Eli Manning is playing in the last stages of his NFL career. That reality isn't just marked by his age or sustained struggles to play at a game-changing level over the past few seasons, but also the New York Giants' selection of Duke quarterback Daniel Jones with the No. 6 overall pick of the NFL Draft.
The two-time Super Bowl winner supposedly has a firm grasp on the Giants' starting quarterback position as training camp begins. But beyond this season, when his contract expires, nothing is guaranteed for Manning in New York, which is one of the many reasons his focus is solely on the present.
“I try not to reflect much,” he said on Wednesday, per Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. “I think it’s all about what I can do this year, what I can do right now. And I think about the players we have on this team. I want those guys to experience some of the successes that we’ve had here at the Giants in the past: to make playoffs, and to win championships, and to get on win streaks and feel like you’re playing better than anybody else in the league at that moment.”
Manning threw for 4,299 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions last season, superior numbers to those he's put up in recent seasons but still not good enough to lift an anemic Giants offense. The 38-year-old's contract expires at the end of this season.
The Giants, who went 5-11 in 2018, opened training camp on Thursday.
