I’M A BIG BLUE BONE HEAD
SORRY LAULET TA HOPES FOR SECOND CHANCE
KYLE Lauletta deserves a second chance to prove if he can be a starting quarterback in the NFL. It won’t come Monday night against the 49ers. But should Eli Manning continue this miserable season, Lauletta remains in the discussion as his successor.
Of course, any real consideration of Lauletta playing in an actual game is on hold until the rookie fourth-round pick from Richmond proves he can be trusted again; trusted to get to work on time; trusted not to get any more traffic tickets; trusted not to embarrass the franchise with his off-the-field transgressions. That may be more important than anything he does on the field for the remainder of this season.
“I’m very regretful that I did that and I’ll do everything that I can to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Lauletta said Tuesday, speaking for the first time since he was arrested in New Jersey last week for reckless driving.
Ultimately, this is on Lauletta. Right now, he has damaged that trust. Giants head coach Pat Shurmur made that clear Tuesday when he continued to express how “disappointed” he was in the rookie, not only for the traffic violation, but for being late and eventually missing a day of work.
“I’m disappointed because I think especially with a quarterback, you’re looking at decisionmaking in all facets of a player’s life,” the coach said.
We still don’t know what the Giants think about Lauletta. He showed flashes of potential during the preseason. The rest of his development has come through practice sessions away from the media. It’s not clear if the Giants believe he has long-term potential or if he’s Davis Webb, the thirdround pick in 2017 who was cut during training camp. Shurmur hasn’t discouraged any talk that Lauletta has potential.
“He’s working himself in a position to play,” Shumur said Tuesday. “He’s done a good job out here in practice.”
Perhaps the one positive about all this is that Lauletta seemed genuinely remorseful and accepted responsibility for his actions. Speaking to the media, he appeared sincere, apologetic and even a bit emotional when he said, “My parents raised me better.” He later talked about the support he has gotten from his teammates, espe- cially Manning. The 37-year-old two-time Super Bowl winner is under siege for the Giants’ 1-7 record, but was among the first to reach out to Lauletta the day of his arrest.
“He was there for me,” Lauletta said, getting a bit emotional. “I’ll be there for him in whatever ways I can.”
He doesn’t need to worry about Manning. Lauletta needs to worry about himself. He’s lucky to get a second chance. Despite the serious charges of reckless driving and resisting arrest, he wasn’t stigmatized with a more career- threatening crime involving drugs or domestic abuse. He’s lucky he didn’t hit the police officer with his Jaguar or resist the arrest to the point things escalated into a tragedy.
“I respect those guys,” Lauletta said of the police. “I can’t say I’m sorry enough about what happened.”
Lauletta has drawn “internal consequences,” as Shurmur put it, from the Giants, but he’ll still get his chance to prove he can be their quarterback of the future. He’ll get his chance because the Giants are in the market for a quarterback. Whether it’s this year or next year, the Giants will be looking to move on from Manning and Lauletta is first in line to take a shot at being the heir apparent if he stays out of trouble.
Shurmur announced Tuesday that Manning would start against the 49ers “with the idea that he’s going to get us on a run here and there will be no decisions to be made.” That might be wishful thinking.
In the meantime, Lauletta will continue to be evaluated and developed with added attention to how he handles himself off the field. The Giants aren’t going to hand their franchise to a quarterback without a high degree of trust that his decisions on the field or behind the wheel are made in the best interest of the team. george.willis@nypost.com