Eli Manning 'a little nervous' about Giants’ new offense: Report

Eli Manning is coming off a one of his worst seasons ever, and you would expect the Giants quarterback to not look anywhere but up after a rock-bottom year.

After finishing 2013 with a career-high 27 interceptions to go with just 18 touchdowns, his fewest since his rookie year, Manning could realistically say it couldn't get any worse.

But Manning admits that learning the system of new coordinator Ben McAdoo could make things tough as he enters training camp after a disappointing 7-9 campaign.

“Yeah, it is different. You come into the season a little nervous; you just don’t have [the same comfort],’’ Manning told the New York Post. “You have a good feel for it, but not to where I want it to be. That’s with repetition and more plays. It’s a different feeling this time of year than in previous years. We’ve still got a lot of work to do and a lot to improve on to get comfortable, myself with my teammates and everything that goes on with being successful in an offense. I know we’ve got a lot of work to do. But we’re excited about that challenge.’’

Manning says his surgically repaired ankle is completely healed and he won't be physically challenged by it. Now he just needs to grasp the new offense well enough that he throws a lot fewer than 27 interceptions, and a lot more than 18 touchdown passes, this year.

“The ankle feels great, 100 percent. Don’t feel it, don’t think about it. It’s not an issue,’’ Manning said. “I’m excited; excited to be in another training camp, get the season kicked off and get back to work. It’s an exciting time. This is what you look forward to.”

Manning also claims he isn’t the slightest bit worried about practicing with his host of new teammates or the retirement of O-line stalwart Chris Snee.

"We’ve got to have a lot of communication, make sure we’re communicating the same thing on our calls and on our checks, changing up cadence," he said about the fresh faces surrounding him. "You throw everything out there that you want to do — you can’t hold things back because you’ve got some new guys."

Chris Snee's hip injury ends season, might end career too

Even being the head coach's son-in-law might not be enough to help get Chris Snee back in a New York Giants uniform in the future — or any uniform for that matter.

The four-time Pro Bowl offensive guard got word Friday that the surgery he'll likely need to repair a torn labrum and remove bone chips from his right hip will surely end his season. And now, Snee, after facing the fact he’ll be out for the year, is looking at the possibility that he’ll never play on an NFL field again.

A rock on the Giants’ offensive line for a decade, Snee was placed on season-ending injured reserve on Friday. At 31 years old, a season-ending injury very well could mean career-ending, too — especially since he pondered retirement when he battled through the same injury to his left hip last year.

Snee said retirement is “not something I’m thinking about right now. I’m honestly just trying to get over the frustration on this.”

But for a player who missed five games as a rookie and then not another start until last Sunday, that frustration won’t be easy to get over.

“I’ve always been a guy that by Friday, I can suit up and play,” Snee said. “I was secretly hoping I’d wake up and things would feel different, I’d respond to the treatment, the medicine, and it just didn’t happen. It’s frustrating. It’s just a new situation for me. I’ve always been able to play through things — sometimes things no one knew about, sometimes things I kept to myself.

“I had to be honest with everyone because it really got to the point where I was doing no good.”

Snee, who was placed on IR as soon as the Giants’ trade for linebacker Jon Beason became official on Friday afternoon, said he will meet with Dr. Bryan Kelly, one of the Giants’ team doctors, to discuss his options on Saturday.

“I’ve been feeling it for some time now,” Snee said. “I’ve always been able to play through things, but clearly I couldn’t. So the best thing is for me to watch my team play and try to get my hip right. If I was able to play through something I would.”

The two-time Super Bowl champion can now only wait and see if he'll be donning Giants' blue next year.

Justin Tuck responds to Clay Matthews' whining about playoff loss

The Green Bay Packers are really bitter about their 37-20 playoff loss to the New York Giants— which knocked the top-seeded team out of last season's anticipated Super Bowl run— and Clay Matthews still won't give credit to Big Blue for winning the game.

The Pack's Matthews went on the record and told Yahoo! Sports that "We picked the most inopportune time to play our worst ball.  The fact is, [the Giants] didn't beat us, we beat ourselves."

On Wednesday, after the Giants' players got wind of the Matthews' lame excuse for last January's loss, they just looked at their new Super Bowl rings and shook their heads thinking you want some cheeseheads with that whine.

"Obviously you'd believe that [our] success would breed reality, right," Justin Tuck said before practice.  "I guess people love living in Fantasy Land and want to make excuses for the situation."

Matthews, who refuses to believe his team lost, still thinks the Giants got lucky.

"This year, I expect us [the Packers] to be right back where we should be," said the linebacker.

This is what comes with winning the Super Bowl— everyone slings arrows— and the Giants have big blue bullseyes on their backs.

When it comes to being the defending champs, it's either going to be someone like the Cowboys' Jerry Jones promising to "beat the New York Giants asses" or experts picking you to be the third best team in your own division.

"Honestly, we joke back and forth with it because it really doesn't matter," Tuck said.  "We walked away with a ring on our finger.  That's the end goal and that's all we care about.  I don't know.  It don't bother me at all."

Giants offensive lineman Chris Snee agrees it's all about the bling on your fingers.

"If that what Clay thinks, so be it," said Snee. "I have a brand new ring and we earned every bit of it.  He was a non-factor.  Maybe that's what he means.

"We'll see them again," said Snee, referring to the Nov. 25 game with the Packers at MetLife Stadium.

"Did they play their best ball?" asked Tuck.  "I don't know. but we won the football game.  I don't think they gave us anything."

It's not that Tuck was unappreciative and he had a nice message for Matthews.

"Thank you for giving us the game," deadpanned Tuck.  "I appreciate it a lot."

Giants' Chris Canty Warns 49ers: Sunday's Game Will Be A "Bloodbath"

It sounds like New York Giants Chris Canty thinks the 49ers should have a few extra EMS units parked outside the stadium for this Sunday's NFC Championship game— just in case.

The defensive tackle is talking more like a street fighter than a football player and warned the 49ers that this weeks match-up will be more like an alley fight than a walk in Candlestick Park.

"Physical, physical, physical," he said when asked what to expect.  "This is not going to be a cute football game.  It's not going to be for the meek and mild.  This is going to be a bloodbath."

The 49ers side— who pride themselves on playing a physical style of ball— didn't take the threat lying down and thinks we'll find out if the visiting team really bleeds Giants blue— lots of it.

"If that's the kind of game this is gonna turn out to be," the 49ers Hall of Fame cornerback Ronnie Lott told the New York Post.  "It means it bodes well for the 49ers because they've been in those kind of battles all year long."

"I think they would say, 'Hey, bring it on!  You're talking our language.'  I don't think they will shy away from something like that," claims Lott.

Just toss in a few show tunes and we can call it West Coast Story.

"They don't try and make it a secret, and they want to beat you up," Canty said.  "And we pride ourselves on being a physical football team.  Something's got to give, and this football team is preparing itself to be able to put ourselves in a situation where we can be successful, and a big part of that is going to be our physicality."

The Giants players think they are now battle-tested road warriors

" Most championship teams got to fight through some sort of adversity— whether that's injuries, whether that's not playing your best early in the year," said Giants defensive end Justin Tuck.  "Toughness is just fighting through those things."

Tuck was asked if the Giants are tough enough to back up the smack talk.

"We'll find out," he said.  "I think we're pretty tough though.  But we're going into the hostile environment of a team that's pretty tough too, so we'll see... we'll see how tough we are this week."

Not to be left out of all the pre-game trash talk, Jason Pierre-Paul was asked by a reporter if any team is tougher than the G-Men?  Pierre-Paul's reply, "God is tougher than us."

Way to get the big guy on your side.  Tim Tebow would be proud.

The Giants and 49ers met earlier in the season in San Francisco and New York lost, 27-20, in a game most Giants players still think they should have won.

"After the last time we played them, we walked away saying that's a very physical team," said Giants offensive lineman Chris Snee.  "And the only way to beat them is to out-physical them."

Canty thinks the Giants can take it to the 49ers even on San Francisco's home turf.

"We got some experience in tough road ballgames, not always turning out the way we wanted them to, but we've had that experience nonetheless and we played in tight ballgames before," he said.  " So having that experience definitely means a lot for us going into this football game.  I think this football team has shown what it can do on the road, and we're looking forward to being able to demonstrate that again."

Then again, a lot of rain is being forecast leading up to Sunday, so this game might be remembered more as the Mud Bowl than the Blood Bowl.

Either way, players check your brass knuckles and switchblades at the gate and watch out for Officer Krupke.

Bradshaw's 3 TD Runs Lead Giants Over Bills, 27-24

A late 23-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes gave the New York Giants an ego-boosting 27-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills in MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon.  The win sends the Giants in to their bye-week with a 4-2 record and sole possession of first place in the NFC East.

Ahmad Bradshaw rumbled over the Bills defense for 104 yards including a leaping goal-line flip that put the Giants up 24-17 in the third quarter.  Bradshaw became the first Giant to run for three touchdowns in a game since Brandon Jacobs did it against the Carolina Panthers on Dec. 21, 2008.

The Giants (4-2) also found some remnants of their smashmouth style of play after losing their mojo last week in a devastating home loss against the Seattle Seahawks.  As Bradshaw helped the Giants discover the running part of their game, the defense did just enough to keep the Bills at bay.

 Bills running-back Fred Jackson gained 121 yards but most of that acreage came on an early 80-yard breakaway.  The Giants D harassed Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick all day and registered 3 sacks, 2 interceptions and made one fumble recovery.  While it's not enough to make fans hearken back to the days of L.T., they held the Bills when they had to.

The Giants' Eli Manning was facing a Bills defense which led the league in interceptions but the turnover prone quarterback came out of the game unscathed.  Manning was nearly flawless and completed 21-of-31 for 292 yards.  He had no TD throws but a couple of passes in or around the endzone were dropped by his receivers.

While the Giants were scoring on short runs by Bradshaw, the Bills (4-2) made the big plays highlighted by Jackson's run and a 60-yard Fitzpatrick pass to Naaman Roosevelt.  Jackson's scamper was the longest run given up by the Giants since Oct. 15, 2006 when the Falcon's Warrick Dunn scored on a 90-yarder.

The Giants have to feel good settling into their bye week.  They face a pretty bad Miami Dolphins at home when they resume play in two weeks and all signs are leading to Big Blue being less black and blue by then.

Chris Snee (concussion), Brandon Jacobs (knee) and Justin Tuck (neck) are all expected to be fully recovered from injuries which have them on the sidelines.

There is also talk that Prince Amukamara will be ready to suit up for his first regular season game.  Last spring's first-round selection broke a bone in his foot the first week of camp and could be ready to join the rest of the defensive backfield.

The Giants had to work hard for this victory and things can only get better with the return of Snee, Jacobs and Tuck-- all crucial parts to the G-Men's grind-it-out running and swarming defensive style.

If today's game proved anything, it's that the Bills are the real thing but the Giants are just a little better.