Eli Manning basking in praise from Giants’ new coach and GM
Eli Manning has heard the line Giants head coach Pat Shurmur used several times, calling him the fittest 37-year-old he’s ever seen.
“I guess he hasn’t been around too many 37-year-olds maybe,” Manning said of the somewhat backhanded praise, the aging quarterback’s equivalent of “runs well for a catcher.” He’s chosen to take it as a positive.
“I feel good,” Manning continued. “I’m moving around well. I’m always working on my flexibility and my conditioning and offseason lifting and everything, so I haven’t relaxed on that in any sense. I know I need that to kind of keep up with those other guys, but I feel good in that sense and I have to keep it that way.”
And the fact that Shurmur keeps noting Manning’s age?
“Thirty-seven is not old,” Manning said. “I think 37 is young, so it’s all perspective.”
Manning, it seems, has a new one of those. He’s respected, wanted, and admired by the regime that has taken over the Giants since the quarterback was last on the field, mopping up the sordid remains of a 3-13 season.
“It helps, obviously, when you feel that the coaches and the GM and everybody is excited about working with you, has your back, and are looking forward to good things,” he said of the verbal praise he has received from the organization as well as the actions of the decision-makers to keep him and stick with him heading into the upcoming season.
That wasn’t always the vibe Manning received a year ago when Ben McAdoo would publicly call out his flaws, when he was replaced in the lineup for the first time in his career, and when there was some doubt about whether he would remain with the Giants.
The last season ended with a very dark cloud over Manning. This one seems to be opening with clear skies.
“This guy’s a pro,” Shurmur said on Wednesday, reflecting on his first time on the practice field with the quarterback on Tuesday. “What you noticed about him is you only have to run a play or two, and he gets the drill calibrated and he gets his feet right and he makes the throw. I quickly, after being with him one day on the field, see why he’s been so successful for so long. He’s a pro. And I admired what he did yesterday in the first time out.”
Shurmur and Dave Gettleman have been full of praise for Manning. That conviction may be put to the test on Thursday night when the Giants are on the clock and prepare to make the second overall pick in the draft. Taking a quarterback would certainly reduce some of the team’s devotion toward Manning, signaling perhaps that the end of his tenure with the team is, in fact, coming quickly. Having Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen or Josh Allen standing on the sideline would probably mean Manning is one extended losing streak away from handing the reins over to a rookie the way Kurt Warner did to him 14 years ago.
Manning knows that, which is why no matter who the Giants select he wants to validate the team’s faith.
“Obviously I have to prove that and do that every day and get on the field and make sure I’m making the right decisions, protecting the ball, making good throws and learning this offense quickly,” he said. “I think we’re off to a good start.”
In the meantime, Manning is happy to have Shurmur call him the fittest 37-year-old he’s known.
“Always a good thing,” Manning said with a smile. “Compliments are always good from the head coach.”
Especially after not having heard them publicly for so long.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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