Eli Manning has started 198 consecutive regular-season games for the Giants, but he said that streak will have nothing to do with the decision on whether he plays against Washington on Sunday.
"No, that doesn't play in," Manning said on a conference call on Monday. "I'm going to do whatever Coach [Ben] McAdoo thinks is best for the team, best for me, best for us going forward. That won't play a factor."
The Giants play a mathematically meaningless game in Washington on Sunday, so the impulse from some is to rest the quarterback and avoid a potential injury. There is, of course, a way around that while preserving the streak. The Giants could start Manning for a few series or maybe the first half and then pull him like a preseason game. That would give Josh Johnson, the only backup QB on the roster, a chance to play with the team for the first time this season. Johnson was added to the roster after the preseason games this summer.
While Manning said his streak is not important, he certainly made it sound as if he'd like to play on Sunday.
"My take is to play," he said. "Go in there, play well, try to find a good rhythm offensively, going against a team in the division, a team you know well, they know us. I think that's the mindset. Until I'm told differently, that's how I'm taking it."
