December 6, 2019 • Mike Smith
I certainly didn’t I think I’d ever see it happen, but it looks like Eli Manning is going to be quarterbacking the Giants once again. On Tuesday, the Giants announced that Daniel Jones, who took over for Manning in Week 3, would potentially be sidelined for Sunday’s matchup against the Eagles, meaning that Manning might once again perhaps get the chance to lead the Giants onto the field. But although I may be morbidly curious to see Manning back under center—given how dread-ful the Giants have been, at least it’s a reason to tune in—I can’t help but think about what a ter-rible situation this has to be for him. When Big Blue opted to hand the reigns of the offense over to Jones, I applauded the move.
One more rodeo as good as Manning has been throughout the years, his tenure with the Giants had obviously run its course. They were a team looking to the future, and Eli, at 38 years old, clearly wasn’t part of it. At that point, however, I ful-ly expected the Giants to look to trade the two-time Super Bowl champion to a team—like the Jaguars—looking for a veteran quarterback. But with the emergence of vi-able backup quarterbacks around the league—players like Gardner Minshew — Manning became an afterthought and spent the next few months holding a clipboard on the Giants’ sidelines. Now with Jones likely sidelined, he’s going to be pressed back into service, at least for another week. On one hand, I’m happy that I’ll get to see Manning take the field against a division rival like the Eagles. On the other, I can’t help but wonder what a blow to Manning’s ego it will be to head out there on Sunday, getting a start as a second-stringer.
The guy has been a Pro-Bowler, a two-time Super Bowl MVP, is one of the most prolific passers—stat-wise—in the NFL’s history, and now he’s being asked to serve as a one-week steward of a football team that, quite frankly, is lousy. I don’t think we’ll hear him ad-dress that situation, however. Manning has always been a consummate professional. He’ll show up, do his job, and say the right things in the postgame press conference win or lose. But that doesn’t mean his current situation isn’t weighing on him. It has to; it’s simply human nature. So even though I’ve given up on Big Blue this year, I’ll be sure to tune in to watch No. 10 sling the ball around again on Sunday. We probably won’t get too many more chances to do it, and if it means he goes out by putting a serious dent in the Eagles’ playoff chances, that’s the kind of curtain call I can really get behind.
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