NFL

Former QBs: Why Eli Manning’s transition is so ‘painful’

The Jets’ offense has been far from dynamic this preseason, but it’s the Giants that come into the Snoopy Bowl with far more questions.

A year after Rex Ryan’s ill-fated decision to have Mark Sanchez play against the Giants in the fourth quarter behind a backup offensive line, leading to a season-ending shoulder injury, Tom Coughlin is threatening to play his starters in the Giants’ fifth and final game next week in an attempt to improve their pathetic play.

So, what exactly is Eli Manning dealing with right now — going from Kevin Gilbride’s offense the first 10 years of his career to new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo’s West Coast scheme?

“I went through it a couple of times in my career and it can be a painful process,” said former Raiders quarterback and CBS analyst Rich Gannon, whose career took off in the West Coast offense.

“You are two or three steps behind when you break the huddle and walk to the line. Normally, that play you hear coming into your headset, you’ve repped it a thousand times. You’re thinking about all the different possibilities and not on what’s going on the other side of the ball. So, you are a couple of steps behind and that takes a while.”

Ben McAdoo with Manning on Giants sidelinesPaul J. Bereswill

Steve Beuerlein, who quarterbacked under Coughlin and Gilbride in Jacksonville, equated it to learning a new language. Manning has been speaking English in the huddle and now he’s trying to learn Spanish.

“You call that new play, he’s got to associate it with what he used to call it and what he wants to accomplish with the play,” said Beuerlein, a game analyst for CBS.

“He hasn’t gotten to the point where it’s his first language. It takes time. I had like 10 coaches in my 17-year career and learned seven, eight different offenses. It doesn’t get any easier as you get along.”

After a month of training camp and three preseason games, the Giants are starting to get short on time. The season opener against the Lions is just two weeks away. In 11 possessions, the first-team offense has produced two touchdowns, eight punts and one fumble. Manning is 1-for-9 in the past two games.

“I know Gilbride’s offense and it’s totally different than the West Coast offense,” Beuerlein said. “It’s a timing, progression offense. The play is called and the quarterback needs to know his first, second, third and fourth option.

“It’s boom, boom, boom, boom. The offense Eli was running prior was based on reading the defense and determining who your No. 1 option is. He has to speed up his thought process.”

Manning’s next opportunity comes against a much-maligned Jets secondary that will be missing its top cornerback in Dee Milliner (high ankle sprain). If the Giants offense continues to be feeble, there will be another week of questions and doubts.

“If you look at the struggles they had last year, there’s going to be a lot of questions asked if there isn’t significant improvements,” Beuerlein said. “There has to be some success to get some confidence early in the season not only for perception on the outside, but also internally. There is doubt in their own mind until they start experiencing success with what you’ve been doing.”