Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning only threw seven passes in Thursday night’s preseason debut against the Bears, but those were seven more passes than he had thrown in live game action in the last year and a half, and Manning was pleased with the experience.
“Obviously it’s good to go against a different opponent and good to get out -- it’s been a while for me, getting back out there on the field in a real game-like atmosphere, even though it’s preseason,” Manning said afterward. “So it felt good to get out there and we can build on this.”
Manning connected with receiver Eric Decker on a couple of good passes that picked up first downs on Denver’s opening drive, but he also just missed Demaryius Thomas in the end zone, and he threw the ball behind Brandon Stokley on the interception that ended his only series of the game.
“I thought we had some rhythm on offense, things we can build on and things we can improve on for sure,” Manning said. “Overall, I thought it was a decent start.”
Manning will never be satisfied with just “decent,” but in his first game since missing an entire year and having multiple neck surgeries, he looked more or less like the Peyton Manning we’ve all become accustomed to seeing through the years -- just in a different uniform.
