Eli told Rashad Jennings not to score on final drive
There's a media firestorm brewing in New York after the Giants collapsed to lose in the final seconds to the Cowboys, thanks in part to some questionable clock management and decision making. Comments made after the game by running back Rashad Jennings added fuel to the fire.
"On the first-down play, I was told, 'Rashad, don't score,'" Jennings told Dan Grazziano of ESPN NFL Nation. "On second down, 'Rashad, don't score.' I was tempted to say, 'Forget it,' and go score because I could. But I didn't want to be that guy. But definitely, I was asked not to score."
On Monday, quarterback Eli Manning owned up to the mistake. It was he who told Jennings to go down before scoring, in part because he didn't realize how many timeouts the Cowboys still had.
"I thought they had one timeout left and they might let us score to get the ball back," Manning said on a conference call Monday. "So I told Rashad, 'Go down at the 1-inch line and don't score.'
"This did not come from the sideline. It was me, and I was wrong. I cannot be the one in that situation to inform a back. That's not my decision, in that scenario. I made a mistake."
Manning's late game errors are sure to be a talking point among the New York media for the remainder of the week leading up to a Week 2 showdown in the home opener against the Atlanta Falcons. Manning, Jennings and the entire team will need to put this mishap behind them.
(h/t ESPN)
