newjerseynewsroom.com

Apparently, a stomach virus is no more bothersome to Eli Manning than opposing defenses.

The Giants’ quarterback shrugged off the illness that kept him from completing Wednesday’s workout with the team and returned to the practice field on Thursday morning to resume preparation for Sunday’s NFC Championship Game in San Francisco against the 49ers.

Teammates never doubted their QB’s quick return from what head coach Tom Coughlin called “a stomach bug.”

"Are you kidding me?” defensive lineman Dave Tollefson said on Wednesday, as reported by ESPN New York. “He's Eli Manning. They probably have some kind of special virus-killing medicine that only Eli Manning can use. I'd be out for two weeks; he'll be good [Thursday]."

The virus caused Manning to be placed on New York's injury report as a limited participant for the first time this season.

The team announced that Manning “will return to Giants practice” early Thursday on Twitter. Sure enough, he was back on the practice field throwing passes, looking quite healthy.

"If there is one guy who can miss a practice mentally, it's No. 10," offensive guard Chris Snee said Wednesday, as was reported on NFL.com. "He was probably in here on Monday and Tuesday looking at film."

Giants tight end Jake Ballard said Manning was in obvious discomfort on Wednesday.

"He usually toughs things out like that,” Ballard told the San Francisco Chronicle. “You could tell he was dragging, and you don't like to see your Pro Bowl quarterback throwing up or feeling like that.”

Manning amassed for 4,933 passing yards good for 29 touchdowns during the regular season, and has completed nearly 68 percent of his passes in the playoffs for 607 yards, six TDs and one interception. The 31-year-old is the one player the Giants can least afford to miss.

"I'm actually going to bring him some soup tomorrow," the Chronicle quoted Snee as saying. "I'll do whatever it takes to make sure he is at full strength."

—JOE GREENE, NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM