Giant issue
Don’t expect Eli to mentor Jones
Joe Flacco doesn’t think it’s his job to develop Broncos rookie quarterback Drew Lock because he is enabled to think that way. He considers himself a franchise quarterback, even in his first year with a new franchise, and NFL teams now coddle these guys to a gag-inducing degree.
The Giants tell us Eli Manning isn’t really Daniel Jones’ mentor, either. Know why? Because the Giants treat Manning differently than everyone else. That’s why.
When GM Dave Gettleman drafted three cornerbacks in April, he was asked about veteran Janoris Jenkins’ status on the roster.
“Janoris has a bunch of puppies he’s got to train,” Gettleman said.
“He’ll become a good teacher,” coach Pat Shurmur added.
So Manning is tasked with developing Jones, too, right?
“I told this to Eli a couple
times already: it’s not his job to teach the next quarterback that comes in here,” Shurmur said after drafting the Duke QB. “It’s his job to be the very best player he can be, and then the quarterback that we bring in, it’s his job to be smart enough to learn from Eli.”
Oh, so not like Jenkins, then? The opposite? So Manning can pretend Jones isn’t there while Jenkins gets his teaching certificate alongside his full-time job.
Got it. Nice double standard there.
Jenkins, the only corner with significant NFL experience on the roster, is now the de facto defensive backs coach on top of preparing for 16 regular season games. Manning, meanwhile, has the luxury of focusing only on his own game. How freeing. Remember the context: the one time the Giants didn’t treat Manning like royalty, the pendulum swung too far the other way toward that unceremonious and embarrassing 2017 socalled benching in Oakland.
The Giants’ actions since have sought to make amends.
In that regard, not tasking Manning with developing Jones is the Giants’ way of giving their two-time Super Bowl MVP as fair a shot as possible to fend off the rookie.
While the Giants tread everso-lightly discussing the transition, though, Jones’ sixth overall selection was nothing short of an ultimatum for Manning.
It was an indication that ownership and management finally recognize it’s time to move on, even as they simultaneously refuse to completely let go.
The Broncos’ Flacco, 34, of course, has no interest in mentoring Lock because he just had his job taken by Lamar Jackson in Baltimore last season. This is about self-preservation.
“Listen, I have so many things to worry about,” Flacco told reporters Monday at Broncos OTAs. “I’m trying to go out there and play the best football of my life. As far as a time constraint and all of that stuff, I’m not worried about developing guys or any of that. That is what it is. I hope (Lock) does it well. I don’t look at that as my job. My job is go win football games for this football team.”
Manning, 38, is trying to avoid Flacco’s Ravens fate.
So it seemed telling when Manning moved his annual spring workouts from Jones’ school at Duke to home in Summit, N.J., less than a month before the Giants drafted Jones.
Manning saw it coming, and he understands the high stakes of the competition.
The Giants’ priority, though, must be to develop Jones.
Of course it’s Jones’ responsibility to watch and learn from Manning, and as long as Manning is the starter, his primary job obviously is to win games.
The organization is paying Manning $17 million in 2019, though. It is not too much to ask him to bring along the future of the franchise. In fact, it should be mandatory.