THE ELI MANNING era in New York appears to be over after the Giants announced they will start Daniel Jones in Week 3 at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Following a hint from head coach Pat Shurmur on Monday, the move at quarterback was confirmed in a team statement after two inconsistent starts by Manning that have left the Giants in an 0-2 hole.
“Eli and I spoke this morning,” Shurmur said in Tuesday’s release.
“I told him that we are making a change and going with Daniel as the starter. I also talked to Daniel.
“Eli was obviously disappointed, as you would expect, but he said he would be what he has always been, a good team-mate, and continue to prepare to help this team win games. Daniel understands the challenge at hand, and he will be ready to play on Sunday.
“Ultimately, this is a move that I felt was best for this team at this time. I have said it since I got here, I am very fond of Eli. His work ethic, his preparation, his football intelligence.
“All those attributes are as good as I have ever seen in a player and Eli worked as hard as you could ask of anybody to get ready for this season.
“This move is more about Daniel moving forward than about Eli.”
Jones, selected sixth overall in April, gave the Giants reason to believe in their backup with his strong performances during the preseason as he completed 29 of his 34 passes for 416 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Meanwhile, Manning has thrown for 556 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in the first two games, defeats to the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills.
The 38-year-old has started for 15 consecutive years. He twice steered the Giants to improbable Super Bowl triumphs over the New England Patriots, and was named Super Bowl MVP in both.
- Omni
Manning to Tyree, one of the most iconic sporting moments of all time.
@Michael Donnelly: no one to stop the Patriots having a undefeated season now.
He was done years ago. Unreal how he managed (stole) those Superbowls when far more talented QBs have missed out on it during their careers
@Omar Elnoursi: He was MVP in both Super Bowls and and is the only QB in history to have played in more than one conference championship game and not throw an interception. Might have rode a few coattails to get there, but still made it happen once he got there!
@Gavan Casey: where’s Steve gone Gavan? His input is sorely missed this time of year
@Baz: He just got a new job away from sports journalism about a year ago, Baz. He still chirps away about football on Twitter if you have it.
@Gavan Casey: good man, cheers, I’ll look into it
@Gavan Casey: have you watched the Giants for the past 5/6 seasons? He was done quite a while ago.
@Mick O’Donoghue: also.. Winning QB gets SuperBowl MVP 60% of the time. They only DON’T get it when they have a nightmare and someone else has an unquestionably amazing game.