Ben McAdoo started the Eli Manning Doomsday Clock on Sunday when, after the 51-17 loss to the Rams, he suggested that every position on the team _ quarterback included _ would be evaluated to see if the organization wants to take a look at younger players.
On Monday, he tried to stop it.
"Eli Manning is our quarterback," he said on a conference call. "I have a lot of confidence in Eli. That hasn't changed."
But it's too late. The ticks and tocks can no longer be ignored. There is no snooze button on this countdown.
So when Manning, who bristled at the idea (not to mention the actuality when Geno Smith mopped up the final two series) of being yanked Sunday, appeared on his weekly WFAN radio segment, one of the main points of his conversation had to do with the eventuality that looms over Manning's head as each wasted week of this season passes by.
With the eventual end of his reign as the Giants' starting quarterback.
"I'm going to prepare and go out there and compete and be the quarterback," Manning said Monday. "If I'm told differently, then I'll handle that if something ever happens. Until then, I expect to be out there, I want to be out there with my teammates, I want to be out there for this organization, and go get a win."
Based on McAdoo's Monday remarks, Manning will get that chance Sunday. It would be callous, considering that Manning will tie his brother Peyton on Sunday for the second-longest starting streak in NFL history, to bench him now. McAdoo, though, made sure to point out that Manning's start against the 49ers has nothing to do with sentimentality.
"I'm not concerned about streaks," McAdoo said. "We're going to try to do everything we can to get a win."
Manning, too, dodged the significance of the streak, which will hit 208 Sunday. He said he is proud of it because of what it says about him being there for his teammates each and every week, fighting through nagging (and a few major) injuries over the years.
"If the organization ever wants to go a different route and play somebody else, then that's different," he said. "It's not about one person's starting streak continuing. You have to do what's best for the team and best for the organization.
"Hopefully, they think I'm the best for the team, give us the best chance to win. If they don't believe that, then you have to do what you have to do."
Manning and McAdoo did not speak Monday about the head coach's Sunday remarks. They may at some point. McAdoo did say he was pleased by Manning's apparent indignation Sunday when the quarterback said he wanted to keep playing.
"I'm glad he said that," McAdoo said. "He's a pro football player. That's what he should be saying. Eli is our quarterback. But that doesn't mean at some point in time we won't throw another guy in to get a look at. Every position needs to be held accountable. Same thing with the coaches. And obviously, when you lose in the fashion that we lost, it's not good enough. Anywhere. Coaching or playing."
"Another guy" is likely to be rookie Davis Webb, who has been inactive in each of the first eight games. The Giants used a third-round pick on Webb and, assuming they continue down this season's path and wind up with a very high draft pick for 2018, they'd like to know what they have in Webb before deciding how to use their first-round selection.
The last time Manning was on a team that made that kind of decision, he was the young draft pick taking over for a Super Bowl-winning veteran Kurt Warner. That change took place right around this time of the 2004 season.
"I've never really been a part of that scenario," Manning said. "My mind-set is to get ready to play the game. Nothing is going to change that."
And so it goes. Until at some point for Manning, it no longer does.
Lately that feels like it will be a lot sooner than anyone may have predicted.
"That's not in my thought process right now," Manning said. "I think about getting ready to go play this game. That's the only thing I'm going to think about until I'm told differently."
No Jenkins resolution. McAdoo said he had not met with indefinitely suspended cornerback Janoris Jenkins as of Monday evening to discuss the timing of his reinstatement. "I'll meet with him when I get a minute," McAdoo said. Jenkins was suspended last Tuesday when he failed to report for Monday's practice and did not communicate his absence with the team.
