Eli tells Giants to focus on business

Eli Manning spoke to the Giants Tuesday not as their quarterback but as their CEO. His message: We're going to Indianapolis to take care of business.

Manning set the early tone for the two-week buildup toward Super Bowl XLVI and the rematch with the Patriots on Feb. 5. In a rare address to the entire team, he emphasized the importance of focusing on football and not getting caught up in the hoopla around the big game.

"It was a message for the whole team," safety Antrel Rolle said. "It was a broad message that needed to be said. It was a message that was heard loud and clear by everyone. Basically this is about business. Let's go take care of it, let's go get it done, whatever it costs."

Naturally, Manning downplayed his remarks.

"I was just telling them a little bit how to prepare for this," he said. "Just a few things on the mind-set of this week. We've got to have great preparation. Prepare this week like you're playing the game this week, because once you get out to Indianapolis, you've got to take a bus ride to practice and the whole schedule gets thrown off.

" . . . Everything that we normally have to do during a normal work week, we're going to try to get it done this week."

It sounded much better, much more riveting and inspirational when Rolle relayed the message. Rolle made it seem like a Knute Rockne rallying call, and Manning made it seem like a Newt Gingrich budget speech. Behind the closed doors of the Timex Performance Center, Manning probably delivered the message with more oomph than he did when asked about it by the media.

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Manning isn't often cited as a vocal leader, but he has on occasion stood in front of the team and addressed it. He's almost certainly done so in between, but the last time it became public knowledge that he had was in December 2010 after the Giants collapsed against the Eagles. He tried to bring the team back together, reminding players they still had a chance to make the playoffs, but they were still shell-shocked the next game when they lost to the Packers, 45-17.

Rolle said this recent message was "very, very needed. Even for players like myself who have been to a Super Bowl, it's still great to hear someone speak with that kind of leadership.

"You know that Eli doesn't say much. When he says it, he means it, and you know it's coming from the heart. It's about business. That's what the message was about. We're going out there to take care of business. Everything else is for the spectators, everything else is for your family and for your friends. We're going out there to handle business."

Manning said the Giants hope to have 95 percent of their game plan installed before they get on the plane for Indianapolis.

"That's a big help," he said. "That's the way you want to do it. Just so everybody knows the game plan and everybody has two weeks to look at it, understand it. Once you get out there, everybody will feel good about what we're doing."

Of course, even Manning found some time to enjoy himself with a few one-liners. He even took some delight in zinging reporters for making a big deal about his "elite" comments at the beginning of the season.

"I'm worried about getting ready to play this game and going out there and playing my best football and get the team to play our best football," he told the media. "That's my job. My job is to play the game. It's your job to talk and make up stories."

Apparently, we all have our business to tend to in the Super Bowl.