Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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By Matt Lombardo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

EAST RUTHERFORD -- In all likelihood, Eli Manning won't play at all in the Giants' preseason opener Thursday night against the Cleveland Browns at MetLife Stadium, and even if he takes the field will likely see only limited snaps.

Last August, Manning attempted only 17 passes in the exhibition slate and did not play in Week 1 or Week 4. Granted, this is a new coaching staff with Pat Shurmur at head coach and Mike Shula at offensive coordinator looking to install a new scheme this summer. However, if history is any indication, Manning's first exposure to the live bullets of an opposing defense won't be until at least Week 2 of the preseason in Detroit against the Lions.

Enter second-year quarterback Davis Webb, and fourth-round rookie Kyle Lauletta.

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Last summer, Webb saw very limited training camp reps and essentially took the field only during fourth-quarter mop up duty during the preseason.

In four exhibition games, Webb completed 18 of 34 passing attempts for 190 yards with four rushing attempts and one lost fumble.

Even when the Giants' season came off the rails, Webb didn't see any game action amid a 3-13 disaster which led to Manning being benched for one game in favor of Geno Smith, and the eventual firings of former head coach Ben McAdoo and Jerry Reese.

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By all accounts, this staff hopes to use the preseason to get an evaluation of both Webb and Lauletta, unlike the previous regime that was more concerned about deciding whether Smith or Josh Johnson would be Manning's primary backup.

"I think it’s important that the guys come out here and use the reps that they get to get better," Shurmur said recently. "That’s probably a question that’s better for later in camp. We want to fight as coaches to be instant evaluators ... We game plan and then we develop players. So, we’re in the phase right now where we are trying to develop players."

The next phase of development for the Giants' pair of young quarterbacks, is the experience of facing a defense wearing a different colored jersey in a game situation.

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During his first press conference of this training camp, Shula opened up about what he hopes to see from both Webb and Lauletta over the next four games, as well as offered his assessment of what he's seen from them so far this summer.

Here are Shula's comments, as well as our takeaways:

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Impressions of Webb's training camp:

MIKE SHULA: "Davis has done a nice job. We've talked about him in our staff meetings. He's like a lot of guys. He's striving for consistency. When you watch practice, and you see big plays by him, or on the other side you see interceptions, you're like 'whoa it's one extreme or the other.' But, there's a lot of things that he's done since Day 1 of the OTAs where he's working and gotten the negative plays minimized, and he still has some work to do there, but he's still getting more consistent at making sound decisions. Now it's the next step."

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TAKEAWAY: Webb had an incredibly strong spring, and start to training camp, where he frequently flashed his arm-strength and deep-ball accuracy. However, in recent practices Webb has been plagued by putting the ball into harm's way which has resulted in several interceptions.

Through an entire spring, and first half of training camp, Webb seems to be much closer to being ready to step in and seamlessly replace Manning if disaster strikes than having to worry about losing the primary backup job to Lauletta. However, extended snaps with the first and second-team offenses during preseason will be pivotal to painting a complete picture of where Webb is in his development as an NFL quarterback.

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How anxious is Shula to see Webb in a game? What does he hope to learn?

MIKE SHULA: "Yes, for sure. He works so hard at it. You can tell it means a lot to him, and a lot of guys. The biggest thing that Davis, and any other young guy going into their second year, is don't try to do too much. Just make sound decisions. Make decisions that keep our offense on the field. Sometimes, those decisions are throwaways, so we can go play the next down. But, yeah, I'm excited because he prepares hard, he's talented, and he's shown some really good things during this camp."

TAKEAWAY: For any young quarterback, one of the first signs of positive development is their anticipation of throws and ability to read a defense. If Webb is able to make sound decisions, and eliminate the mistakes that he's made in recent practices, it would be an encouraging sign, especially since he hasn't seen extensive playing time even against vanilla preseason defenses yet in his career.

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Check out this scramble by Davis Webb and throw on the run to Kalif Raymond. Great arm. Good job by WR to keep moving #Giants pic.twitter.com/e6CZOQ1dWy — Ryan Dunleavy (@rydunleavy) July 29, 2018

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Could Webb's arm strength and confidence get him into trouble?

MIKE SHULA: "I think you obviously like a guy who has a strong arm, but the most important things are getting the ball there on time, getting it there, accurately. If it's through anticipation, or maybe you can't get it there because of anticipation because of something that the defense did, but you can still get it there on time because of your arm strength, that's good. The biggest thing, in my experience with guys who have strong arms, is to not let that be the reason to think you can fit every ball into every window, where something exciting's going to happen, or it's going to be a big catch, interception, or someone's going to get hit really hard. We don't want to live in that world. We want to pick and choose when we have those really good looks. Other than that, we want to make good decisions."

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TAKEAWAY: It has been apparent since the first practice of the spring that Webb has a plus-NFL arm, and the ability to make just about every throw on the route-tree. However, as Shula pointed out, there have been moments in practice where the Giants' defense has made him pay for trying to force the ball into a tight-window.

Thursday night against the Browns, and the rest of the preseason will be about Webb being able to reign in his confidence in being able to thread the needle regardless of coverage more so than a test of his cannon for an arm.

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media f

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How has Lauletta progressed?

MIKE SHULA: "Kyle's done a really nice job, as well. He's kind of got a calmness about him, especially as a rookie, that you don't normally see a lot. I'm anxious to see him, as well. Just to see the whole transition coming from Richmond. When I first saw, or heard about him, every time I've seen him play, he continues to get better. He played well at the Senior Bowl. He played well at the Combine. He's been here, started out doing well and has gotten better. We're just going to try and get him into the game with a lot of the other young guys, and give them things that they have had the most reps on, and let him go play."

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TAKEAWAY: Like any other rookie NFL quarterback, it is going to take time for Lauletta to get a firm grasp both on the Giants' offensive system, and the quicker game-speed compared to college. From the looks of this summer's practices, it has been a work in progress for Lauletta on both fronts.

Granted, he is a rookie, and working with the third-string, but the flow and tempo of the offense seems to be a bit slower when Lauletta is in there and it clearly takes him longer to process information and the defense's coverage than it does Manning and Webb.

It is far too early to make any sweeping judgments on Lauletta's future, but it might take some time before he's ready to be called upon to take meaningful NFL snaps.

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Is Lauletta's arm strength a concern?

MIKE SHULA: "He might not have a cannon, but he's accurate and he gets the ball there on time, when he's doing things right. There's a little bit of a difference between a guy being able to throw the ball 75 yards, and a guy having good arm strength on all of the intermediate, and even deeper throws. He's probably completed as many deep-balls as anybody has in this camp. If someone would have asked you that, he may have been the last guy that you'd think of."

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TAKEAWAY: Arm strength was the biggest concern about Lauletta from a majority of the pre-NFL Draft scouting reports, and he has done little to dissuade those worries this offseason.

For Lauletta to ultimately have a successful NFL career, he's likely going to need to have impeccable decision-making and be very accurate with his throws. So far, he hasn't been able to do that consistently during practice, but perhaps in a game-setting and with more practice time, he will improve and develop in all areas as a passer.

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TALK IS CHEAP PODCAST:

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HOW TO REACH ME:

Matt Lombardo may be reached at MLombardo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardoNFL

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