A Giant goodbye for Manning
Sunday will likely be the last home start with NY for longtime quarterback
The Miami Dolphins will likely become the backdrop for Eli Manning’s last start for the New York Giants in the Meadowlands.
Rookie quarterback Daniel Jones, the Giants’ first-round pick, has been ruled out for Sunday’s 1 p.m. contest because of the highankle sprain that sidelined him last week, which means Manning will start his second consecutive game for the team he has led to two championships in his 16 seasons there.
“We’ll figure that out as the week goes,” Manning said when asked my local media if he’s preparing to have family at Sunday’s game. “All I can worry about is getting prepared to play either way.
“I’m going about my business getting myself ready and getting the team ready to play.”
Manning, who is 38, threw two touchdown passes in the first half of Monday night’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, both to rookie receiver Darius Slayton.
Even though the Giants lost in overtime, Manning completing 15 of 30 passes for 203 yards and had a 94.2 passer rating for the game.
“The body feels still,” Manning said.
It’s unclear whether Manning will retire at the end of this season, but it has become fairly obvious that his tenure with the Giants, if not the NFL, is coming to a conclusion. Manning is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. After Sunday’s home game against the Dolphins, the Giants play at Washington.
“I still feel I can play,” Manning said. If this is Manning’s final home game for the Giants, he won’t have one of his favorite targets, tight end Evan Engram, who leads the Giants with 44 receptions for 467 yards and three touchdowns. He’s been ruled out because of a troublesome ankle that has sidelined him for a month.
Not having Engram on the field could fresh and feels good drastically impact Miami’s game plan, because the Dolphins have run out of experienced cornerbacks who know their scheme.
Ken Webster and Ryan Lewis were placed on injured reserve this week because of injuries they suffered in Sunday’s 22-21 loss to the New York Jets.
The Dolphins signed Nate Brooks off the New England Patriots practice squad and added Jamal Davis off the Tennessee Titans practice squad to take their place, and the expectation is for both to play alongside Nik Needham, who is nursing a groin strain, and nickel cornerback Jomal Wiltz.
However, Engram not playing might allow Eric Rowe, a converted cornerback who has become Miami’s roving safety and tight end coverage specialist, to move back to the boundary to cover receivers. Rowe spent his first four NFL seasons, and the first month of this one, as a boundary cornerback.
“We’d have some discussions about whether we’d want to do that or not,” Flores said when asked about using Rowe on the boundary because of all the injuries at cornerback. “We’ve practiced a specific way the entire week. There’s always — we leave room to make adjustments and to make changes, so potentially. I would say we could change a few things, but I would say right now we’ll probably stick to the script.”
The Giants also won’t have veteran cornerback Janoris Jenkins, who leads the team in interceptions. Jenkins, a former Gators standout, was released on Friday after getting into a social media feud with a fan.
Giants coach Pat Shurmur met with Jenkins on Wednesday and said in a statement Friday that Jenkins’ refusal to admit what we did was wrong led to his dismissal.
“This was an organizational decision,” Shurmur said. “From ownership to management to our football operations, we felt it was in the best interests of the franchise and the player.
“Obviously, what happened this week, and the refusal to acknowledge the inappropriate and offensive language, was the determining factor.”