Eli thinks Giants can make Super Bowl Look for my End Commentary........
BY ARTHUR STAPLE
Newsday Staff Writer
January 25, 2007, 9:38 PM EST
Eli Manning was on the field at the RCA Dome on Sunday. He was happy for his big brother, who finally got to a Super Bowl. But the Giants quarterback felt something else, the same thing he'll feel next week, when he will be in Miami attending NFL events but not preparing for the Super Bowl.
"I'm going to enjoy the time and when it comes time for next year I'll know what that feeling is. I'll know that I don't want to be shaking hands and [having] people come congratulate me about Peyton and what he's doing," Eli Manning said on a conference call Thursday. "I want to be on the other side and not have to be down in Miami going to events and things like that. I want to be in the hotel studying film and getting ready to play for a championship. I think I'm going to enjoy it, just because I'm proud of him and I support him."
The next nine days are all about the Colts and the Bears, but Eli doesn't think his Giants are so far removed from being in the thick of a Super Bowl hunt. Even with Kevin Gilbride, his only quarterbacks coach in three seasons, now the offensive coordinator; even without a QBs coach currently on the staff and even with Tom Coughlin's one-year mandate to turn things around, Eli has some faith.
"We have the right players in spots that we can do some good things," he said. "To make it to the championship ... everything has to go the right way. You have to stay healthy. You have to get breaks and things go your way. We have to work harder. We have to work smarter."
That Eli will be in Miami in the week preceding the Super Bowl is a bit ironic, considering that is where his top two receiving targets, Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey, race down to every offseason and don't return save for the three days of June minicamp and for training camp in August.
Burress' wife, Tiffany, just gave birth to the couple's first child in New Jersey, so Burress may stick around up north for a bit. But Manning is looking for both his playmakers to make more of an effort before they're required to be on hand.
"I think there comes a time when you should get together," Manning said. "I don't think it has to start March 19 and you have to be with those guys right then, but once you start -- before minicamp or those things start up -- you get some time together. You get a few weeks to really work hard and get settled. Once you start throwing routes and get into our offense and running those plays, I think it can definitely be important to have guys around to throw with."
OK so that's ANOTHER veiled shot at Plaxico and J-Shock, but in a nice sort of pleading way " oh Come On guys we need to work out more together if we wanna get to the big game next year." I Guess I can understand that, but these U Miami guys value the fact that they can go work out at their old school without reporters snooping around and they aren't too quick to give that up. Eli wants to win as much as anyone. I know the other do do as well,..but as long as only part of the offseason program is mandatory according to the NFLPA, then what Plax said at the end of the Giants season will hold true " See you in Albany"........
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