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Now that the Giants have gone to Daniel Jones, there is no going back

Switching back to Eli Manning cannot be an option

New York Giants v Cincinnati Bengals Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

This is a bell the New York Giants cannot unring.

Now that the organization has officially replaced 16-year veteran quarterback Eli Manning with sixth overall pick Daniel Jones, there is no going back.

The New York Giants are now Daniel Jones’ team. The present, and the future, is in his hands.

Unless Jones suffers an injury that prevents him from playing, the Giants simply cannot turn back to Manning. They can’t watch Jones for two or three games, conclude that he isn’t ready, and go back to having him caddy for Manning.

I’ve gone on record as saying I think this is the right thing for the Giants to do. How much blame you want to assign him is your choice, but the Giants were treading water with him at quarterback.

Now, the organization — the football team, the legacy and perhaps the careers of GM Dave Gettleman and coach Pat Shurmur — will sink or swim with the Eli clone from Duke.

When the Giants last had a quarterback transition it was Manning taking over for eventual Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. During a visit to Giants training camp, Warner told a story about the weeks after Manning took his job.

In Week 14 against the Baltimore Ravens, Manning was awful. He went 4-of-18 for a pitiful 27 yards as the Giants lost, 37-14. Warner entered the game late and went 6-of-9 for 127 yards. He also said he went immediately to Tom Coughlin, not to make a case for getting his job back, but to make sure Coughlin told the world that the job was still Manning’s.

That’s the way this has to go down. Jones has to be allowed to struggle, because he will, and not look over his shoulder wondering if Shurmur will go back to Manning.

Were Gettleman and Shurmur right about Jones, who had a spectacular preseason? We’re about to find out. Now that the Giants have chosen this path, they simply have to let it play out and see where it leads.