Tony Dungy says Peyton Manning was worried about bugged Patriots’ locker rooms

Dungy didn’t know whether the rumors were true, but Manning acted out of caution after talking with former Patriots players.

Was Manning being paranoid?

Former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy confirmed Thursday that Peyton Manning would take that to a different level whenever the quarterback would visit the New England Patriots as a member of the Colts.

As Dungy continued, he downplayed the cheating allegations and acknowledged that it mostly amounted to off-field distractions.

“Peyton takes everything to the nth degree”, Dungy said, via Smith.

“He’s my friend, he’ll always be my friend”, Manning said.

At Denver Broncos training camp in Englewood, Colorado, Manning was asked about whether he thought the Patriots listened in on opponents in Foxborough and had a lighthearted response. “And I think a lot of that is psychological warfare”.

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According to Dungy, Manning would leave the visitors’ locker room and go into an adjacent hallway when he wanted to discuss specific plays because he feared the room was bugged. “There’s that kind of thing everywhere”.

Manning may not have been that crazy to suggest the Patriots were eavesdropping back back in 2010 as it was just a few years removed from the “Spygate” scandal. “Most people do”, he said.

At this point, maybe the Patriots should just embrace the bad guy role. And he’s not saying he thinks they were snooping.

The vistor’s locker room is not only bugged, it’s got more hidden cameras than a Vegas casino and Jared Fogle’s house combined.

Manning eventually figured it out and played well against the Patriots from about 2005 on, but it’s clear now that he sees ghosts when he travels to Foxboro.

Dungy reiterated he wasn’t sure whether the Patriots were using any behind-the-scenes tactics to gain an advantage.