Are New York Giants' Players Concerned Over Eli Manning's Play? 3
Bruce Kluckhohn, USATSI

New York Giants players voice their thoughts on the recent struggles of Eli Manning. Hear what Odell Beckham Jr and Victor Cruz have to say.

Victor Cruz’s Thoughts

Victor Cruz made a public statement boasting the level of confidence he has in Eli Manning. He and Manning have grown close over the six-plus years they have spent together in New York.

“No one is hitting the panic button on Eli Manning… I’m convinced he’s playing until he is 55 years old, at least in my mind. He knows his body better than anyone in this league…We understand that he’s our quarterback and he’s still playing in great form. You can’t just go off a couple of games and negate what he has done in the games that we won and the good things he’s done. Obviously it’s easy to harp on the negative things, but we have to look at the positives as well.”

Cruz wasn’t the only receiver to stand up for his quarterback; Odell Beckham Jr. gave his support for his quarterback as well.

Odell Beckham Jr’s Thoughts

Beckham Jr. and Manning have very different personalities, to say the least. However, the two have worked through their differences and built a strong bond both on and off of the football field. Beckham noted how it isn’t fair to point fingers. After all, he has had most of the finger pointing directed at him this season.

“When you lose, everyone wants to point the finger somewhere.  Things have to be written, things have to be said, and that’s just how it is whether it’s the truth or not the truth. That’s just the way this world works. You win, and it’s like nothing ever happened.”

Well, it is quite obvious that Giants’ players have Manning’s back. The team does acknowledge that they need to get better as a team, however. Cruz also added that he feels the team is “on the brink” of breaking out. So I guess its just a matter of time until this offense can start to win games. Until then, blame is going to be placed, but the Giants need to brush the blame aside and realize that football is a team sport.

Regardless of who is to blame on any given Sunday, you win and lose as a team. So until the Giants start to win games, they need to focus on how to improve as a team rather than how to improve individually.

Residing in northern New Jersey, Justin absolutely loves the New York Giants. You will find passion and brutal honesty in his writing and on "Talking Jets and Giants", a podcast that he co-hosts with fellow ESNY writer Richard Rodgers. He is a beat writer for The Giants Beat on Scout.com, and he is the founder of TrueToBigBlue.SportsBlog.com. He has been a Giants season ticket holder for two years now. He hopes you enjoy his opinions and analysis of the Giants in his ESNY articles.