Giants co-owner John Mara insisted on Monday that the way Ben McAdoo handled the organizational decision to look at quarterbacks not named Eli Manning had nothing to do with the organizational decision to deactivate McAdoo’s key card with four games left in the season.
Mara did say that he was cognizant of how upset fans were about the decision and mentioned a desire to avoid an ugly scene at this Sunday’s game against the Cowboys related to Manning watching while Geno Smith plays, but said it was up to interim coach Steve Spagnuolo to make a call. It appears Spagnuolo has made the call and it’s unsurprisingly one that should placate the angry masses.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that the team held meetings on Tuesday to set the game plan for this week and finalized the decision to move Manning back into the starting lineup. It will be the 211th start of Manning’s career, but the one-week break means he’ll be at the back of the list when it comes to consecutive starts.
Mara made it clear on Monday that he had signed off on a plan to give Smith and rookie Davis Webb playing time before McAdoo told Manning and made it public. The Giants’ hope was that Manning would start games before giving way to one of the other quarterbacks, but Manning balked at such an idea. It’s unclear if there will be any attempt to see what Webb can do in the final four weeks, although it’s hard to see what would have changed about the rationale Mara was on board with at this point last week.