EAST RUTHERFORD - Kyle Lauletta glanced down at the Giants' logo on his chest Sunday afternoon, and without hesitation, staked his claim to be standing here in a week's time when the focus shifts to the future of the regular season.

Admittedly, Lauletta is uncertain of where he stands in the quarterback pecking order, one that clearly places him behind Eli Manning and rookie Daniel Jones.

A year ago, there was a chance Lauletta could play his way into being part of a quarterback succession plan. Now, after being touted as a steal of a fourth-round pick with instincts and potential, Lauletta enters the final week of his second preseason not knowing if he has done enough to still be with the Giants beyond Labor Day.

"I don't want to be anywhere else. I'm fully invested in this team and this is where I want to be," Lauletta told NorthJersey.com and USA TODAY Network Northeast after Sunday's practice. "I'm hoping and praying, and I'll let my performances speak for themselves. Got one more [preseason] game, hopefully get more opportunities, so just looking to go out there, have a good game and keep getting better. But yeah, there's nowhere else I'd rather be than here."

That reality becomes a numbers' game, perhaps more than anything else, considering the last thing Giants general manager Dave Gettleman and the rest of the front office wants to do is part ways with a draft pick within a year of his selection.

There are no delusions of grandeur from Lauletta or anyone else with the Giants, though: Manning is the immediate present and Jones, while continuing to impress in a case that he could also be ready to challenge for that role, is unmistakably viewed as the future of the franchise at the position.

Jones will start the Giants' preseason finale Thursday night against the Patriots in Foxborough, Massachusetts, while Manning will not play, resting in preparation for the Sept. 8 opener against the Cowboys in Dallas. That means more playing time for Lauletta, and Giants coach Pat Shurmur praised the former Richmond star when given the opportunity to do so Sunday.

"I like the way he has competed," Shurmur said of Lauletta. "There’s been a lot of conversation about the guy we picked this year [and] there are many ways guys could go with that, but he’s come out every day, competed and gotten better. It’s a credit to him."

At first, Lauletta was hurt emotionally, but he certainly was not blindsided. How could he be with the way last season went, first with the off-field traffic incident involving Weehawken police that brought unwanted negative attention, and then he followed that with a disappointing showing against the Redskins (0-for-5 with an interception) in his only action of the regular season.

Still, even with Jones on board, the 24-year-old Lauletta made up his mind to compete — not with Manning or Jones or even Alex Tanney, who spent last season as the backup, but against the narrative that his time as a quarterback in the NFL was abruptly over.

"Of course, it doesn't feel good when they use that sixth overall pick to get a quarterback knowing they just took you last year," Lauletta said. "You get mixed emotions, but you take it as a challenge, and that's what I did, that's what I'll continue to do. I've tried to let it fuel me, motivate me to work even harder and prove that they can trust me. Daniel's done a great job, but I really don't feel like I'm competing against him or any of the quarterbacks on our roster. I truly believe that you compete against yourself every day, and if I can just get closer and closer to my full potential, I'll be where I need to be and just let the rest take care of itself."

Lauletta has had his ups and downs in practice in training camp, working with the third and fourth teams. There were days when he got just one or two reps in a certain 11-on-11 team period before the whistle blew, and even some when he did not get a snap because Manning and Jones received all the work that session.

"As a quarterback, you have a routine that you go through during the week to prepare yourself for the game. So, it's been working for me, and I think all the quarterbacks play into that, we all prepare together," Lauletta said. "Just do what I've been doing the past three weeks, maybe gonna get a little extra film where I can, and just try to prepare myself as good as I can knowing that I might play a little bit more this last game. I'm excited for the opportunity, and the opportunity to play a lot."

In the games themselves, Lauletta has performed well, completing 15-of-22 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns with zero turnovers. If the Giants decide to only keep Manning and Jones, Lauletta could return to the team on the practice squad if he goes unclaimed.

But if the Giants have room to keep three quarterbacks, Lauletta vs. Tanney is an interesting case study in what Shurmur would want at the position with Jones clearly handing the QB2 duties until he gets the chance at QB1. A case can be made that the Giants could go into 2020 with Jones as the starter and Lauletta as his backup.

"It's about the moment," Lauletta said. "You do create scenarios in your head, what might happen, and you have to be prepared for everything. But I'm not gonna worry about that until September 1 or whenever those final cuts are, and then I'll go from there. Right now, I'm focused on, I feel like I've played well in three games and we've got one more to go, and then we'll see where everything is. I feel like I belong here, but that's not up to me. I feel like I have done all I needed to do, and I've prepared and done all I can do, so the rest is out of my hands. I can feel good coming out of this preseason that I gave it all I had. I want to be a Giant."

By this time next week, Kyle Lauletta will have found out like the rest of us if he has done enough to keep that as his NFL reality.

Email: stapleton@northjersey.com