Report: Giants asked Eli Manning to do his best Kyler Murray impression in practice
Eli Manning hasn’t had an on-field role on the New York Giants since Daniel Jones took over as the starting quarterback in Week 3. However, the team put him to work during practice this week in perhaps his toughest assignment yet.
Ahead of the Giants’ game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, head coach Pat Shurmur asked Manning to impersonate Kyler Murray as the scout team quarterback, according to a report from NFL Network’s Kimberly Jones.
Yes, you read that correctly.
It’s pretty comical to think of Eli running around in the backfield considering just how immobile he’s been in his career. The 38-year-old has 568 career rushing yards in 234 games and has never topped 80 yards in a season. Compare that to Murray, who surpassed that career mark in the first nine games of his 2018 Heisman Trophy-winning season at Oklahoma.
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Still, it’s nice for the team to keep Manning involved, what with all that he’s contributed over the years. The scout team quarterback is an important role, and it’s not like third-stringer Alex Tanney is any more mobile.
Some teams have opted to bring in mobile quarterbacks with little to no shot of making a difference in game action just to imitate top playmakers. Two weeks ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed former FCS quarterback Taryn Christion for six days just to prepare against Baltimore Ravens’ signal-caller Lamar Jackson.
The Giants don’t currently carry a quarterback on their practice squad, so they could always make room for one if needed. But maybe we can hope for Manning to have a career resurgence as a mobile quarterback instead.
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