QB Eli Manning
October 15, 2015
Q: Can you talk about the importance of the game, always tough going into Philly, division game?
A: Yeah, always a big one in the division at Philly on a Monday night. Should be a great atmosphere and a great challenge for us. So we’re looking forward to that. They’re a good team, they’re playing good football, their defense is doing a good job causing a lot of turnovers, offense has been scoring points these past few weeks. We’ve got to expect their best football and we’ve got to go in there and play good ball.
Q: What’s the best way to describe that atmosphere in Philly, especially for a night game?
A: It’ll be loud, they’ll be fired up, they’re going to be rocking. We’ve got to do our job and we’ve got to go out there and play smart, handle the crowd noise, hopefully get off to a fast start and try to calm them down.
Q: What’s the key to withstanding their pressure defense when they start doing a lot of the stuff that they do in the front seven?
A: I think everybody has to understand who they’re blocking. They do a lot of twisting, the offensive line has to pass things off, running backs got to know who they’re responsible for. Everybody has to know they’re accounted for and that’s half the battle. Now you’ve got to block them. So I’ve got to do a good job of getting the ball out on time and they try to make you hold it a little longer so they can get their pressures. We’ve got to do a good job blocking and I’ve got to do a good job protecting the football.
Q: Is it tougher to prepare when you kind of don’t know who your receivers are this week?
A: I think you prepare for the opposing team. So we’re just trying to understand their scheme, understand what they’re going to do, what plays do we like, where the ball is going. Hopefully we’ll get guys back as the week goes and should be in good shape.
Q: Can you see why veteran quarterbacks do well in this system that you’re in now and like it so much?
A: Yeah. I think it’s quarterback-friendly. If you know what you like, you can get to a lot of different plays. The ball comes out quickly, you’re not holding it, shouldn’t take a whole lot of hits. Yeah, it makes sense where you have progressions and your reads. If you’ve got guys who can get open, it makes life easy.
Q: Is throwing the ball 54 times something you think is sustainable for the offense?
A: You never know. We were throwing it well. A lot of times if you throw that many times, it’s because you have a lot of incompletions and you get in a lot of second and long, third and longs. But I think it’s a combination, had two two-minute drives that I think adds to it where you have 15 or 16 passes in those two drives that can add up to that. I didn’t feel like we were throwing it a ton. I thought we had a good mix, had mixed in some play-action and we were completing the ball and having good rhythm, had a lot of short passes. If you’ve got to throw it that many times because we’re being successful, getting completions, then I think you can.
Q: It’s been a few years since you’ve been in this position, first place, above .500. How important is it to keep the streak rolling?
A: I never really paid attention to what place you are in Week Six of the season, there’s a lot of football. We’ve got to handle our business. This is a big one and it’s in the division, so we’ve got to get physically and mentally ready for it and go out there and play well.
Q: I think Chip Kelly said they don’t give awards out after Week Six. Is it important to realize this game might lay the foundation for what could happen down the stretch?
A: Every division game is important. You understand that because coming into the season, a lot of times it comes down to a one-game difference. So you understand the importance of it, but can’t get so concerned with it. You’ve got to go out there and do your job and play hard and try to get a win.
Q: Your numbers so far, I think they’re the best after this period of time in your career or among the best. Is that an accident? I don’t want to minimize it. Are you surprised by it?
A: No. I think the second year in the offense, even last year Coach McAdoo showed me some numbers of Favre from his first to second year back when he first got into this offense. Saw the difference, that second year was much better than the first. So just comfort level, your understanding of it. It’s not just me, it’s the offensive line, receivers, everybody having a better understanding of the timing of it. We’ve just got to keep it going.
Q: When did you have that conversation?
A: It was after the season last year. Maybe the last day of the season, I can’t remember exactly. It wasn’t with Favre, it was with Coach McAdoo just kind of showing me the difference between Favre’s first and second year. Just getting excited for the second year.
Q: So sending you off for that offseason?
A: Yeah.
Q: How much better has Justin Pugh been this year compared to last year?
A: Seems to be playing well. I think it’s been tough this year, practicing guard, getting ready for guard then he’s had to go out and play some left tackle, which is not easy. I know he worked hard this offseason, his training and everything, and I think it has paid off. He’s playing at a high level.
Q: Do you see him as a leader on that unit?
A: Yeah. I think he’s definitely one of the leaders on that offensive line. He just takes great pride in what he’s doing, the great commitment and toughness. He’s done a good job.
Q: What about Weston Richburg? He’s really got off to a great start.
A: Yeah, Weston is playing well. Done a good job making calls and understanding what’s going on and taking control of that spot at center. Getting everybody squared away on what they’re doing and he’s done a good job.
Q: You think Beckham will be out there Monday?
A: I hope so.
Q: What type of loss would that be with him not there?
A: We’ll figure it out if it happens.
Q: What have you observed about Ereck Flowers, your number one pick?
A: Doesn’t seem too big for him. So I think he’s come in and he knows what’s going on, he’s handled everything, blocked guys, and so I think he’s shown some toughness. He’s been banged up a little but shown toughness. He wants to be out there. I’ve been impressed with how quickly he just knows everything that’s going on and knowing his assignments.
Q: What’s his temperament like on game day?
A: He’s quiet, he doesn’t say much. But he’s competing out there. He has an intensity to him and you can see that determination and he’s ready to go.
Q: Is it good to see toughness out of him because he’s responsible for keeping you upright?
A: Yeah I think it’s always good to see toughness out of your offensive lineman. You like quiet and mean, that’s kind of how you like them usually.
Q: And the atmosphere is not likely to bother him.
A: I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s too much or anything going on is going to get him rattled.
Q: Do you remember your first game in Philly?
A: Yeah, first game of my career.
Q: Tell me what you remember about it.
A: I remember my first play, I handed it off to Tiki Barber and he went about 75 yards for a touchdown. So I said, “This is easy.” Then I took the biggest hit of my life on the last play, so it was my “welcome to the NFL” hit, for sure.
Q: What do you remember about the environment when you came in?
A: I don’t know if I remember that much. It was the first game, but yeah, I think Giants-Eagles. I remember there was some stuff going on the sideline with their kicker and he’s on the sideline, we had a couple guys jumping on him and helmets missing, different things going on. I don’t know if that was the first game. Petitgout and Brandon Jacobs happened a few years later. But yeah, always some rivals going on, always some talking. It’s an intense game.
Q: That hit you took was from behind, as I recall, I think from McDougle, wasn’t it?
A: Yeah, from McDougle, thanks for bringing that up.
Q: That was a day game, though, right?
A: Day game.
Q: Thought I saw your head orbit.
A: I kind of spun back, he was behind me. I kind of spun back, I went horizontal. Wasn’t good.
Q: Your whole receiving corps is so nicked up and banged up. When you have that many guys who are in limbo, how much more do you have to worry about targets you’re going to work with on Monday night?
A: No, I think you just go about your business. Whoever is out there, understand what they do well. The system is set up where all the routes should be run the same way, the same timing. Whoever is playing, whoever is out there will be fine. Hopefully we get all our guys back. But practicing with different guys and guys are in the mix and excited to be out there practicing and possibly an opportunity to play.
Q: How hard is it to get a big play when the running game hasn’t been as consistent as you would like? That usually sucks people up then you hit them deep.
A: I thought we ran the ball pretty well this past week. We didn’t have any big runs. I thought we were throwing it on first and second down. Our first runs, we were getting three and four yards a pop. If we had a second and four, we were getting the first down. I thought it was putting us in good down and distance. I think we’ve been okay. I feel like last year we had a lot of negative runs that were hurting us. All of a sudden now you got second and 12 and it makes it hard. So I think we’ve been better getting positive yards and eventually we’ll be able to pop some big ones and hit some big plays.
