Pat Shurmur Leaves Door Open for Daniel Jones to Start Week 1 Over Eli Manning
By Parker White
In a surprising turn of events, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning could be competing for his starting job this offseason.
Giants head coach Pat Shurmur was asked about the quarterback position on Tuesday, and his answer leaves the door open for No. 6 overall pick Daniel Jones to be the starter come Week 1.
Coach Pat Shurmur: Eli Manning is getting ready to have an outstanding year. Daniel Jones is getting ready to play Week 1.
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) June 11, 2019
Asked if there is a scenario Jones could start Week 1: "You never know what is going to happen."
“I think we’re going to play the very best player,” Shurmur said following Tuesday’s OTA practice. “I know we’re dancing around the words there. Eli is getting ready to have a great year and Daniel is getting ready to play. We’ll see what happens with it."
Pat Shurmur cracked the door open for an open competition for the #Giants starting quarterback job this summer between Eli Manning and Daniel Jones: https://t.co/P5GCTs25Gd
— Matt Lombardo (@MattLombardoNFL) June 11, 2019
When Shurmur says that Jones is getting himself ready to play, he could simply mean that he wants him to be ready to be on the active roster come Week 1 and ready to play in case of an emergency.
But that's not what he said.
“I think Daniel has had a really good offseason,” Shurmur said. “He’s on track, with the goal of being ready to play Week 1. The quarterback stuff will be on the front-burner for everyone, but he’s on track.”
Shurmur can say that Eli is the starter for the 2019-2020 season, but it appears he's liked what he's seen from Jones and at some point you have to put the best players on the field. If that's Jones, Manning will need to take a backseat no matter what his resume looks like.