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Should the New England Patriots give Peyton Manning a call? Boomer Esiason thinks so

Peyton Manning, right, talks to Tom Brady after the AFC championship game on Jan. 24.
(Ezra Shaw / Associated Press)
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The New England Patriots might have a tricky situation at quarterback the next couple weeks.

The legendary Peyton Manning just so happens to have a lot of time on his hands these days.

All of which led CBS football analyst Boomer Esiason to a simple conclusion: The Patriots need to give Manning a call.

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The Patriots obviously already have one future Hall of Fame quarterback on their roster in Tom Brady, but he’s still got two more games left in his Deflategate-related suspension. Backup Jimmy Garoppolo has played well in Brady’s absence, but he left Sunday’s 31-24 victory over Miami late in the first half with a hurt right shoulder.

Third-stringer Jacoby Brissett wasn’t asked to do much — the Patriots passed only nine times in 35 plays while he was in the game — but he didn’t mess anything up either. With Garoppolo’s status unknown and the Patriots playing again Thursday night against Houston, Brissett could get his first NFL start.

At this point, the rookie who was drafted in the third round by New England is the only quarterback available for the Patriots, who don’t even have one on their practice squad. Receiver Julian Edelman, who played quarterback at Kent State, would be the emergency backup.

Unless the Patriots bring someone else in, which is what led Esiason to bring up Manning.

Of course, Manning is one of the all-time greats. But he retired for a reason — after 17 NFL seasons, his arm strength just wasn’t there anymore.

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And we all know what Manning likes doing with his Sunday mornings these days. Pretty sure that robe doesn’t meet the NFL’s uniform standards.

charles.schilken@latimes.com

Twitter: @chewkiii

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