Quarterback Eli Manning
October 24, 2017
Q: What’s the message during this Bye Week?
A: Well, I think obviously take some time off, get away. After seven games, you’re going to have bumps and bruises and obviously we’ve gone through a tough stretch. So, get away from it a little bit, but come back understanding we got a lot of football games left and we got to get better. We have to make improvements and we have to find ways to win some football games.
Q: How do you evaluate your performance during this first part of the season?
A: Everybody knows the record, so I got to play better. I’m going to keep fighting, keep finding ways to get completions and see if we can move the ball and score some more points.
Q: Do you feel confident in your abilities and do you question yourself in any way?
A: No. I can still play at a high level and can get this offense going and do better than what we’re doing.
Q: Does it bother you when you hear talk that the Giants should be thinking about the future?
A: Hey, you know, I got to play better. So, I’m going to worry about my job – going out there and playing at a high level.
Q: Is it fair for people to say that you have to make the receivers better since they have less experience?
A: Yeah, well I think that’s definitely part of the job. You got to find out what guys do well and put them in a position to make plays, throw accurate passes and give them a shot to make plays. So, it’s a combination. We have to make improvements. I have to – not coach them up – but make sure we’re doing things the right way and everybody is playing at a high level.
Q: Do you think in the remaining games that you can make something happen in terms of consistency?
A: Yeah. I think we can win some games and it starts each and every one. Just have a great game plan, understand what that is and how we’re going to have to play and I think we’ve done a decent job of hanging in games. These last couple weeks when we lost some guys and really the last five games, we’ve been right there in them until the last seconds of games, last quarters of games. So, we understand. We got a good defense. We got to rely on them. We have to do better offensively, get some big plays, do better getting some explosive plays, get to the fourth quarter and then make the plays there to win the game.
Q: When you look at the big picture of 1-6, what do you see that went wrong?
A: Well, it’s tough. Each game is different. I don’t know if there’s necessarily one thing that went wrong. We had a little stretch there where we had leads and lose a couple games in the last seconds – last minutes of games. So, you’re right there in the stretch. That’s just football sometimes. We’re just not playing well enough, just not doing everything that we need to do to win football games and I think obviously when two weeks ago, this last week – right there in it in the fourth quarter. Just didn’t make the plays in the fourth quarter.
Q: Are you going to spend any time putting anything together for the new receivers on the Bye Week?
A: Well, I mean, everybody knows their assignments. It’s guys who have been here, so they’re running the right routes. It’s just a matter of – it’s not all on them. It’s not on the receivers. It’s not just, ‘Hey, the receivers ran bad routes. That’s the reason we’re not having success.’ So, I think they’re doing a good job. We got to give them an opportunity. We got to give them shots to make plays. So, this isn’t the receivers’ fault. They’re doing some good things. It’s our job to give them an opportunity to get open.
Q: Did the offensive line play better as the season went on or did you guys alter enough to allow them to play better?
A: Well, we have to put them in the same situation. Can’t be second, third and longs. Thought last week, we did a good job managing the offense. So, we had third down protections that were good. We just weren’t able to convert on them. We went against a good defensive front and they got pressure on a few things. But, some of them I got to stand in there and make throws. So, I think the offensive line, hey, they’re competing. They’re doing a good job. We’re getting positive runs and putting us in a position to convert on third downs and now we just got to convert on those third downs.
Q: When you see that Philadelphia is 6-1 and think about how you almost beat them on the road, does that make this tougher to take in?
A: It’s tough just because, hey, you’re not winning football games. That’s the only reason it’s tough. It’s not comparing yourself to other teams. It’s just what the facts are and we’ve lost a bunch of games and that hurts. So, you want to go out there. You want to compete every week. You want to get wins and that’s what we’re working towards.
Why don't you just admit, they suck! I know you would never say it it, so I guess I have to say it for you....