GIANTS NOTES

As for Manning, Pugh was not able to follow every plot twist in the quarterback drama, but he did notice last month Manning was replaced by rookie Daniel Jones.

“It’s not something you want to see, and obviously if Eli wants to play, I would hope he would be the starting quarterback,’’ Pugh told The Post. “Eli is a Hall of Famer. There’s nothing taking away from what he’s done for that organization. Consummate pro. He’s the pro that I hold every other guy to that standard, because Eli does everything the right way.’’

Free safety Antoine Bethea, 35, is most recently associated with the Cardinals after spending the past two years in Arizona. “It’s all business,” Bethea said. “I was there for two years, got some great relationships, but go out there and play football.’’

The Giants last season finished with just 30 sacks by the defense, tied for 30th in the league. This season, through six games they have 16 sacks, on pace for 43 sacks, and currently tied for 13th. Markus Gold

en, a free-agent signing, leads the team with five sacks, and 10 other players have at least half a sack.

“There was a lot of conversation about how we were going to create a pass rush all summer,’’ Shurmur said. “Nobody seemed to believe when we said that we had some guys that were going to be better than they were a year ago, and then we added a couple of guys that would help us.’’ Cardinals CB Patrick Peterson will play for the first time this season after sitting out a six-game suspension. The 29-year-old has 23 career interceptions and rookie QB Daniel Jones has been forewarned. “You have to be very, very careful when you’re throwing the ball in his direction for a lot of reasons,’’ offensive coordinator Mike Shula said.