"It was more a challenge than a reminder when general manager Jerry Reese said this offseason that Eli Manning is "not a veteran any more, he's a Pro Bowler -- we'll put some of this on his back." With so much talk about the tall and talented receivers the Giants lost, Reese wanted everyone to consider the great asset he believes Manning can and must be.
"We're going to put more of the onus on him," Reese said.
And how did Manning respond?
"I think you got a quarterback going into his sixth year and . . . some young receivers," Manning told The Post yesterday. "It's my job to make sure those guys are on the same page and my job to be a leader and take control of the offense and the passing game.
"As a quarterback you're always going to be a leader, but now I'm one of the older guys on the offense."
Manning was speaking over the phone from Memphis, where he was accompanied by two of his younger teammates, receiver Domenik Hixon and safety Kenny Phillips, to film a Reebok commercial.
Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer are gone, and the replacements as starters are Hixon and Steve Smith, with Sinorice Moss, Mario Manningham and rookies Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden comprising a glaringly unproven receiver corps.
Enter Manning, who says he is embracing Reese's plea to pick up all aspects of his game.
"It doesn't put me in an awkward situation by any means," Manning said. "When you lose some veteran guys, Plaxico and Amani, guys who've been around, now it's a younger receiver corps there's more put on the quarterback. You got to make your players better.""
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