Throughout the preseason, David Carr has felt pretty confident Ryan Nassib will get plenty of playing time.
"I'll get my series or two or see how it works," Carr, the Giants' veteran backup quarterback, said yesterday. "And then he'll be in there. They want to see what he can do."
Nassib is the Giants' rookie signal-caller, and for the first time in quite a while, there figures to be pretty strong interest in how a Giants quarterback other than Eli Manning fares in the preseason. Nassib eventually may be Manning's successor, and tomorrow night in Pittsburgh he'll make his NFL debut in the preseason opener against the Steelers.
Anthony J Causi
Ryan Nassib
A fourth-round pick out of Syracuse, the 6-foot-2, 223-pound Nassib doesn't need to dazzle in his first appearance. This isn't Andrew Luck's preseason debut or Geno Smith battling Mark Sanchez for the Jets' starting job. Barring some unforeseen development, the Giants are set with their starting quarterback.
Still, this figures to be at least an early barometer of Nassib's development. Coach Tom Coughlin said yesterday Manning and the starters likely will play 12 or 15 snaps, and all four quarterbacks in camp — Manning, Carr, Nassib and Curtis Painter — are good bets to see time.
"First off, it's a dream come true being able to play in an NFL game, regardless if it's preseason or regular season," Nassib said. "But I'm excited, ready to get out there, play somebody else. But it's going to be a fun weekend."
There were highs and lows for Nassib in yesterday's practice. He hit a wide-open Julian Talley deep down the sideline, but he was picked off by Laron Scott to end the two-minute drill.
He called the Giants' offense "complex but learnable," and has impressed Carr with his thirst to learn.
"I think that's the most important, honestly. Because you get young guys in here sometimes, and not necessarily at the quarterback position, but they don't care to learn," Carr said. "They're going to rest on their athletic ability. It's not like they don't want to do it, that's just their nature.
"Ryan's not that way. He's taking good notes, writing stuff down. He doesn't necessarily make the same mistake twice. I think that's the key."
It might help Nassib tomorrow night that unlike some rookie quarterbacks, particularly top picks, he doesn't have the pressure of starting a regular-season game in a month. But the 23-year-old insisted he is preparing as if he'll be starting, saying that is his nature.
Nassib at Heinz Field when the Orange faced Pittsburgh and said he believes that familiarity with the field will help him. Also, he hails from Philadelphia and will have some family in the stands. Still, from what Carr remembered about his preseason debut for the Texans back in 2002, it sounds as if Nassib should expect his NFL inauguration to be jarring.
"The game was really fast and what I thought I knew, I had no idea," Carr said. "Because you try and recall things, you try to recall plays that you've just learned the last couple months. Regurgitate things that you've learned in the meeting room. Maybe you wrote them down 400 times, you've written them on the board, you've been able to show the coach you know it, but then when you get on the field you realize it's not ingrained yet.
"I think that's the biggest thing that's going to happen with all young guys, is just realizing that you don't really have it yet. But you're on your way."
mark.hale@nypost.com
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