Giants quarterback Eli Manning is recovering from ankle surgery, so his on-field work is going to be limited this offseason.
There’s still plenty for Manning to do, however. New offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo is installing a new offense, leaving Manning with plenty of homework to do in addition to rehabbing his ankle. Manning said that so much is new that it feels like his freshman year in college or rookie year in the NFL as he familiarizes himself with recently signed players and the scheme.
“[The changes] bring a sense of urgency to this time of year, to the offseason,” Manning said, via Jordan Raanan of NJ.com. “For me, [it’s] getting healthy, meeting teammates and learning a new playbook. We have a lot of work to do. But [I’m] enjoying the competition of it all, the urgency we’re having right now.”
Urgency should be the order of the day for the Giants offense after owner John Mara called the unit broken after the end of the dismal 2013 season. It’s especially urgent for Manning, who will be running an offense very different from the one he guided to two Super Bowls a year after his worst professional season, so he might as well enjoy it while he can.