Eli Manning: Not My Job To Mentor, But I'd Help Out 1st-Round QB
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (CBSNewYork) -- Eli Manning doesn't exactly sound thrilled about the possibility of mentoring a rookie quarterback who's a threat to his starting job, but he says he wouldn't give him a cold shoulder, either.
"It's not your job to mentor somebody," the Giants quarterback told reporters Friday at the Mall of America. "I wouldn't look at it as that role. I would look at it as it's my job to prepare and compete and be ready to play each and every game. In that process, you are always talking football, always helping out the other guys in the room."
New Giants general manager Dave Gettleman and coach Pat Shurmur have recommitted to Manning, 37, as the team's starting quarterback heading into next season. But there's a chance they could still use the second overall pick in April's draft on the franchise's QB of the future -- USC's Sam Darnold, UCLA's Josh Rosen or Wyoming's Josh Allen.
Manning said he would be "fine" with it if the Giants selected a quarterback and would not request a trade, adding he hopes to retire a Giant.
"My job's to play quarterback, and their job's to draft the best guys for the team, for the future," Manning told WFAN's "The Afternoon Drive" on Monday. "And so I've got a job to do, and I'm excited about that opportunity. So I'm going to work hard, do my part and do whatever I have to do."
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Manning said he would be more accommodating to a rookie than Brett Favre was to Aaron Rodgers after the Green Bay Packers drafted Rodgers in the first round in 2005.
"It's about doing your job, but also helping the other guys around you," Manning said. "Having great communication in the quarterback room has always been important to me."
Manning said he had the opportunity to welcome Shurmur last Friday when he was working out the Giants' facility on the same day of the coach's introductory news conference.
"I did talk to him that day, just briefly," Manning said. "Just congratulated him and said, 'I look forward to working together and getting together and learning this offense.' So he was excited to obviously be there, and I'm excited to work together and get things back right with the New York Giants."
Manning said he has spoken to some players who played for Shurmur, and the reviews have been promising.
"Everybody I've talked to has only said great things about him as a person, as a play caller, as a coach," Manning said.
