On WFAN: After Nightmarish Season, Eli As Motivated As Ever To Prove Worth
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Eli Manning's season is mercifully over.
On Sunday against the Redskins, in the Giants' final game of 2013, the quarterback walked off the field in the second quarter with a left ankle injury after throwing an interception.
It was a brutal ending to a highly-disappointing campaign for Manning and his Giants, one in which Big Blue finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five years.
Eli Manning
With the offseason officially underway, and plenty of fans and pundits alike proclaiming that this is the beginning of the end for the two-time Super Bowl champion, Manning is as motivated as ever to prove his worth.
"You want to come back and prove to yourself and your teammates and your organization that you're committed, and that I can play at the high level that I've been playing at in the past," the two-time Super Bowl MVP told WFAN co-hosts Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts on Monday. "Obviously this year was tough. I can think of a number of throws that I wish I had back."
The numbers tell the story. The Giants' signal caller threw 18 touchdowns to 27 interceptions -- leading the league in picks by five -- and completing 57.5 percent of his passes. He was also sacked 39 times and had seven fumbles.
Despite his championship pedigree, the co-captain knows that he needs to make a statement next season and show all the doubters that he still has it.
"I'm gonna work my tail off," the three-time Pro Bowler told Joe & Evan. "I'm gonna do everything I can to look at this film and fix the things that I think are wrong and make adjustments to come back and play at the level that I know I can play. I can play at a high level. I can win games in this league."
Wide receiver Victor Cruz said he thought there was a little bit of a disconnect between the quarterback and the receiving corps on 2013. Manning couldn't disagree with Cruz's assessment.
"I thought our work wasn't as good as it needed to be," the 32-year-old said. "We had a number of mistakes between the both of us that were costly. Some of them led to interceptions and some led to incompletions. We just weren't as solid and as sound as we need to be in this league ... We weren't as sharp as we needed to be. From a whole offensive standpoint, it wasn't our best work."
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