback to Eli Manning this season with the New York Giants? Painter gets what will likely be his best chance to make his case during Saturday night's preseason game at MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets.
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During training camp head coach Tom Coughlin assessed what he has seen from Painter this way:
"He’s got great poise, he’s smart. He’s done a good job of understanding what we what," Coughlin said. "In a limited number of snaps he’s been relatively productive."
Here is how the two quarterbacks compare during the preseason, albeit with Carr having had two opportunities in games to Painter's one.
| Passing | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Comp | Yds | Comp % | Yds/Att | TD | INT | Rating | |
| David Carr | 22 | 14 | 121 | 63.6 | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 78.0 | |
| Curtis Painter | 11 | 5 | 55 | 45.5 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 60.8 | |
Carr is entering his 12th season in the NFL. He has been the Giants' No. 2 quarterback in four of the past five seasons. He has thrown only 48 passes as a Giant and has not started an NFL game since he was with the Carolina Panthers in 2007.
Painter was a sixth-round draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2009. He started eight games in 2011, completing 132-of-243 passes (54.3 percent) with six touchdowns, nine interceptions and a paltry 66.6 passer rating. Painter was out of the league last season.
Can Painter really win the job?
I have maintained all along that I don't believe so, and I will stick with that. If Painter has a huge game Saturday night perhaps he has a chance. Right now, however, he looks like the fourth quarterback on a three-quarterback team.