In Dallas on Sunday, Eli Manning had a special fan in the stands, his brother Peyton.
The newly retired future Hall of Famer is now catching “little brothers” games so maybe you can call him a Giant fan right now.
But that’s on game days, because when it comes to meeting during the week, well…
“We were penciled in to see each other today,” Eli said. “He bailed on me. I got to see him yesterday for a little bit. Monday is our off-day now. He didn’t know that at the time.”
That’s too bad, but you have to think there will be plenty of time for a Manning brothers outing. Heck, they may even invite Cooper.
More importantly, though Eli does have a day job and he seemed pretty pleased with the way the offense clicked with all the receivers on the field in Dallas.
“It was good,” Manning said. “It was good to have all our weapons healthy, playing fast and at a high level. It was good to see. Sterling stepped up and made plays, Odell (Beckham, Jr.) made plays, Victor (Cruz) made plays, Will Tye. Running backs ran well. Offense was clicking. We were looking to get everybody involved. Not forcing the ball to certain guys, just going through my reads. Guys are winning and it makes my life and my job a lot easier.”
Cruz is the most interesting out of the group, since he didn’t play in a game since the middle of the 2014 season. Pair him with Beckham and the Giants now have their bookend receivers they envisioned when No. 13 was picked in the first round a few years ago.
And now, the offense can be the high octane driver that Ben McAdoo planned when he was hired as coordinator.
“We just have to keep working,” Manning said. “There is still some improvements and things we have to do better. Each week will be a different test for us. The Saints, they play different coverages, different defenses and we have to be prepared for it. We have to come back, get better, have a great week of practice and make the plays again on Sunday.”
It’s going to be an interesting test for Manning, who is now 1-0 on the season. Coming home for the first time, the quarterback is facing a somewhat familiar foe in the Saints.
“They have some different schemes so we have to be prepared for that,” he said. “They have some different looks. From their preseason to their first game against Oakland, they showed a lot of different looks in that first game. You have to be prepared for a lot of things. You have to be prepared for everything they’ve shown in the preseason and everything they’ve shown in the regular season. Just have to figure out what we might expect. We have to prepare for a lot and have a plan for everything. We have to make sure everyone is on their toes and ready for that.”
And maybe part of that will be a little pregame meeting with Peyton, as long as Eli doesn’t get blown off.
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