Eli blocking out torrent of negativity

No disrespect intended, but Eli Manning isn't listening to you. Or me. Or any other opinions or reactions to the Giants' performance these days.

So scream as loud as you want on talk radio, rip away in the newspapers or on television, or blog to your heart's content. Eli is essentially putting his hands over his ears and yelling, "La la la la la! I can't heaaaar you!"

"You can't sit there and watch every television show and read every paper. That's not going to help the cause," Manning told a handful of reporters Monday.

It was the day after a miserable performance in a 28-14 loss to the Redskins, and Manning offered a rare peek beneath his veneer of stoicism to describe how he deals with the fallout surrounding his team's growing list of troubles.

"It's gotten to the point now where, when I watch football . . . I just mute the television," he said. "It's just more enjoyable for me, just because I like to watch and make my own opinions. It makes me more mad when the guy's saying something and he's totally wrong."

Good thing Manning is into his see-no-evil, hear-no-evil mind-set, because there's plenty to see and hear about the Giants these days. And none of it much good.

They failed to put away a mediocre Redskins team they beat in their previous six games, including five straight on the road. The Redskins dealt another blow to a team that staggered out of the preseason with a dizzying assortment of injuries and a disquieting series of performances.

Manning is one of the biggest issues, showing some of the same worrisome signs as last year. He threw another woeful interception early in the third quarter, when rookie end Ryan Kerrigan deflected his pass, caught it and ran it 9 yards into the end zone to break a 14-14 tie.

A day later, Manning offered his usual even-keel reaction, but did admit the Giants will need to develop a distinctive personality if they're going to get themselves out of this funk.

"You have to figure out exactly what's going to be our style and how we're going to be successful," he said.

Will they eventually forge a successful identity? Or will it be a continuation of their problems -- injuries to key defensive players, the inability to make up for the free-agent defections of Steve Smith, Kevin Boss and Barry Cofield, to Manning's struggles?

It's still too soon to know if these problems are a sure sign of trouble ahead, even if it seems that way. Remember, it takes a while for the identity to emerge.

How long? "Hope not long," coach Tom Coughlin said.

My rule of thumb is wait at least four games to get an accurate gauge of what a team is about. And even then, things can change dramatically. So while things appear grim around the Giants, it's not the time for the doom-and-gloomers to define the debate.

"I don't care about them," safety Deon Grant said of the critics. "I don't even pay attention. When people start talking about injuries, I'm just going to say 'Green Bay.' You saw what happened there. Green Bay didn't have half the guys they started off with, and they won the Super Bowl."

Grant has a point. Even the 2007 Giants, many of whom are still with the team, endured plenty of drama during their Super Bowl season. They started 0-2, outscored 80-46. But they slipped into the playoffs as a wild card and won it all over the previously perfect Patriots.

No one is saying these Giants should be considered a Super Bowl contender, because there are some serious issues here. But 0-1 is no time for definitive judgments.