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USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Eli Manning: There were 'a lot of tears' following New York Giants benching in 2017
Eli Manning: There were 'a lot of tears' following New York Giants benching in 2017 Eli Manning is a New York Giants legend. A two-time Super Bowl MVP who has played more games in a Giants uniform than any other player in the franchise's 101-year history. He certainly had plenty of highs and lows, but what was his lowest point? That was recently revealed during an appearance on the Glue Guys Podcast. It was November 28, 2017, when Manning was benched after 210 consecutive starts. He had been playing at a subpar level, and with the Giants at 2-9 and going nowhere, head coach Ben McAdoo decided to start Geno Smith in a game against the then-Oakland Raiders. Manning was naturally hurt by the move. After all he had done for the Giants to be replaced by Smith, who had been largely a bust as an NFL quarterback at that time. "It was tough," Manning said. "You see the end coming -- and you don't know if it's the end of your career. Is that your last game ever? It's a lot of tears. It hurts. It hurts a lot. Because of what you've put into it, what the game means to you, what your teammates mean to you." The Giants lost, 24-17, to fall to 2-10. McAdoo's gambit had failed. The backlash was so negative that both McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese were relieved of their duties the following week. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was named the interim head coach. Reading the room correctly, Spags reinstated Eli as the starter. Manning started the remaining four games of the regular season, but the hapless Giants could only muster one win. Manning went on to start every game in 2018 and then gave way to Daniel Jones the next season. He retired after the 2019 season.
USA Today
21-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Texans find swing tackle in former Pro Bowler Trent Brown
Texans find swing tackle in former Pro Bowler Trent Brown Add another offensive lineman into the mix for the Houston Texans. According to reports, the Texans have agreed to terms with veteran offensive tackle Trent Brown on a one-year deal worth up to $3 million. Brown will compete with Tytus Howard, Blake Fisher and recently signed Cam Robinson for first-team reps during training camp while looking to make the active 53-man roster. After signing with Cincinnati last offseason, a season-ending ruptured patellar tendon limited Brown to just three games. Before that, Brown was named the starting right tackle for the Bengals and looked overall promising in his brief stint blocking for Pro Bowler Joe Burrow. Before signing with the Bengals, Brown spent three seasons with the New England Patriots, so he has a previous relationship with both Texans offensive coordinator Nick Caley and new offensive line coach Cole Popovich. Brown also was a Pro Bowl honoree in 2019 as a member of the then-Oakland Raiders. Durability has hindered Brown's growth and playing time over the past decade in the pros. Since 2018, the 31-year-old has played in all his teams' regular-season games just once in the past six years. Since being drafted out of Florida in 2015, he's appeared in 103 contests, starting at both left and right tackle. The Texans were looking for a swing tackle to shore up the offensive line after Laremy Tunsil was traded to the Washington Commanders for four future draft picks. Brown can play both sides and should at least be a stable cheap option behind Fisher, Robinson or a potential rookie long-term heir in Houston.
Miami Herald
19-02-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
After the best season of his NFL career, Quinton Bell wants another chance
The life of NFL journeyman is not for the weak. There's a lot of uncertainty. A lot of broken promises. A lot of moving. But when it hits and that opportunity finally comes through, you must make the most of it. Such is the case with Quinton Bell. A 2019 seventh-round draft pick by the then-Oakland Raiders, the 28-year-old had stints with the Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons before he joined the Miami Dolphins in 2024 offseason. A superb training camp earned him a spot on the roster. Injuries to Jaelan Phillips, Tyus Bowser and Bradley Chubb earned him more playing time. Now, he just hopes that was enough to earn him another contract. 'The Dolphins are the first team that really have given me a real opportunity to go there in a regular season and play and improve and and grow as a player that helps his team,' Bell told the Miami Herald. The edge rusher will be a free agent in 2025. 'I feel like I have a home here. I love it here. I love my coaches. I love the belief and the confidence they have in me. It would be amazing to run it back.' Bell does have an argument for an extension. Not only did he appear in all 17 games, he finished with the second-highest pass rush grade among Dolphins outside linebackers, according to Pro Football Focus. He also was one of eight players to force a fumble. In fact, Bell's best game of the year – a team-high 92.1 PFF grade in which he recorded a two tackle, one sack and forced fumble against the Los Angeles Rams – came at a time that coach Mike McDaniel later deemed the turning point of the season. 'It took the whole team,' McDaniel said of the Rams game in early January. 'If one piece of the team was half in or not detailed in that moment, we lose our third game in a row and have a long flight home that who knows where the team is going to be at.' That Bell showed out at a time that the team needed most is no coincidence. At a crucial point of his collegiate career, Bell made the decision to switch from wide receiver to outside linebacker as a senior at Prairie View A&M. The reason? Opportunity. ''I want you to come edge rush,' and really at the time it was a crazy request,' Bell recalled his former college defensive line coach Todd Middleton telling him. 'I was a receiver, I was about 215 [pounds], lanky. But he started talking to me about opportunity, he started talking about the NFL and ultimately, it's the best decision I've ever made to this day, for sure.' So it's no secret that as he reflected on the end of the season, the word 'opportunity' was frequently mentioned. 'I feel like in my story of the season is really just not too many opportunities in the beginning, but towards the middle, I feel like I had opportunities and I made the most of them,' Bell said. 'Then I saw myself getting more and more opportunities and continue to make the most of it.' The ability to make the most of his limited opportunities was something that McDaniel immediately noticed. 'You learn so much about players based upon how other players react and when he gets an edge of a lineman and is creating a hurry, pressure or sack or he's long-arming while setting the edge, people lose their minds,' McDaniel said in the preseason. 'And I think that's because here's a guy that comes to work every day with no excuses, doesn't tally how many opportunities he gets; he makes the most of the ones that he does get. And because of that, when you have that type of mindset, you get more and more opportunities.' While the Dolphins hope to have a healthy stable of edge rushers with both Phillips and Chubb expected to be ready by the start of the season, it's unclear whether Miami will bring Bell back. The veteran edge rusher, however, certainly made one thing abundantly clear: he deserves to be on a NFL roster. 'I think that that's been the main thing for me for me through my career and really just up and downs I've been through: I never stopped believing in myself in my ability and what I know I can do,' Bell said. 'And when you pair that self-belief with a coach's belief in you and an organization and staff and you feel that, the sky is the limit.'
