Pat Shurmur opens the door to a quarterback change

New York Giants coach Pat Shurmur on Monday opened the door to a change at quarterback from veteran Eli Manning to rookie Daniel Jones.

“Eli’s been our starter to this point,” Shurmur said, acknowledging that his words would cause speculation. “I’m not really ready to get into any of those conversations about any position.”

So, since the Giants coach understands that his remark will lead to speculation, let’s oblige and speculate.

Manning, of course, has been the starter [except for one game] since the middle of the 2004 season. He started the Giants’ first two games this year as they were beaten soundly by both the Dallas Cowboys and the Buffalo Bills.

Manning hasn’t played horribly, completing 62.9 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The Giants being 0-2 is by no means Manning’s fault. It has, however, always been the reality that if the Giants were out of the playoff race or deemed not capable of competing to be a playoff team, that it would be pointless for Manning to play and their quarterback of the future to sit.

“We are 0-2 and we are looking for answers, I get it,” Manning said. “When you draft a guy early and you’re not winning games, these are going to come up. I just have to keep working and do what my job is.”

Only roughly 13 percent of 0-2 teams have made the playoffs since the format was expanded in 1990. Perhaps Shurmur, having watched the awful product the Giants have put on the field thus far in 2019, has already reached the conclusion that the Giants are only fooling themselves and delaying what they inevitably must do — transition to Jones — if they wait any longer.

“We’re going to talk about everything we’re doing moving forward. That’s fair at this point,” Shurmur said. “We’re 0-2. There are areas where we have to get better. We’re going to address all areas and try to find ways to put a winning performance on the field.”

Shurmur told reporters that he will be “right in the middle” of making the decision on which quarterback plays and that it is “absolutely” fair to believe a decision will be made by Wednesday.