Giants coach Pat Shurmur has seen all he needs to from Eli Manning.
It means rookie quarterback Daniel Jones will start the team’s final preseason game against Patriots in Foxbourgh on Thursday.
“I think he has [gotten enough work],” Shurmur said of Manning. “He won’t play on Thursday, so I’ll give you that right there. He’s done a lot of really good stuff out here. He’s much more comfortable with what we want to do on offense this year than last year. I feel like as he gets the work he needs in practice, the game work he’s gotten will help him be ready for the Cowboys.”
Shurmur recently ended any talk of Jones starting over Manning come Week 1, stating that his veteran quarterback has done a great job this preseason and that the plan is to get Jones ready for when his time comes.
Manning played the first series in each of the Giants’ three preseason games, completing 4-of-8 passes for 41 yards against the Bengals last week. Manning was 9-for-13 for 86 yards and one touchdown this preseason.
The Giants’ roster features two additional quarterbacks in Alex Tanney and Kyle Lauletta. If the roster allowed, Shurmur said he would keep them all.
“The rest of the roster is dependent on [the quarterbacks] as well,” Shurmur said. “I’ve said it all along, I’d keep four [quarterbacks]. I’d keep five if the roster would allow for it, because I think quarterback development in our league is primary. You can only develop by playing and practicing. I’m fond of having lots of quarterbacks around.That’s just my feeling. But we’ll just have to see how it plays out when we get to the final 53 [-man roster].”
Cornerback Sam Beal participated in individual drills Sunday for the first time after struggling with a hamstring issue through all of training camp.
The 22-year-old was the Giants’ third-round pick in the 2018 supplemental draft, but suffered a shoulder injury in late last July that kept him out his entire rookie season. Beal said it wasn’t easy watching training camp from the sidelines for the second straight year but he has focused on bouncing back.
He said is unsure if he’ll play in the final preseason game.
“I feel like they know [what they have in me],” Beal said. “They picked me up, they’ve seen what they’ve seen. But athletes still have to show their best so you give it your all, I still want to give my all even though they’ve seen a little bit of me.”
Janoris Jenkins, Corey Ballentine and DeAndre Baker all rotated in at cornerback with the first team in 11-on-11 drills. It was a positive step for Baker, a rookie who battled a knee injury earlier in camp.
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