There are no regrets from Ben McAdoo on the decision to bench Eli Manning, this as the New York Giants continue to botch this week’s inexcusable personnel decision to sideline their starting quarterback.
Manning won’t start on Sunday, the veteran Giants quarterback giving way to backup quarterback Geno Smith for this Sunday’s game at the Oakland Raiders. That the Giants would bench Manning given not just his legacy with the team but also his relatively solid performances this year is puzzling. Equally quizzical is the decision to go with Smith who is a known commodity rather than immediately kick the tires on rookie Davis Webb.
Now three days after the shock decision to bench the franchise quarterback and cut short his streak of 210 consecutive starts, McAdoo continues to face questions about the decision.
The Giants head coach was asked if he thought the whole debacle could have been handled more seamlessly.
“I was upfront and honest with Eli and I don’t have any regrets there,” McAdoo said on Friday.
McAdoo also said that owner John Mara was indeed on board with the decision to bench Manning, leaving little wiggle room by saying “We were on the same page with how it was going to be handled.”
McAdoo also said he has not spoken with Mara recently.
As for the game at the Raiders, McAdoo was vague on how he’s going to handle the quarterback reps. In fact, it will be interesting to see if Manning dresses for the game or if Webb is the backup quarterback.
There doesn’t seem to be any indication of a contingency plan if Smith struggles or it takes him awhile to dust off the cobwebs. Smith hasn’t started an NFL game since 2014 and hasn’t had significant snap since the midpoint of last year when with the New York Jets.
McAdoo has consistently said that the benching wasn’t all on Manning but also had to deal with the Giants, out of playoff contention after last Thursday’s loss, wanting to get a look at their other quarterbacks. That’s the line and they are sticking to it.
“It’s a decision based off of us being 2-9. We’re 2-9, we’re out of contention, we need to make sure we evaluate the roster top to bottom,” McAdoo said. “And the best way to do that is by putting a game plan together, having the players prepare for a game and go out and perform.”
