New York Giants' Steve Spagnuolo: Eli Manning will start, then wait and see

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- As they did every season since 2005, the New York Giants began the year with Eli Manning as their starting quarterback and planned to end it with him at the helm of the offense.

So said interim head coach Steve Spagnuolo, who since taking over for Ben McAdoo earlier in the month, tried to walk a fine line between getting rookie Davis Webb some meaningful snaps and winning games.

It's a balance Spagnuolo admitted has been difficult.

"Eli will start and then we'll probably take it bit-by-bit, we'll just take it and see how it goes," he said after the Giants lost to the Cardinals 23-0.

Spagnuolo has relied heavily on offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan and quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti for their input regarding Webb's progress. Last week, the coaches gave Webb 12 snaps spread over two days in which the rookie got to work with the first-team offense against the first-team defense.

That work hasn't been enough to convince the coaching staff to give him a uniform on Sundays. The Giants' third-round draft pick was inactive for all 15 games so far, and early indications seem to point to that continuing to be the case next week when the Giants wrap up their 2017 regular-season campaign at home against Washington.

"We decided to try and keep winning the football game," Spagnuolo said. "I think we've got to be smart. I get the question, I get it. Trying to be smart about a lot of things but first and foremost is going to be try and win the football game."