Eli Manning’s surgically repaired left ankle was wrapped up, and for protection, he was wearing a big, gray boot — not a good look for the franchise quarterback just 85 days before the start of training camp and 137 days before the season opener.
Even after Manning’s career-high and league-leading 27 interceptions in a dreadful season for him and the Giants in 2013, this team is still All About Eli, especially because the alternatives are simply scary: Curtis Painter, Ryan Nassib and newly signed Josh Freeman.
There’s a much better chance of Manning “reinventing” himself, as he said Tuesday, in new coordinator Ben McAdoo’s offense, than the Giants winning more than four games without him.
“I think I’d be safe to say I should be 100% by training camp,” he said.
All that is riding on it is the Giants’ season.
The good news is it’s only April and Manning has been incredibly resilient during his 10-year career, never missing a start once he took over in the 10th game of his rookie year. But, he’s 33, and there is no track record of how quickly he recovers from surgery, since this was his first.
“The procedure went well. It went smoothly, it’s healing quickly,” Manning said.
If Giants Nation could have seen Manning holding onto a pole to steady himself getting off a podium Tuesday, well, it’s a good thing it didn’t. Manning had arthroscopic surgery last Thursday — following the annual passing camp at Duke he holds with his brother for the Giants and Broncos receivers — to clean up the ankle that was still giving him problems after he was injured in the final game of the season.
GM Jerry Reese has remodeled the Giants after their 0-6 start and 7-9 season by making Big Blue the most active team in free agency. For any of it to matter, Manning must be healthy and stop throwing the ball to the wrong-colored jerseys.
Why did Manning wait so long to have the surgery? He was hurt almost four months ago.
The decision was made after the season to see if the ankle could heal on its own. Manning had never undergone surgery and if he was looking to avoid it as long as there was hope nature could take care of it, then you can’t blame him.
When Manning began his offseason training, the ankle still didn’t feel right. He went for more MRIs. He had a cortisone shot. He was given clearance to work at Duke and then re-evaluate. The passing camp ended and Manning had “no pain, no discomfort, I felt the best I had all year,” but he said there was the chance the cortisone had masked the pain, and when it wore off, in two weeks or three months, the concern was he would then need surgery and it could jeopardize his availability for training camp and perhaps the season.
The Giants had sent their trainers to Duke to watch Manning work and then he consulted with Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte. It was decided surgery “in the long run was the smartest decision,” Manning said. He said Anderson saw some things in his ankle that needed to be cleaned out.
Because the Giants and Broncos players appeared in a picture with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, rumors circulated that Manning reinjured the ankle playing basketball. But Eli said he didn’t play in a game.
“We went and shot baskets at the Duke facilities,” he said. “I was not playing basketball. I did not injure it playing basketball. By that point, my surgery was already scheduled. My procedure was already scheduled for the next day.”
Victor Cruz, who was at the camp, also said Manning did not play in any basketball games. In fact, Cruz said it wasn’t apparent to him that Manning was even bothered by his ankle during the football workouts. Cruz and Mario Manningham, who was limited as he recovers from a knee injury, were the only Giants receivers to accept Manning’s invitation to come to Duke. Rueben Randle and Jerrel Jernigan, who both really could have used the extra work, had conflicts and were unable to attend.
Peyton Manning was able to recruit tight end Julius Thomas and wide receivers Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker, Emmanuel Sanders and Andre Caldwell. Eli was so short of receivers that one of the Duke running backs who will be in the draft stopped by to catch his passes.
In any event, sources say the Giants will hold Manning out of the 10 OTA sessions and the June 17-19 minicamp to give him the best chance to be ready for training camp. The lack of work in May and June in McAdoo’s new offense won’t help, but the Giants will play in a fifth preseason game this summer in the Hall of Fame game and will report to training camp about one week earlier than usual, so Manning will have time to adapt.
Manning says having the surgery now “was to prevent any uncertainty for me, the Giants organization and the fans as well, it’s to go ahead and do this where it’ll give me plenty of time to heal and be 100% healthy for the season.”
There is plenty of time, but even in April, the franchise quarterback wearing a boot is not any kind of fashion statement.
http://ift.tt/1hg7cBz
via Great Local News: New York http://ift.tt/1iZiLP1
No comments:
Post a Comment