Eli Manning spoke first — at his locker — the only time he went ahead of Daniel Jones on the first day of the Daniel Jones Era:
“I’m not dying, and the season’s not over.”
Manning thankfully was not dying, only lying. Because he was dying on the inside as he was putting on a brave face and somehow cracking jokes on the day he ran the scout team in practice, weeks and maybe months before he thought he ever would when the Giants asked him back.
Daniel Jones went second — at a podium inside the auditorium.
“I certainly feel good about how far I’ve come and my preparation and my progress since I got here in the spring, and through camp, through these first couple of weeks,” Jones said.
“I feel ready and certainly looking forward to the opportunity.”
Others have tried to replace legends and failed. The late George Young was certain Dave Brown could succeed Phil Simms.
From everything I have seen from Daniel Jones, from everything the Giants believe they have seen from Daniel Jones, he will not be one who buckles under the weight of great expectations.
“He’s done a good job, he’s worked extremely hard, he has talent and had a good mindset, so I think he’ll handle everything well,” Manning said, “and I think he’ll be ready.”
He has been a sponge, soaking up every bit of wisdom his Ultimate Giant backup willingly offered him long before he was the backup.
“He’s a young competitive guy that’s gonna fight and I think he’s gonna display the toughness, the skill and ability that we saw when we drafted him,” coach Pat Shurmur said.
Boy oh Danny Boy do the Giants — who lead the league in reserving the right to change their minds (Eli has years left, Eli had a helluva year, we didn’t sign Odell to trade him) — need to be right about him, need this Next Gen Eli to be their Danny Boy Wonder.
“I think I’m confident, I feel good about my progress to this point,” Jones said. “I certainly understand there’ll be a lot to learn and I look forward to that.“Giants fans, just know that I’ll compete as hard as I possibly can, prepare as hard as I possibly can, and when I’m out there, just play as hard as I can, and do what I can to help this team win games.”
Danny Boy Wonder will have his honeymoon period, starting Sunday in Tampa. But before long, he will be measured against Sam Darnold, the quarterback Giants general manager Dave Gettleman gifted the Jets when he fell in love with Saquon Barkley, and against the Redskins’ Dwayne Haskins, who wanted badly to be a Giant, and of course against Eli Manning.
“We’re rallying around him,” center Jon Halapio said. “We gotta pick him up, and have his back just like how he has our back.”
Jones, like Manning, gives you the sense he could have been a passenger in “The Poseidon Adventure” and never looked up from his playbook.
“He prepares just as much as Eli,” Halapio said, “and we have Eli in that room to help him, and Alex Tanney. Really confident in Jones going into this game.”
Quarterback, New York Giants, is a daunting responsibility. Jones embraces it. He wanted this job every bit as much as Manning wanted it in 2004. He has been every bit as respectful of the circumstances as Manning was with Kurt Warner.
“Understand the responsibility, I understand the challenge, but I’m certainly looking forward to it,” Jones said.
Shurmur’s overriding mandate is the development of Jones, and it is telling that his gut tells him the kid gives him a better chance to win on Sunday, or soon thereafter.
“He’s got the ability to run our full offense,” Shurmur said.
Manning offered Jones and everyone, inside and outside the NFL, a primer on how big men handle personal adversity.
“I gotta live with it,” Manning said, “and make the best of it.”
Asked if he had a message for his successor as he walked off to more of his backup quarterback duties, Manning half-smiled in that mischievous way of his and said: “Throw it to the guy wearing the same jersey you are.”
Daniel Jones is ready to do just that.