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Wednesday Media Transcript: QB Eli Manning

Eric from BBI : Admin : 4/25/2018 1:25 pm
QB Eli Manning
Media Availability, April 25, 2018
 
Q: Did you go back and watch film on yourself from last season after the year was over?
A: Yeah, I watched a little bit from last year, just looked at some fundamentals and things that I wanted to work on and wanted to improve on during the offseason.
 
Q: What were your takeaways from that?
A: Well, obviously you have some things to improve on, but obviously it’s a different scheme, different things, so just trying to – most of the work is on just getting my feet moving fast. Just keep my fast twitch movements in line with where they need to be. As you get older, those can decrease, so just work hard on working on my fast twitch movements.
 
Q: You’ve talked in the past about the change in Tom Coughlin’s offense to Ben McAdoo’s and it was really a drastic change. How would you describe this change now?
A: Not a huge change. There is always going to be new plays. It’s kind of a combination. There are some plays that are similar to last year, there are some plays that are similar to Coach Gilbride and Coach Coughlin’s offense, so it’s a combination. I think at this point you see most plays being run, it’s just kind of the wording, how you get it called and make sure as a play is coming in you can visualize it quickly, you can get the words out and you can get to your adjustments and protections and change plays. It’s really more about just running the offense even after the play is called and all that verbiage and make sure everybody is on the same page.
 
Q: Coach Shurmur just talked about what he learned about you being on the field together for the first time. What did you learn about him as a head coach from being on the field together?
A: I think every coach is going to be a little different. I think he does like to coach on the field. Some coaches like to just run the plays and then you coach in the film room after. He likes to each play have a quick discussion. Some you don’t, some you do. But, he’ll grab a receiver, he’ll grab me and just talk a little bit about what you do well, what you could have done better, but I think he had a good demeanor the whole time. But he’s a coach, he likes to coach up the guys and get everybody on the same page. It’s a little different, it’s kind of the first time you’re running things. A lot of times in this time of year you have a few weeks to practice some routes and practice things on the field before you go practice them. This year you’re kind of thrown right into the mix and we’re kind of learning on the fly a little bit.
 
Q: Can you describe what you guys feel going into tomorrow night? What is it like right now for the Giants?
A: I think for the team and most players, right now our focus is on this mini camp that we’re in. We’re trying to learn this offense and build unity, build closeness and make sure that everybody is on the same page as we move forward. I think our focus is on the guys that are here. Obviously, come next week, we’ll have some new free agents, new draft picks and we have to get them caught up to speed as quickly as possible to help us out.
 
Q: Are you going to watch the draft tomorrow?
A: I haven’t planned my day for tomorrow yet, so I’ll know who we draft. I’ll know who we draft and then go about my business.
 
Q: Do you watch the draft usually? Do you sit there and watch the whole first round?
A: No. No. Very seldom.
 
Q: What would Saquon Barkley add to your offense?
A: I’ll answer all the draft questions after the draft. I think that’s the easiest way. There are a lot of possibilities and this person or that person, so no point in kind of speculating on the guys. We’ll just wait and see what happens.
 
Q: Did you have a chance in the offseason to meet any of the guys that came through?
A: I met most of the top quarterbacks before. But I did get to see a few of them in the facility and I went up and talked to them just because I’ve been around them before. Some of the running backs, also, so I saw a few of the guys over the year. All of them are obviously good players and good people from my encounters with them, so all went well.
 
Q: Pat Shurmur says you are the fittest 37-year old he has seen. Do you feel like the fittest 37-year-old?
A: Well, I heard that’s what coach says. I guess he hasn’t been around too many 37-year-olds maybe. No, I feel good. I’m moving around well. I’m always working on my flexibility and my conditioning and offseason lifting and everything, so I haven’t relaxed on that in any sense. I know I need that to kind of keep up with those other guys, but I feel good in that sense and I have to keep it that way.
 
Q: Not a bad compliment though?
A: It’s good. Always a good thing. Compliments are always good from the head coach.
 
Q: Is he reminding you that you’re old or that you’re in good shape?
A: Thirty-seven is not old (laughs). I think 37 is young, so it’s all perspective.
 
Q: It has been said that you spent a lot of time this offseason with Davis Webb. Can you just talk about the kind of growth you’ve seen in him?
A: I think Davis has always worked extremely hard, even last year. He likes watching film, he likes drawing up plays, he likes doing all those things, so we were in there a good bit – you can’t really have any meetings with the coach and you’re trying to learn a new offense and really the only way is kind of watching film. It was good watching it with someone else just because you can kind of help decipher what the read was or what the play was going on or what the protections are and try to figure out some things. He works extremely hard on the field, in the film room, in the weight room, so he’s got the right mentality for it all and it’s good. That’s who you like to surround yourself with, guys that work extremely hard and it even motivates me to work harder and to keep up with him.
 
Q: What do you remember most about the night before your own draft?
A: I was in New York, that’s about all I can remember. I think I went to dinner with my family and just tried to – it was a stressful time because of everything going on, but just tried to enjoy it and tried to enjoy the time being in New York, being at the draft, being with my family and knowing I’m going to have the opportunity to play in the NFL somewhere. So, I think I just tried to relax a little bit before. I knew once you were drafted and you are going to a team, I knew the work was about to amp up and I had to go kind of earn that right to play quarterback for that team.
 
Q: What has it meant to you that this new regime has come in with a lot of positivity directed at you?
A: It helps. Obviously when you feel that the coaches and the GM and everybody is excited about working with you, has your back and looking forward to good things. Obviously I have to prove that and do that every day and get on the field and make sure I’m making the right decisions, protecting the ball, making good throws and learning this offense quickly. I think we’re off to a good start, but we have a lot of football left.
 
Q: You’re five months removed from 3-13, when you see this team coming in do you kind of get the sense of, ‘Where can we go this year?’ Is 8-8 better?
A: I don’t think I’ve ever put a number on going into a season. I do know that in the NFL you can go from a bad team to a good team quickly and vice versa and it’s kind of happened both ways and so it’s just about everybody kind of buying in, putting a few of the right pieces together, finding ways to win those close games and we’ve got to obviously buy in and learn this offense and work hard and be here and be committed and have great work ethic through this period and through training camp. It’s just a matter of can we all put the work in to make the changes that we need?
 
 
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