Football
Associated Press 19y

Manning, encouraged by elbow progress, aims to play in opener

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Giants quarterback Eli Manning said
he experienced no soreness in his sprained elbow Monday, a day
after throwing the ball for the first time since he was injured 10
days ago.

Manning reiterated his plans to be in the starting lineup for
the Giants' opener Sept. 11 against Arizona. He said he will miss
the Giants' final preseason game Thursday at New England, but hopes
to resume full practicing by next Monday.

"That's what I'm shooting for," he said. "My mind-set is that
when we start game-planning for Arizona in the first game, I'm
going to be there taking all the snaps and not having to worry
about any arm issues."

Manning threw 21 passes during Sunday's practice, the longest of
which went 20 yards, and said he awakened with no soreness on
Monday. At practice Monday, he threw about three dozen passes to
wide receiver Mark Jones and stretched the distance to 30 yards on
10 of them.

"He threw for greater distance and felt good about that,"
coach Tom Coughlin said. "He also threw a few more passes than
yesterday and didn't have any discomfort this morning at all, which
is a good sign."

Manning said he still isn't throwing at 100 percent velocity.

"I'm not trying to put anything extra on it, but I'm not
floating them either," he said. "It's a normal pass. It feels
good. I'm going to see how it feels the rest of the week. I think
it's healing well."

The injury occurred in the second quarter of the Giants' 27-21
win against Carolina on Aug. 20, when defensive end Julius Peppers
knocked the ball out of Manning's hand and returned the fumble for
a touchdown. Manning threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer
on the next series, but said he knew something was wrong on the
sideline between the plays.

In his absence, the Giants have scored one touchdown in six
quarters, a 6-yard pass from backup quarterback Tim Hasselbeck to
Tim Carter against Carolina. The Jets doubled that total last
Friday night with two fumble recoveries for touchdowns, one
committed by Hasselbeck and one by fellow quarterback Jesse Palmer.

Manning left no doubt Monday he would not play against New
England.

"I'm not going to push for it," he said. "I haven't thrown
any routes in two weeks. I just have to get my arm back in shape
and try to get completely healthy before I go in and play."

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