Palladino: Eli Playing In Meaningless Week 17 Is A Testament To His Professionalism
By Ernie Palladino
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If Bill Belichick was coaching the Giants, there's a good chance Eli Manning wouldn't get near his 210th consecutive start this Sunday in Washington.
Heck, he'd only be 50-50 to be on the train at all.
With his team cemented into the fifth playoff seed regardless of the outcome against the Redskins, there really is no reason for Manning to take the field. With another coach, this might represent the ideal circumstances to throw divisional rivalries aside and think about the postseason future.
But it is Manning's determination to stay out there in a meaningless finale that makes him what he is -- the most durable and, to a coach, reliable starting quarterback in a league where injuries ended Derek Carr's and Marcus Mariota's seasons just a week ago.
To Manning, all games are the same. They're workdays. And even as distant as his flirtation with elite status may have appeared in this statistically down year for him and the offense he leads, he has never, ever, not come to work.
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That's saying something about a quarterback who turns 36 two days after the season-ender. It says something about the perseverance of a player who saw two other starters go down the same week and watched Ryan Nassib, his primary backup, take his elbow to the surgeon's table without having thrown a single pass this year.
If Manning gets hurt, Josh Johnson becomes the alternative. He hasn't thrown a regular-season pass since 2011.
It's quite a tightrope to walk, especially as the Giants' first postseason since 2011 looms. The Raiders will certainly get a taste of the alternative as they hit their first postseason in 14 years behind backup quarterback Matt McGloin.
The Raiders' plan to continue rotating a trio of running backs to take the heat off McGloin, who hasn't started a game since the six he helmed in 2013, the year before they drafted Carr. At least they have Latavius Murray, who has scored 12 touchdowns this year, to lead the group.
Imagine what a dilemma Ben McAdoo would face if he lost Manning. The Giants don't have a Murray. Despite the uptick of the past three games, one would be hard-pressed to say they have a running game at all.
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Their playoff dreams would come to ruin, save for a miracle effort from a backup who hadn't been in the league since his two games with the Bengals in 2013.
Yet, don't expect to find Manning sheathed in bubble wrap on the sidelines.
That's for others like Tom Brady, who Belichick may pull early against the Dolphins despite needing a win for the top seed.
It's not generally the Giants' way. They showed that in 2007 when they ended against the undefeated Patriots in a meaningless game. The Giants were locked into the fifth seed. But Manning played. And, surprisingly, so did Brandon Jacobs. The bruising running back had missed five games due to injury, but still came up with a 1,009-yard season. The overriding opinion was that Tom Coughlin should leave him in the locker room to rest up for the postseason.
Instead, Coughlin started him and the rest of the starters. A spirited game ensued.
The Giants lost by three.
But then they beat the same Patriots by three in the Super Bowl.
Coughlin didn't worry about injuries then. His successor probably won't worry about them now.
And he certainly won't worry about Manning, especially if the quarterback has anything to say about it.
"The mindset, we've got a game to play," Manning said. "I'm going to be ready to play."
Always has been. It's what makes Eli Manning tick.
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