Brock Osweiler says Peyton Manning played a big role in helping the Denver Broncos defeat the New England Patriots Sunday night.
After leading his team to its biggest win of the season, Osweiler told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio that Manning was responsible for several key adjustments the Broncos made at halftime.
“Peyton was fantastic at halftime. He came up to me and — you know Peyton — of course, he had a list of things ready to talk about that he saw out there,” Osweiler said, per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “I’m not going to go into specifics, but he certainly did help me, and he helped this football team get a win today.”
Osweiler was more than likely responding to rumors that Manning has not been involved in helping the 25-year-old quarterback prepare. We should note that the Broncos really didn’t get things going until well into the second half when New England muffed a punt, but it sounds like Manning played at least some role in the comeback.
Of course, Osweiler was asked if he believes he has played well enough to remain the team’s starter for the rest of the season.
“I’m not sure about that,” he said. “The one thing I do know, though, this football team got a tremendous win tonight against a great opponent, in front of the best fans in the world, and I’m just going to enjoy this win tonight.”
Some of the reports we have heard about Manning over the past several days say it all. Even if the future Hall of Famer gets healthy, there’s no guarantee he is getting his job back. In the meantime, the best thing he can do from a PR standpoint is to not come across like Brett Favre came across when the Aaron Rodgers era began.
