Pat Shurmur says Giants will “play the very best player” at QB

[Giant]

Giants coach Pat Shurmur said he wasn’t trying to be cryptic. But he left enough space between the lines that you can read whatever you want into his words.

Via Tom Rock of Newsday, Shurmur said that he’s “constantly” evaluating both Eli Manning and Daniel Jones, and that the one who gives the team the best chance to win will start.

“We’re gonna play the very best player,” Shurmur said. “I know we’re dancing around the words here, but right now Eli is getting ready to have a great year and Daniel is getting ready to play. We’ll just see what happens. . . .

“We feel good where Eli is, he’s our starting quarterback, and we’ve got a young player that we think is going to be an outstanding player getting himself ready to play.”

It’s easy to interpret that as the opening of a competition between the veteran who has led the Giants to two Super Bowls and the first-round pick, but Shurmur knows what leaving room for interpretation means.

“I’m not trying to be cryptic about it,” Shurmur said. “It is what I said it is. Eli is getting ready to have an outstanding year and Daniel is getting ready to play. That’s really about it.”

When it was mentioned that both things can’t be true at once, Shurmur replied: “Have at it, I guess.”

If nothing else, Shurmur has provided stuff to talk about in New York for the next few months, as the Giants decide when to begin the post-Manning future.