A BENCH IN THE PLANS
The post-Eli era begins on other side of country
PAUL SCHWARTZ’S BIG BLUE PLAYBOOK
OAKLAND , Calif. — Justin Pugh was getting ready for practice Wednesday, still limited with a back issue. Eli Manning strolled by and asked Pugh how he was doing. Casually, the franchise quarterback mentioned he would not be starting the next game for the Giants, dropping that news on Pugh without as much as a hint of drama.
“I was shocked,’’ Pugh said. “Barring injury, I didn’t see any way that Eli Manning wouldn’t be our quarterback.’’ Join the burgeoning club. What will this actually look like Sunday at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum? Will Manning wear a baseball cap? Where does he stand? Does he help signal plays into Geno Smith? How involved is Manning on the sideline? As a team captain, he walks out to midfield for the coin toss, then never hits the field again?
This is all so new and strange to process, a surreal addendum to a season that has shaken and spit out the Giants organization. The notion of playoff contention, or even a hint of success, has been dead for quite some time and now comes the termination of Manning’s remarkable streak of 210 consecutive starts, undone not by a sprain or strain but by the desperate hands of co-owner John Mara, general manager Jerry Reese and head coach Ben McAdoo.
At 2-9, coming off one of the worst offensive atrocities in recent memory — a non-functioning 20-10 loss to the Redskins, with the lone touchdown scored by the defense — the decision was made to pull the plug on Manning to get a look at the other quarterbacks on the roster.
Geno Smith leads off against the Raiders, with rookie Davis Webb waiting on deck in the final month of the season. That the official ledger will forever show it was Smith who replaced Manning is, well, beyond comprehension on many levels, and it is a good thing the Giants are unveiling this dubious brainchild 2,893 miles away from ttheir home base. “None of us wanted to be here [aat 2-9],’’ McAdoo said. “This isn’t something that anybody looked forward to, but it is an opportunity for Geno and that’s where our focus needs to be.”
No one is invulnerable, not even a Manning, and it is not heresy to make a move at quarterback. Stuff happens when all a team does is lose, lose and lose. The offensive line was not good to begin with and is now in shambles. The receiver corps is decimated. No team in the NFL has dropped more passes than the Giants.
Nudging Manning aside was never going to be painless and always going to be emotional. The Giants wanted Manning to start the games but not finish them, a plan he slept on and dismissed. So, here we are.
“I put a lot of time into the thought process,’’ McAdoo said. “I wanted to make sure that we respected Eli and everything that he has accomplished in this profession, for this organization. ... But I wanted to make sure I gave him the opportunity to play. I think it’s important for everyone to understand that it’s not only Eli why we’re 2-9.”