Manning on getting benched: ‘I’m not dying and the season’s not over’

The New York Giants were back at their practice field Wednesday, one day after team officials benched starting quarterback Eli Manning and named rookie Daniel Jones as the Week 3 starter.
Manning will now serve as the backup quarterback for the team, after starting for parts of the last 16 seasons with the Giants.
Manning, a two-time Super Bowl MVP says that while he is disappointed by the decision, he says that it is not the last time Giants fans will see him.
“I’m not dying and the season's not over, so there's a lot to be positive about, a lot to be grateful for and so I just must accept my new role and make the best of it,” Manning says.
The 38-year-old Manning says that when the Giants drafted his successor sixth overall, he knew that this day would eventually come to pass.
“Right now, my future is, ‘Hey, I’m the second-string quarterback for the Giants and I’ve got to get myself ready to play and do whatever I’m called upon and need to do the help the rest of my teammates,’” Manning says.
The decision comes on the heels of two losses for the team in the first two weeks of the season. Manning threw for more than 550 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Giants Head Coach Pat Shurmur says that it was time for a change.
“I certainly made the decision and had the conversation with all the parties involved and at some point, they said ‘Are you sure?’ and I said, ‘Yea I’m sure.’ I think it's safe to say that in our minds he's checked off all the boxes and everything that we’ve asked him to do,” Shurmur says.
Jones says Manning has been nothing but supportive of him since he arrived. He says that the support gives him confidence as he prepares to make his first regular-season start.
“I feel good about how far I’ve come and my preparation and my progress since I got here in the spring and through camp and these first couple weeks,” Jones says. “We'll try to make it the best week we can and I’ll do all I can to be as possible.”
Jones will start this Sunday when the Giants play The Tampa Bay Buccaneers.