It sounds like Eli Manning is back in the saddle as the Giants’ starting quarterback. At least, for one game. On Wednesday morning, head coach Pat Shurmur told reporters that Daniel Jones is in a walking boot with a mild high-ankle sprain, which means Manning will “very likely” start on Monday night against the Eagles. 

The Giants’ season is effectively over, but this will serve as an opportunity for the G-Men to bid farewell to their longtime star. And, for Manning, this will be a chance to show the rest of the NFL that he’s still a capable QB.

Manning says he plans on playing through at least the 2020 season, but it’s unlikely to be with the Giants. After calling New York home for 16 years, Manning will hit the open market in search of his next team.

In 2018, the 38-year-old raised his completion rate to a career-high 66% and his 7.5 yards-per-attempt average was considerably higher than it was in the previous two seasons. He also dropped his interceptions total (11) to the lowest its been during his 14 seasons a full-time starter.

His $23.2MM salary limited his trade appeal this year – and Manning wouldn’t have waived his no-trade clause, anyway – but there figure to be many QB-needy teams speaking with the future Hall of Famer in March.

The Eli Manning era may be on the verge of concluding in New York. After saying Sunday the prospect of Daniel Jones taking over at quarterback was not a conversation he was ready to have, Giants coach Pat Shurmur said (via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY) “it’s fair” to have it now.

“He’s been our starter to this point. I’m not ready to talk about that,” Shurmur said of the Giants’ QB1 job Monday, via NFL.com’s Kimberly Jones (on Twitter).

He has not named his starter for Week 3 against the Buccaneers, inviting obvious speculation the 0-2 Giants will turn to Jones this week. The franchise’s previous plan was to start Manning while the team was still contending for the playoffs, but with the Giants opening the season with back-to-back losses by double digits, the organizational tone may be shifting.

Stripped of his top two wide receivers, Sterling Shepard and Golden Tate, Manning struggled against the Bills’ high-end defense. The Giants opened the season with a 35-17 loss to the Cowboys. New York’s defense, which did not get the Josh Allen reinforcement at edge defender Dave Gettleman strongly considered, ranks 29th in points and 28th in yards through two games.

Shurmur added he will certainly be “in the middle of” the team’s decision-making process on Manning, attempting to halt speculation this decision wouldn’t be his to make. Gettleman has said in the past Shurmur will make the call. Predecessor Ben McAdoo benched Manning for a December 2017 game and was fired, along with GM Jerry Reese. Manning has started every Giants game since, upping his career start total to 232 — seventh-most in NFL history by a quarterback.

People inside the Giants organization acknowledge the perception of Daniel Jones has changed over the summer, with Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv noting the rookie’s rise has been “dizzying” to many staffers. The No. 6 overall pick has surprised most of the football community with his preseason readiness.

After a take-notice drive in his preseason debut, Jones completed 11 of 14 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown (while losing two fumbles) against the Bears on Friday. Eli Manning was 4-for-4 in limited duty. Despite Manning’s struggles in recent years and Jones’ August work, the hope remains the incumbent will play throughout 2019, per Vacchiano. The team does not believe Jones needs to be rushed.

Big Blue will not hold a quarterback competition in the near future. The belief still appears to be that Jones is not ready to usurp Manning, and Vacchiano adds the plan will be for the 16th-year starter to keep his job until at least the playoffs are out of reach. The Giants believe Manning can keep them in contention, so Dave Gettleman‘s hope to execute the “Kansas City model” — where Jones would play the Patrick Mahomes role to Manning’s Alex Smith — would be in play in this unlikely (per Las Vegas) scenario. John Mara said recently he hopes Jones “never sees the field” in 2019.

If the Giants fall out of contention, it should be expected their 22-year-old hopeful heir apparent will see the field. But for now, the organization does not look to be giving legitimate consideration to demoting its 38-year-old cornerstone.

Eli Manning completed his 15th NFL season, and the Giants proceeded to use their sixth-overall pick on Duke quarterback Daniel Jones. The writing would seemingly be on the wall for the veteran signal-caller, but Manning recently told Rod Walker of NOLA.com that he won’t be joining Peyton Manning in retirement anytime soon.

“I’m not rushing into retirement, and Peyton’s not telling me to rush into it,” Eli said. “I still love being around the guys and the teammates and playing this game. I’m going to play it for as long as I think I can hang with these guys.

“You take it year by year. I’ve been blessed going into my 16th year. That’s been a blessing in itself. I love what I’m doing. I love the work that goes into it. You never know when it’s going to be your last year or when it’s going to be the end for you, so you try to take advantage of the years you’re here and enjoy every moment.”

The two-time Super Bowl MVP had plenty of success through the first nine years of his career, but the Giants have struggled mightily since 2013. Over the past six seasons, Manning’s team has only finished above .500 once, and the Giants have combined for only eight wins over the past two years. Despite that, Manning is still proving he can be productive in his late 30s; he finished last season with a career-high completion percentage and a career-low interception rate.

The Giants have moved on from all of their Super Bowl mainstays, and the Giants are seemingly starting to embrace a youth movement. However, that sentiment doesn’t seem to include Manning, who said his younger teammates are helping him stay fresh.

“In the locker room, I feel their age,” Manning said. “At 8 o’clock at night, I don’t feel their age. I’m ready to go to bed and they are just getting started rocking and rolling. I can’t hang and do everything they can do off the field. But on the field, I still feel like I can still run with them and they keep me young.”

Manning is naturally a great mentor for Jones, and it makes sense for the Giants to ease their rookie quarterback into the lineup. However, if the veteran wants to continue playing into his 40s, there’s a good chance he’ll eventually have to move on from New York.

There’s been growing speculation that the Giants’ quarterback situation is far from settled. Recently, the notion that rookie Daniel Jones could push Eli Manning for the starting job in training camp has been picking up steam. At the end of minicamp head coach Pat Shurmur’s comments seemed to suggest the door was open for Jones to start, although there hasn’t been much clarity. 

Speaking at his Manning Passing Academy, the longtime veteran told Rhett Lewis of NFL Network Friday that he isn’t worried. Here’s a look at some of the most notable topics from the interview, which will air in full later this evening.

On the prospect of competing for his job with Jones:

I mean no, I don’t feel like it’s a competition. I feel like I’ve got to do my job and I’ve got to compete every day and try to get better every day. That’s the way it’s been my whole life and that’s just the way I’ve always approached practice every day to improve, to earn my place on the team, to earn the respect of the teammates and do it each year

On mentoring Jones:

I’ve always been good with young quarterbacks, whoever’s been in there, trying to get them up to speed, teaching them about defenses or styles or what our defense plays. So I’m doing the same thing with Daniel and I’m going to be a good teammate, I’m going to do the best that I can do and help everybody on the Giants be successful.

On his own battle for the starting job in 2004, and how it relates to the situation now:

Definitely drawing back on that and I talk to Daniel and I see so many similarities in the situation and how things are going and just what he’s trying to do, his personality. He’s coming into this team, he’s just trying to learn the playbook, learn the names of everybody, got to earn the respect of his teammates. He’s got so much going on. He’s got the New York media, dealing with them; all of a sudden they’re saying things Day 1. … So just work hard, take your job seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously — if you can do that — enjoy your teammates, listen to your coaches and we’re all in this together and we’ll get through it

On people pointing out similarities between him and Jones:

I see it. He’s a good kid, he’s quiet and he’s just trying to learn, get a good feel for when to let his personality come out. I was the same way. My rookie year I wasn’t going to say — Tiki Barber, Michael Strahan, you got these big personalities — I’m just going to keep my mouth shut, be on time, work my tail off in the weight room, ask my questions to the coach after the meeting is over and make sure I know what I’m doing before tell Tiki what his route is or I tell Amani Toomer, ‘Hey, I don’t think you did that right.’ You got to earn the respect. You got to get hit in the mouth a few times and get up … before you do a whole lot of talking.