Giants' Pat Shurmur Declines to Name Eli Manning as Starter over Daniel Jones

New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur declined to name Eli Manning as the team's starter over Daniel Jones for Week 3's matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.

"He's been our starter to this point. I'm not ready to talk about that," Shurmur told reporters Monday.

Manning has thrown for 556 yards and two touchdowns against two interceptions through the first two weeks. Jones replaced him in the season-opening defeat to the Dallas Cowboys but did not see the field in Sunday's 28-14 home loss to the Buffalo Bills.

While Giants owner John Mara told reporters he wanted Manning to remain as starter for the entire season, the writing is on the wall. Big Blue are one of the worst teams through the first two weeks, and Manning has been among the league's worst quarterbacks. His 37.5 QBR ranks 22nd among qualifying signal-callers, and he has the seventh-lowest touchdown rate.

Jones, by contrast, looked stellar in the preseason and might give the Giants a necessary boost. Saquon Barkley is the only offensive player who has looked like a real difference-maker through the first two weeks. Not throwing Jones into the mix is essentially wasting prime carries of Barkley's career on a team that's going nowhere. 

"We're 0-2, and we're looking for answers," Manning told reporters. "I get it. When you draft a guy early and you're not winning games, these are gonna come up. I've just gotta keep working and do whatever my job is."

Giants general manager Dave Gettleman staked his tenure on drafting Jones sixth overall in April. Manning is clearly not playing winning football. Even with the shakiness at receiver and the offensive line, New York needs to see what it has in the Barkley-Jones duo moving forward.