Eli Manning said he hasn’t talked to Peyton Manning for a few weeks, though he’s sent a few text messages to let big brother know little brother was thinking about him.
“I know he’s dealing with a lot,” Eli said yesterday after it was announced Peyton would not play in the Colts’ season opener against the Texans on Sunday because of lingering problems from offseason neck surgery. The announcement ends Peyton’s remarkable streak of 227 consecutive starts, counting the postseason, having not missed a game since he was drafted in 1998.
Want to guess who now owns the longest streak of consecutive starts by a quarterback? It’s Eli, who will make his 111th consecutive start, counting the postseason, when the Giants open their season Sunday at Washington.
The durability of the Manning brothers was in sharp contrast to most of the discussion yesterday in the Giants locker room, which dealt with the unavailability of a bevy of players fallen by injuries. The latest casualty is middle linebacker Jonathan Goff, who was lost for the season after suffering a knee injury in Monday’s practice. About the only good news is that a Giants preseason of constant misery has ended with yesterday’s first official practice toward the opener at FedEx Field.
“You can’t worry about who’s out there and who’s not,” Manning said. “You have to trust the guys that are out there and go out there and do a great job. You game plan, play hard and find a way to win.”
Eli has been out there for every game since he was named a starter midway through his rookie 2004 season. But the 2011 Giants will not only need his durability this year, but also his productivity.
The Giants defense is thin as fabric softener having lost Goff, starting CB Terrell Thomas (knee), DE Osi Umenyiora (knee), DT Marvin Austin (pectoral muscle), CB Prince Amukamara (broken foot), CB Bruce Johnson (Achilles), CB Brian Witherspoon (ACL) and LB Clint Sintim (ACL). There figures to be an extra burden on the offense to have an immediate impact early in the year should the defense struggle to find some cohesion. If so, Manning needs to be great out of the gate, starting Sunday at Washington.
It’s not just about passing stats and limiting turnovers, but being the kind of leader that can instill confidence in a team that could easily use injuries as an excuse for a poor start. It’s what a top five quarterback would do even though Manning wouldn’t admit to all that.
“My job is to go out and do my job,” he said, “make the throws, follow my reads, and put our team in a good position. That’s what I’m trying to do, play hard and do my responsibilities and leave it up to the other guys to do their responsibilities.”
Manning hardly flinched when told he now owns the longest streak for consecutive starts by a quarterback. He seemed more impressed by what his brother was able to accomplish.
“If you can go through 13 years without missing a game, that’s impressive no matter what position or what sport,” Eli said.
He views his own streak as just part of his commitment to his team.
“You try to be out there,” he said. “You try to work hard during the offseason [to] prevent pulls. Those things, I think, [can be] prevented a little bit. Also, I’m not running as much as a lot of these guys and doing as much cutting. The quarterback can play with a lot of injuries.”
The Giants weren’t expected to be a juggernaut the year they won the Super Bowl, which is why belief is more important inside the locker room than outside of it.
“I think we have talent on both sides of the ball,” Eli said. “We have guys who want to be here. It’s just a matter of going out there and performing.”
george.willis@nypost.com