The Giants need a win. At 0-4, they know it. The fans know it. And the updates lines for next Giants game show it.
Eli Manning knows it probably the most as the Giants quarterback has seen this before and has a message for his team.
“We have to play the next game,” Manning said. “That’s all we can do. There’s not going to be – there’s not a magic trick to get a win. There’s not any outside help. It’s you keep working hard, you keep preparing and you go out there and you make plays on Sunday that will give ourselves a chance to win. So, you just have to keep doing the right things and keep preparing the same way and just play a little bit better.”
Manning hasn’t been the issue for the Giants this year. Even though the offensive line has been pretty offensive, he has been able to move the ball, even though he’s not been as mobile as in year’s past.
But he can still work with Ben McAdoo’s offense, even though he is very vulnerable to the sack.
More importantly, Manning is the Giants unquestioned leader and he needs to send a message to the rest of his teammates in the locker room.
“You always want to be a good leader,” Manning said. “That’s just by doing your work, saying the right things, make sure guys are working hard, but also not getting down, not just going through the motions, have some excitement. You can still have fun. Still have fun doing your job and it’s still about enjoying the process of getting better, of figuring out how we’re going to work and getting them excited about the plays that are coming up, excited about the opportunities of where they might get the ball or how we’re going to score and how we’re going to win this game. It’s just trying to do your job and make sure everybody sees how you’re handling the circumstance.”
But the games are played on the field, so when Manning takes the field against the Chargers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, he will be the main man if the Giants win or lose.
And he needs to have his offensive line to play like they did on Sunday, when they didn’t allow a sack to their veteran quarterback.
“I thought the offensive line did some good things and we had a lot of plays,” he said. “No sacks, threw the ball almost 50 times. So, the ball was coming out fast, receivers getting open, had some protection, got to scramble around a few times. So, I thought everybody just knew their assignments, got into a good rhythm, did some good things. So, we have to continue to do that.”
The bottom line is that no matter what the score, Manning will have his team keep his head up and focus on the task at hand: winning a football game.
“Every loss is tough and every one hurts and it should hurt,” Manning said. “We work hard to try and get a win and you lose when you compete and you have opportunities to win and you don’t do it – it hurts. But, I think as soon as you start kind of preparing for the next game, looking at the film, looking at concepts, you got to get over it and figure out how you’re going to win this next one.”
Veteran advice.
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