If their young quarterback ascends to the greatness the Giants believe he can reach, figure a telling scene in the Eli Manning Story will be Kevin Gilbride’s now-historic decision to venture toward the front of an Amtrak train.
Gilbride, the Giants’ quarterbacks coach, took the purposeful walk Dec. 12 on the trip back from Baltimore, stopping when he reached the seat occupied by Manning.
“He was sitting there by himself, beating himself up a little bit,” Gilbride recalled yesterday during a rare assistant coach media availability granted by Tom Coughlin.
Manning could not beat himself up any more forcefully than the Ravens did a few hours earlier. In what was a watershed moment of utter ineptitude, Manning in his fourth NFL start compiled a rating of 0.00, completing four of 18 passes for 27 yards and two interceptions in a 37-14 loss.
“We had the chance to have quite an interesting discussion on that train ride home,” Gilbride said. “I said, ‘You’ve got to understand, it’s time for you to say, ‘Hey, this is what I can do, this is what I want to do’ and be a little bit more assertive, because we’re only going to go as far as you can take us.”
The next day, during his normal Monday morning meeting with Coughlin, Manning for the first time took the initiative in telling his head coach what he liked and did not like about the offense. Call it a subtle but significant step forward. Manning the following week attained a rating of 103.8 in a 33-30 loss to the Steelers, and two weeks later in the season finale fired three touchdown passes as he beat the Cowboys 28-24 to notch his first NFL victory.
Handed the reins this offseason, Manning has quietly assumed more of a leadership role, in his own understated way.
“He is never gonna stand up and be Jim Kelly,” Gilbride said. “But little by little within the parameters of his personality you see him beginning to assert himself, in a very Eli Manning way.”
Just how stoic can Manning be? Gilbride recalled a Christmas gift Kurt Warner gave Manning.
“One of those T-shirts that changes colors so that you know what he’s thinking,” Gilbride said.
“That’s part of his strength, he doesn’t show a lot of emotion, and when things are going bad that’s kind of the way you’d like to have it.”
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The Giants’ special-teams coach, Mike Sweatman, sounded as if he’d welcome the signing of free-agent punt returner R.W. McQuarters.
The pair worked together when they were both in Chicago.
“He’s an exciting, electrifying type returner, similar to some of the plays David Meggett made when he was with the Giants,” Sweatman said.
