As the New York Giants shut out spring workouts this week using their final sessions of OTAs, coach Pat Shurmur seems to be putting a base for a possible quarterback struggle during training camp in late July between Eli Manning and Daniel Jones.
Asked about the rookie’s preparedness throughout the offseason workouts, Shurmur lit the game for an incendiary discussion that could take the six weeks of downtime between the conclusion of workouts this week and training camp next month.
“He is on track with the aim to be ready to play on Day 1,” Shurmur said of Jones, through Tom Rock of Newsday. “The QB material will be on the front burner for everybody. I get that. But he is on track.”
While the group has spent the offseason buttressing Manning, with GM Dave Gettleman cooing about how the veteran has multiple years of good play left, Shurmur simply opened the doorway for Jones to possibly slip the gig.
The coach said, like every position, the staff is”continuously” comparing the QBs trying to determine who gives the Giants the best chance to win.
“We are gonna play with the very best player,” Shurmur said, per Rock. “I understand we’re dancing around the words here, but right now Eli is preparing to have a great year and Daniel is getting ready to play. We’ll just see what happens. We feel great where Eli is, he’s our beginning, and we’ve got a young player that we think will be an outstanding player getting himself ready to play.”
Shurmur seems to be speaking out both sides of his mouth, given that Manning can’t possess a”great year” in precisely the same moment Jones plays. Shurmur responded when it was pointed out that those two can’t happen together:
“Have at it, I guess,” Shurmur said. “I don’t wish to be mysterious. … The players that give our staff the best chance to win play. Period. We have seen Eli do this for a very long time, so we’ll see what happens as we go down the road.”
Saying”have it” to the New York press is similar to wagging a fresh steak in front of a pit bull. Shurmur just willingly invited talks of Jones taking the starting job from Manning expected.
Considering that the character of trainers, we do not feel that this was a casual slip from Shurmur, but rather a remark that is calculated.
Eli Manning is your starter… for today. What happens later depends during the start of the regular season, preseason and also training camp. He’ll make down the line if Jones continues to impress with his athleticism and accuracy.
The leash for Manning was always likely to be brief given his play the previous couple of years and the team using the No. 6 overall pick on a QB. Tuesday, shurmur just yanked on that leash somewhat.
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