Eli Manning grew up in the South, playing high school football in Louisiana before going to college at Ole Miss, so dealing with severe weather is not new to him.
“We had some high school practices that were affected by hurricanes,” Manning said, according to a transcript released by the team Saturday afternoon. “During the summers and in August, we always just left early. That was my dad’s approach, to say, ‘If we can get out of town, we’ll leave a few days before and miss all the traffic and chaos. And if it changes direction and it doesn’t hit us, that’s a blessing and we’ll come home and everything will be fine.’ ”
Like most residents of the tristate area, however, Manning did not expect to have to deal with hurricanes now that he is working in New Jersey. But with Hurricane Irene advancing up the East Coast this weekend, the Giants’ game against the Jets was postponed from Saturday to Monday, leaving the Giants to hold a practice early Saturday before the players were sent home.
Manning said Coach Tom Coughlin told the players to make sure they had enough provisions for their families during the next few days, and Coughlin stressed to the players that they should avoid going outside.
“That’s why he gave us the day off,” Manning said. “He said it’s supposed to hit tomorrow morning and it’s a big storm, a wide, long hurricane, so it’s going to last the majority of the day with high winds and heavy rain. So stay in the house and have enough food and water so you don’t have to leave and let this thing full clear before we have to go out and about.”
From a football standpoint, the postponement leaves the Giants in the unusual position of playing a game on Monday and then playing again on Thursday, when they will face the New England Patriots in their final preseason game.
In the comments released by the Giants, Coughlin reiterated that the team’s starters would play the first half of the game against the Jets as previously planned. The Thursday game, Coughlin said, “would be the game we would deviate from how we’ve done things in the past” because of the compressed schedule. That could mean that some starters will not play at all against the Patriots.
“This game coming is going to be very important,” Manning said of facing the Jets. “We’re going to get some looks and see how we stand against a 3-4 team, a team that does some exotic blitzes and a top-quality team. We have to make sure everybody is on the same page and communicating and everybody is doing their responsibility.”
The strangest aspect of the situation, Manning said, is that the team will not be staying in a hotel together the night before a game. Players will stay at home Sunday night, then reconvene Monday afternoon for meetings before facing the Jets.
At the very least, the Giants have some experience with the unexpected. Manning said the Giants could be more adaptable because of what happened last season, when they were forced to play a game against the Minnesota Vikings in Detroit (and a day later than scheduled) after the collapse of the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
“Last year, we were traveling around and staying in hotels and we didn’t know where we were going to play or what was going on,” Manning said. “That was different. With this game, we know when we’re playing, we know the time. We adjusted and got to have an extra practice. I thought guys stayed mentally prepared and didn’t complain about anything. They were going with the flow of things. I think that’s the right approach. We’ll be excited about getting back on the field on Monday.”
Coughlin agreed.
“We’re getting good at mid-stream adjustments,” he said. “I don’t know if that is something you necessarily want to perfect, but I think we’re close.”
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