Peyton Manning is trying to prove to the National Football League world that after four neck surgeries he still has what it takes. Manning is slowly making progress towards that goal. Since singing on March 20th with the Denver Broncos, Manning has been working out with the Broncos wide receivers.
Broncos wide receiver Eric Decker went on ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd show and this to say about the workouts with Manning.
“The guy’s still throwing the ball a long time, throwing it great, hitting you in the right spot,” Decker said. “He’s such a perfectionist. If he hits you in the belly button, he gets mad at himself for not hitting you in the chest. It’s unbelievable to be around a guy who has those standards for himself.”
It looks like Manning will make it to Broncos training camp as several different people have stated that Manning throwing looks good. However, that isn’t Manning’s biggest obstacle to returning to the field full time.
His biggest obstacle will be is his neck holding up to a clean hard blind side hit.
Bounty Gate has revealed that defenders target other player injuries, especially quarterbacks. So, you can expect defenders to test Manning’s neck by hitting him from behind with a clean form tackle as a side effect of this type of hit is the neck snapping back violently.
Even if Manning’s neck holds up to these hits there will always be lingering questions as the quarterback turned 36 next month and, as it was proven with future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, the older you get the more susceptible a player is to injury.