Peyton Manning preaches the gospel of preparation during lockdowns

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Peyton Manning was busy recovering from neck surgery in 2011, but he saw the work his brother Eli Manning put in during the lockout.

And he also saw what that work led to, so he’s spreading the word.

Peyton Manning told Peter King of NBC’s Football Morning in America that the topic came up during a Zoom meeting with investment bankers, and Eli Manning detailed the work he did to get players together when they couldn’t go to team facilities or talk to coaches. Eli gathered scripts and plans, and then went through detailed work with his teammates.

“Eli talked about organizing their own workouts and taking some ownership,” Peyton said. “Eli got practice scripts, like blitz walk-through drawings, diagrams, he got practice jerseys, he organized workouts at a high school. He was kind of the head coach/coordinator and they were doing full routes and doing 7-on-7 and blitzes at practice. He was really thorough.”

Of course, that season ended with the Giants beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl, making it an easy object lesson. And it’s one Peyton has been preaching with other teams.

“So I’ve done a few Zoom calls. I did the Buffalo Bills quarterback room meeting. Did the Los Angeles Rams full team meeting. Did the Bears quarterbacks,” Peyton said. “That was kinda my message, sort of, you know, follow Eli’s lead. Quarterbacks, take ownership. All these Zoom meetings, right now, the coaches are leading them. My message was to the quarterbacks. ‘Hey, organize your own Zoom meetings without the coaches, just get you and the tight ends, you and the receivers.’ It’s actually an opportunity to even have better communication. Because there’s nothing else to do, right? Hey, every Tuesday, 9 a.m., quarterbacks and the offensive line, Zoom, watching film. Instead of complaining about it, see it as an opportunity to really improve. There’s no reason you shouldn’t have every play from last year studied down to the T.

“I shared how I broke down film from the previous season. I always watched the interception tape first. Then the sack tape. All the bad things. You figure out why you’re throwing these interceptions. What drill do I need to incorporate into the offseason to fix that? Sean McVay said after I talked, he got a text from Jared Goff and from Jalen Ramsey. He said they’re going to organize their own meetings and workouts. To me, that’s what you have to do. The coaches shouldn’t lead everything. Josh Allen seemed real excited about that.

“I think the team that wins it all this year is gonna be the team that’s really getting an edge during this time — kind of like the Giants in 2011.”

We’ll see if that comes to pass, but when Manning Brothers talk about the steps needed to succeed, young quarterbacks would be wise to listen, and to put them into play.