Rookie Daniel Jones needs reps. Those reps won’t be at the expense of Eli Manning, though.
Giants coach Pat Shurmur said Monday that Manning will play the next two preseason games.
“Typically, I like to play all of them in every game, except maybe the last game where you wouldn’t play the starter,” Shurmur said, via Tom Rock of Newsday. “Hopefully we can get all four in the game this week.”
In Thursday’s preseason opener against the Jets, Alex Tanney played 34 snaps, Kyle Lauletta 17, Jones eight and Manning three.
The Giants, though, will hold out running back Saquon Barkley. He did not play in the opener and likely won’t see his first game action until the regular season.
“He’s getting a heck of a lot of reps here in practice,” Shurmur said.
Barkley played six snaps in the preseason opener last year as a rookie and then sat out the last three preseason games with a hamstring issue.
“When I played the first week of the season and played the season last year I didn’t feel like I was out of shape, I didn’t feel like I needed more reps,” Barkley said, via quotes distributed by the team. “I think we did a really good job with taking live competitive reps here, even though we don’t tackle to the ground. We have a really great defense that gives me a really good look. Do I think I need it? I think it depends on the player. Every year is different. Am I ready if I have to? Yes, my mindset every week is to prepare to get ready to go out there and compete at a high level for my team, no matter if it’s one snap, two series, one quarter or if I don’t play. If I don’t play, I stay locked in and try to be the leader that I can to keep the energy and the vibes good on the sideline.”