G-Men promise to respond in San Fran after more off-field turmoil
EAST RUTHERFORD » No one knew it at the time, but Eli Manning astutely prophesied the Giants’ season after a 19-3 loss to Dallas in Week 1 when he assured, “It can always get worse.”
And it certainly has.
With still eight games left, the Giants (1-7) have flopped so profusely from preseason expectations that speculation on the franchise’s future is a hot topic these days. The outlooks for head coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese are grim. Even Manning, who still has two years left on his contract, may not continue to be the franchise quarterback for as long as once believed.
Soon the remaining games will be mathematically meaningless as far as playoff contention, so outside observers are calling for rookie quarterback Davis Webb to see action down the stretch. Should the Giants end up with one of the top picks in next year’s draft, logically they will need to know what their third-rounder out of California brings to the table before potentially drafting an elite quarterback prospect.
McAdoo won’t rule out the possibility of that evaluation at some point, but is adamant that the Giants can still go on a late-season run.
Manning will make his 208th consecutive regular season start Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium, which ties his brother, Peyton Manning, for the second-longest streak by a quarterback in NFL history. Only Brett Favre (297) has gone longer.
“I’m happy to be out there each and every week with my teammates. That’s a goal of mine to stay healthy, to play through injuries, to be accountable,” Eli Manning said this week. “I want to play. That’s what I like to do. I like to play football and play quarterback and ... I understand that I got a job to do and I got to do it better and do it well and get wins. If you don’t, everybody’s job is up for grabs in this league.”
The off-field turmoil could border on catastrophe if the Giants can’t find a way to win against the winless Niners (0-9).
Earlier this week, an ESPN report surfaced citing quotes from two anonymous Giants players who said McAdoo has lost control of the team. One player told Josina Anderson, “Guys are giving up on the season and nothing’s being done. Guys just don’t care anymore.”
But a number of prominent Giants spoke out publicly in defense of McAdoo on Thursday including Landon Collins and Damon Harrison. And on Friday, McAdoo said the team is excited to get back on the field and move past the “fake news,” classifying it as such because of there being no names behind the quotes.
“It’s not an issue for the team,” McAdoo said. “We can handle it, we’re strong. You saw how the players responded in the locker room yesterday. I thought they did a great job . ... We’re excited to go jump on a plane, go across the country and play in a ballgame.”
The Giants are coming off an embarrassing 51-17 home loss to the Los Angeles Rams, their worst defensive performance since allowing 52 points to New Orleans in Week 8 of the 2015 season.
They will be without at least three of their top-four linebackers in San Francisco. B.J. Goodson, Devon Kennard and Keenan Robinson have all been ruled out with leg injuries. But New York may get back starting weak side linebacker Jonathan Casillas, who has missed the last three games and is questionable.
The Giants signed Kelvin Sheppard, who started 11 games at middle linebacker for New York last season, this week to add depth. Thirdyear player Curtis Grant is also likely to see plenty of snaps.
The main offensive threat for the 49ers is running back Carlos Hyde, who has 494 rushing yards and 268 receiving yards on the season. Following a season-ending injury to top receiver Pierre Garcon, Hyde had a team-high 11 targets.
So the Giants’ front seven will need to be ready for screens passes from rookie C.J. Beathard, whom 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said will start again over recently acquired quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
The Giants should be boosted offensively from the return of top lineman Justin Pugh, who missed one game with a back injury.
“We can feel how we want to feel during the week, but we just got to go out there and execute the game plan,” Harrison said. “There’s just been a lot of mistakes made, which are all correctable. We just got to go out there and put what we put on the practice field on the game field.”