Peyton Manning won’t play Sunday vs. Bears
“I feel like I need to make this decision, and I felt like with my conversations with him that I have no doubt that it’s the best decision to moving forward”.
Osweiler finished 14-of-24 for 146 yards to go with a touchdown and an interception in relief of Manning in Sunday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
This can be explained in part by the injuries, including the torn plantar fascia in his foot.
“I hate football”, he muttered leaning back in his chair. “Hopefully I can use it my advantage”. Fox was the Broncos’ head coach from 2011-14. He’s a fourth-year pro from Arizona State whom GM John Elway selected in the second round of the 2012 draft with the explicit intention of serving as Manning’s protege and eventual successor.
Manning won’t even dress for the matchup in Chicago, and Trevor Siemian will be Denver’s backup.
Kubiak was asked how Manning reacted to being benched and according to the Broncos coach, the veteran quarterback wasn’t happy. “I think that he’ll do a tremendous job leading this team, being a leader and taking over until Peyton is able to come back”. “I think he understands the position that I’m in, and I sure as hell understand the type of person that he is and the player he is”. And let’s not pretend it was Manning winning games for the Broncos this year.
The Broncos are in a unique situation with Peyton Manning. For a big man he’s got good quickness, good athleticism. “Like I said, they know exactly where we stand and where we’re headed”.
Now, this does not mean that I’m already looking past the Broncos’ 2015 campaign; Denver is 7-2, they’ll be in the playoffs and I still have every hope that they can muster together one last Super Bowl run.
Manning completed three passes to Broncos players past the line of scrimmage.
Manning had tried to play against the Chiefs despite the fact that he had injuries to his foot, rib cage and shoulder going into the game.
Manning’s injuries were so bad that Kubiak said he probably shouldn’t have started Manning in the first place. “It’s something that I wanted to get done [Monday] because I wanted the team to know our direction”.
This comes after the quarterback had one of the worst games of his career at Sports Authority Field on Sunday against the Chiefs. “He went in there and played with a lot of confidence the other night”. It’s obviously, you look back on it now, I have a hard time saying that’s why I played, you know, badly. Could that be the reason?
I’m not talking about Manning’s legendary career as a quarterback here, though I guess that might come in handy at a few point. “I was going in there trying to help the team, I ended up hurting the team”.
What an indignity. But now with the “injury”, the Broncos can hand the reigns to Osweiler against the Bears and delay the inevitable another week.
Kubiak and Manning will reconvene next week to see if rest and medical treatment allow Manning to practice ahead of Denver’s Week 12 showdown with the undefeated New England Patriots. Osweiler relieved him and drove Denver to two late touchdowns.
However, at the end of a day where he watched one son get benched and the other lose on a controversial call, Manning’s tune had changed just a little.