Eli to Shurmur: Put me in, coach
Manning wants more reps during preseason
The Giants haven’t really scaled back Eli Manning’s preseason reps yet, like they have for rookie Saquon Barkley. But they admit they’re going to start keeping a watchful eye on the 37-year-old quarterback’s workload.
In his own understated way, Manning made it clear he wants reps in camp and playing time in the preseason games. He needs them, actually, to get used to a new head coach, offensive coordinator and scheme.
“Whatever coach thinks we need. [But] I think you want to be out there and playing just to get a feel for him calling the plays and the game plan,” said Manning, who said his arm and body both feel great.
“I think once you’re playing against a new opponent, looks come up and different defenses that you’ve been seeing in training camp versus your defense where you want to get some reps at those things to make sure everybody is on the same page. I’m excited about getting out there and playing.” Manning is not only fit for his age, but has been an iron man over the course of his career. His streak of 210 consecutive starts — second longest in NFL history — was snapped not through injury, but simply because then-coach Ben McAdoo opted to bench him for Geno Smith in a Week 13 game at Oakland last season.
McAdoo e ss e n t i a l ly p ut Manning in mothballs last preseason, sitting him altogether in the opening loss to Pittsburgh and finale against New England. He finished with just 47 snaps under his belt, going 17-of-28 for 201 yards, no touchdowns, an interception and a sack.
Big Blue’s offense started the regular season out of sync and, after losing Odell Beckham Jr. to injury, finished next-to-last in scoring in a 3-13 disaster. With McAdoo replaced by Pat Shurmur — and Mike Shula as offensive coordinator — will they treat their aging quarterback with kid gloves or give him the snaps he seems to want?
“That’s a good question. We do have to continue to monitor that,” Shula said. “And we do that verbally as well, saying, ‘Hey, you’ve got to be honest with us, make sure we’re not giving you too much.’ But Eli does such a good job of taking care of himself physically. He starts in the offseason and just knows how to get his arm ready for the grind now; he’s done a great job.
“We’ve pushed the envelope a bit with his reps just because of the newness of what we’re doing. We want him feeling really good, not just about what he’s doing but just getting him together with the guys that are going to be there on Sundays, the timing and all of the little adjustments that they’re going to have to make.”
With Manning in the shape of his life at a trim 6-foot-5, 218 pounds — thanks to better nutrition and core work — he was asked how he’d weigh the potential for injury against the added benefits of more time?
“That’s for the coaches to balance that. Our job is to go play. We have a job to do, we have to get better and be on the same page at game time. If coach wants us to play, we go play and do our job,” said Manning, still building a rapport with several new receivers like Cody Latimer, who made the first unofficial depth chart.
“I think it’s going well. It’s still a work in progress trying to figure out who is going to be that third and fourth receiver. We need those guys to step up, get open and be dependable. A lot of guys are fighting for that spot and doing some good things. We just need to figure which guys will be the most dependable in that situation.”