Eli Manning to miss all of Giants “spring ball”

Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

As announced by Jerry Reese during his pre-draft press conference this afternoon, the Giants will shut down Eli Manning until the start of training camp. Manning has already escaped the confines of his walking boot (ankle surgery April 10th), but Reese and Co. will take the cautious approach with their 33-year old signal caller and face of the franchise– no participation in spring activities.

"“We will not rush him back. We want him for the summer — that’s most important to us.”"

With Curtis Painter out for upwards of a month following arthroscopic knee surgery, newly acquired Josh Freeman and second-year gunner Ryan Nassib will be given every opportunity to impress until summer rolls in. On the subject of Nassib, Reese had this to say regarding the Syracuse product: “We’ll take a real good look at him. He didn’t have the chance to play. He’ll get a lot of work this spring.”

Nassib completed just 7/19 passes in the 2013 preseason and was sacked five times. Scouts rave about his raw talent and intelligence (41 Wonderlic), but he needs to process on-field information more efficiently. That aspect can’t flourish without experience.

The 29-minute presser was aired live on Giants.com. Click here to watch in full.