Move over Eli, this is Geno’s team now.
Geno Smith took over for Eli Manning at practice on Wednesday and commanded the first-team offense – something nobody other than Manning has done since 2004.
Meanwhile, Manning, a two-time Super Bowl MVP, was reduced to running the scout team offense – a strange sight for many – as the Giants officially kicked off day one of life without Manning as their starting quarterback.
For Smith, it was just another day of practice, nothing too different.
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“Nah, just more reps,” he said. “That’s about it.”
The 27-year-old quarterback does not appear to be fazed by anything, actually.
The entire tri-state area was in an uproar on Tuesday after learning that the Giants’ franchise quarterback of the last 14 years would be benched in favor of the Jets castoff.
Even former Giants, some of whom are in the team building every day, sounded off on Twitter over the decision, but Smith was either playing dumb or has completely sheltered himself from any outside noise.
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“I don’t know, I haven’t seen it. It’s all positive in here,” Smith said. “You think I pay attention to what anybody on the outside has to say?”
Smith will start his first game in 13 months on Sunday, which was when he tore his ACL while with the Jets.
It is no ordinary game, though, and comes under the pressure of filling in for the greatest quarterback to play for the New York Giants, who will be standing over his shoulder on the sideline with a clipboard in hand.
“It’s not awkward, hasn’t been awkward. Eli hasn’t made it awkward,” Smith said. “No one in this building, no one on this team has. That is stuff from the outside. I think we do a good job keeping things in perspective. I don’t feel any outside pressure or feel any noise.”
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It may not be awkward for Smith, but there was certainly a different feeling for some of his teammates to see Manning, the guy who has led the offense for the last 14 seasons, running the scout team.
“That was pretty strange,” said Sterling Shepard, who returned to practice for the first time in two weeks after experiencing migraines. “Seeing (Manning) with the first group since I’ve gotten here, I’m used to seeing (Davis) Webb out there competing with Geno (Smith) throwing completions. To see him out there, it was a little different.”
Strange was the same word safety Landon Collins used to describe the moment he stepped onto the field and saw No. 10 behind center.
“I even asked coach (Mike) Sullivan if Eli is doing scout team and he told me no,” said Collins. “Then I get down in my stance and I look up and I see 10, and it threw me off. I was like, ‘We back in training camp again?’ It’s definitely different.”
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Justin Pugh, who continued to rehab his back injury during practice, also made sure that he got a chance to see Manning run the scout team.
While it was an oddity to see him out there, there was nothing different in Manning’s approach, which impressed Pugh.
“He was Eli Manning, he was so unwavering,” he said. “Obviously, there was some emotion yesterday… but today, he’s back out there, a true professional doing whatever is asked of for this team, and that just goes to show the type of character he has.”
Smith can downplay his new role all he wants, but come Sunday, it is clear he will have awfully big shoes to fill.
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