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Peyton Manning ready for next test with Broncos

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All signs are that Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is ready for full contact. Which he’ll get Thursday night during the team’s exhibition opener against the Chicago Bears.

During a scrimmage Saturday at training camp in Englewood, Colo., the future Hall of Famer, who was off limits to contact, had two quick three-and-out possessions before leading the Broncos’ first-team offense to a score against the second-team defense.

On the final play of the scrimmage, Manning connected with receiver Eric Decker for a nine-yard touchdown that ignited a loud ovation from the 41,304 fans in attendance. Yes, more than 41,000 fans, or nearly twice the previous record number (20,782) that came two years ago to see Tim Tebow.

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Manning, who didn’t play last season while trying to recover from neck surgery for a nerve injury, wasn’t too sharp during the scrimmage, as he had been during seven-on-seven drills when he hit Andre Caldwell on an 80-yard scoring play.

The one-time Super Bowl winner does appear to have full arm strength, though, and is ready to continue seeking improvement before playing the Bears.
“I know players were pumped; they were kind of feeding off the energy of the fans and everybody was into it,” Manning said of the scrimmage. “It will be a good film to learn from on Monday once we study. I thought there were some good things, and some things we need to work on, obviously, but overall, it was a productive day, in my opinion.”

Manning was his usual self in the huddle. When the coaches couldn’t relay a play to him after the headphones went down, his play-calling led to a touchdown.

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“Instead of burning a timeout, [offensive coordinator Mike] McCoy told me, ‘If the phones go down, just call something that you like,’ ” Manning said. It happened to be the scoring play to Decker.

“I thought Decker’s back-shoulder touchdown catch was awesome,” Manning said. “It was excellent coverage by [Drayton] Florence, but Decker did a good job holding his eyes until the last minute. The back shoulder fade is a hard route to cover, and that’s something he and I have been working on, so it was good to get that into play today.”

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