Tom Brady is not jumping off the Arch Manning bandwagon after one rough start.
Brady appeared on the “Pro Football Focus” podcast over the weekend and was asked by host Cris Collinsworth what he thought of Manning’s performance in the Texas Longhorns’ loss at Ohio State. Brady made clear that there was plenty to work on, but that Manning could use it as a learning experience.
“A lot of these guys are so young, and with social media and Twitter and Instagram, you can make someone look so great and you can tear them down so quick,” Brady said. “Before, it used to be you’d have to wait until the paper comes out the next day to make a real evaluation. In the digital era, it happens in five seconds.
“I think there’s a blessing and a curse in some of it. The curse is a lot of people pile on. The blessing is, there needs to be resilience built up in a quarterback as well. Even though he didn’t have his best game today and they lost, if he uses this to his advantage, he’s going to be tougher for it, and he’s going to have a better next game because of it.”
Brady is certainly right that people piled on quickly when Manning came out and struggled in Columbus. The Texas sophomore wound up going 17/30 for 170 yards in the loss, throwing one touchdown and one interception. Accuracy issues plagued him throughout the afternoon.
Manning was a much-hyped prospect coming into the season, but is quickly being confronted with his first real test. How he deals with that will determine whether he meets expectations, which is largely what Nick Saban said about him as well.
Texas hosts San Jose State on Saturday in what should be a game for Manning to get back on track. His next real test will likely come Oct. 4, when the Longhorns face Florida on the road.
