Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has been relatively quiet this offseason, but when he spoke at an event in Denver this morning, he said his focus is putting the Broncos’ ugly performance in the Super Bowl behind him.
“You have to move forward. You have to kind of reestablish your identity as the 2014 team; 2013 was a good season in a lot of ways, there’s no question,” Manning told USA Today. “It did not end the way we wanted it to, but we have to build off that and try to take it a step further, try to finish. There’s no question, we kind of have to start over and reestablish the chemistry on this team with all the new players. That’s important, and that really starts on Monday.”
Part of moving forward is a roster shakeup that has seen several veterans leave.
“We lost some great players and some great friends,” Manning said. “It’s been a real pleasure to play the last two years with Champ [Bailey] and Knowshon [Moreno], Eric [Decker], Wesley Woodyard, Chris Kuper retiring, Zane Beadles has been great. . . . That’s the worst part about football, when you form some friendships with these guys and really put a lot of hard work in, and just the business side comes into play.”
The good news for Manning is that the free agents who arrived, including defensive end DeMarcus Ware, cornerback Aqib Talib, safety T.J. Ward and receiver Emmanuel Sanders, give the Broncos a good chance of getting back to the Super Bowl. And playing better than they did two months ago.