EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- It was all a big joke to New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, the idea that he'd shown up on Wednesday's injury report. He talked about how the coaches came to him and told him they had to list him because external suspicions had been aroused. He even asked the reporters at his locker which body part the team had picked to list as injured, then nodded and said, "generic enough" when told it was his back.

Point was, Manning is playing Sunday, as he always does. This is a guy who had ankle surgery in the spring and practiced three weeks later. He'll make his 165th consecutive start at quarterback for the Giants, and yeah, his back or his leg or his arm might not feel as great as he'd like it to feel, but that doesn't matter. What matters to Manning is that he plays.

Eli Manning certainly gets his share of criticism, but there's no denying his toughness. AP Photo/Julio Cortez

"I want to be there for my teammates," Manning said when asked about his streak Wednesday. "I want to be there for the organization. We have a lot of guys who are banged-up and hurting, they're out there practicing, they're playing on Sundays, and I want to do the same for them. Always."

That's the Eli Manning mantra. And as another playoff-free Giants season unravels into irrelevance and discussions about Manning's performance and his future, it's important to step back and understand the value inherent in the fact that, for the past 10 years, the Giants haven't had to worry or wonder about who their quarterback was going to be on a given week.

"We've been able to, for a number of years, have a starter that's been in his position no matter what, game in and game out," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "No question, that's a solid, solid plus to be able to do that."

That's understating the case. Look around the league at the stunning number of teams who can't do that. The Washington team the Giants are playing this week has no idea who its quarterback should be this week, next week or next year. Coach Jay Gruden called his situation a "merry-go-round" Wednesday, and you can hear the weariness in a coach's voice when the topic is quarterback and he doesn't have an answer.

But Gruden isn't alone. A quick look at the standings reveals 11 teams that have immediate-future question marks at quarterback. Some of those teams, such as the Eagles, Texans and Cardinals, are playoff contenders in spite of the fact. Philadelphia could win this year's Super Bowl and still head into next year with uncertainty at quarterback, and if you don't think that eats at even the bright and ultra-confident Chip Kelly a bit, then you're kidding yourself.

"Eli is the kind of guy, he might not get the attention he deserves for his physicality because of his demeanor or his approach to the game, but he's one of the toughest quarterbacks I've been around," Giants running back Rashad Jennings said. "Nobody takes him for granted. As a player and as a human being, sometimes you don't recognize what you'll miss until it's not there. But we understand how important he is to this team, and he's a guy you want to play for."

The warts are all there, and they're undeniable. Manning will drive you absolutely bonkers with a poorly timed bad decision that results in an interception. Eli is not his brother, and he's the first to admit it. Does he belong in the conversation for best quarterback in the league along with Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, etc.? Of course not -- not even with double the Super Bowl titles of three of those guys.

But my goodness, Giants fans, could you do worse. And the exceedingly rare occasion of Manning's presence on the injury report serves to remind just how valuable it is for a team to know it has a quarterback on whom it can rely. Every week. No matter what.