Eli's Heel

We're going to hear more about Eli Manning's injured right heel in a few hours, probably from both the quarterback and Tom Coughlin. And we'll undoubtedly be writing about it the rest of the week because, well, a quarterback's foot is kind of important.

Actually, in my opinion, his feet are the most important parts of the body, especially for a quarterback who plays the style of football Manning plays. It may be true that he's not a running quarterback. But because of the way he buys himself time in the pocket -- stepping up, rolling away from pressure -- the condition of his feet become paramount. Even moreso than the shoulder, the joint that was painfully injured in 2007. Remember, he played through that all the way to a Super Bowl victory.

The heel? That could be something else. Take away his pocket mobility and you turn Manning into a statue. That means sacks and hurries. And those deep shots he loves to take quickly turn into dumpoffs because he won't have that solid base to throw off of.

Judging by how he reacted, it didn't look serious. But his post-game comments were disconcerting. He said it could be a strain and not a bruise. That would be rough. Bruises heal. Strains linger. Even though he would certainly try to play through a mild strain, it would become an issue for a good part of the season, always in danger of getting worse, never really healing until the offseason.

For now, Giants fans should just be thankful it wasn't a torn Achilles. That would have been disastrous. Whether they'll have to endure the rest of the season with a game, but damaged, quarterback, well, we'll just have to see. My guess is it isn't serious and that he'll continue a starting streak that has reached 82 games Sunday against Oakland. But you never really know with these things.

EP