Eli, Giants ‘feel for’ Wentz after season-ending ACL injury

The Giants this season never even flirted with playoff contention; what goes on with teams in the hunt is of little interest to them. Seeing a top player go down resonates throughout the league, though, and it did with the Giants when they heard Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz tore his ACL and is done for the season.

“You never want to see a guy get injured and he’s having a great year, he’s playing well, the team’s playing well and I feel for him,’’ Eli Manning said Monday. “You never like to see another quarterback get injured, especially when they’re having a great year.’’ The replacement for Wentz is Nick Foles, a player cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie played against and shared a locker room with as Foles’ teammate for two years with the Eagles.

“So I know what he can do,’ Rodgers-Cromartie said. “He’s a good quarterback, I think the system is going to function just the same. I know he can get that ball down the field. He gets it out fast, he’s got a big arm, he can make all the throws and he still got that running game behind him so it’s gonna be tough.’’

The Giants face the Eagles Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

Manning was not sacked against the Cowboys, meaning NFL sack leader DeMarcus Lawrence did not add to his total of 13.5. Does this indicate right tackle Bobby Hart did good work against Lawrence? Hardly. Hart had “a disastrous game in pass protection,’’ according to Pro Football Focus, allowing one quarterback hit and five hurries.

OL Justin Pugh will see Robert Watkins, a back specialist, Wednesday in California. There is a good chance Pugh will be shut down for the remainder of the season. He’s missed the past four games.

Safety Landon Collins came out of the 30-10 loss to the Cowboys having aggravated an ankle injury, leaving him “a little gimpy right now,’’ according to interim head coach Steve Spagnuolo. There is no way Collins will be able to play this weekend and his availability the rest of the season is in doubt.

“The thing you have to be careful with Landon is sometimes you got to protect Landon from himself,’’ Spagnuolo said.

It came as no surprise that Spagnuolo, asked if he is sticking with Manning as the starting quarterback, said, “Absolutely, yeah, that’s a pretty safe assessment.’’