Eli Manning made his first start since being benched by former Giants head coach Ben McAdoo. McAdoo benched Manning for Geno Smith, hoping to save his job — that didn’t work out.
Eli Manning receives standing ovation from Giants fans in first start back from benching
Giants fans missed their quarterback.
As Manning ran onto the field for the first time since the benching, the crowd at MetLife Stadium met him with a warm ovation:
Manning’s consecutive starts streak ended with McAdoo benching him.
When Manning was benched, general manager Jerry Reese said, “This is not a statement about anything other than we are 2-9, and we have to do what is best for the organization moving forward, and that means evaluating every position.”
Reese, like McAdoo, was fired last week. He wasn’t any worse for the Giants than Manning was, but it was clear the franchise wasn’t going to be going in the right direction or make immediate improvements under him.
Manning was named the starter when Steve Spagnuolo took over as the interim head coach.
“I want to be the starting quarterback, I want to be out there and I just want to make sure that [Spagnuolo] knew that,” Manning said, via Giants.com. “He said that he was going to think about it and talk with the coaches, but his gut said that I would be the starting quarterback. So, I’m happy that he went with that decision and he has the faith in me we can go win this football game with me as the quarterback.”
It seems the fans wanted him to be the starter, too.
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