Some guys travel the NFL wilderness, hoping to play long enough to be on a team that includes a Hall of Fame quarterback. That is, and always will be, the best way to get to a Super Bowl.
Consider that Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey, now in his 14th season, said, “I’ve waited a long time to play with a guy like Peyton,” when the Broncos signed Manning this offseason.
And then there’s a guy like Tracy Porter.
Porter was another of the Broncos’ acquisitions in free agency this past offseason. He heads into his fifth year in the league preparing to practice daily against a second quarterback headed to Canton, Ohio, when those passers’ careers are over.
First, it was Drew Brees in New Orleans. Now, it’s Manning in Denver.
While that can bring some short-term pain in practice if a defensive player is not ready for what’s to come, there is certainly plenty of long-term gain.
“It forces you to really practice, to lock in … You don’t want to go out to practice and have these guys see you out of position, because these guys see things before they happen, they’re Hall of Fame quarterbacks,” Porter said. “Going against two Hall of Fame quarterbacks, having him on your team, going against them, that’s somebody everybody would dream for who plays this game.”
So, when the Broncos formally open their on-field work in this training camp Thursday morning, one of the first benefits the team will see from having Manning on the roster will not only be what he can do for the team’s offense, but also his ability to test the its defense daily.
And to be that rare kind of resource for not only the other quarterbacks, but also the players who have to defend quarterbacks.
“If he’s in practice, picking a defense apart, you’d be less of a professional if you don’t go to him and ask him what he’s seeing, what he’s reading defensively,” Porter said. “… If he makes a play, if he sees something, that we’re out of position with our defense, we have to be professionals and go to him and ask him.
“You have to get yourself into the minds of these Hall of Fame quarterbacks.”
How Manning’s chemistry with the team’s wideouts develops, and how he looks throwing the ball will be two of the items under the public microscope as the Broncos go through camp and the preseason. But it is this day-to-day battle with the team’s defense that is also part of what John Elway was talking about when he said Manning’s signing would “raise all boats.”
Unlike the regular season — when the Broncos starting defense will spend much of its time facing an offensive scout team running the opposition’s plays — training camp is a time when the Broncos’ starting defense will often face the starting offense in a variety of situations.
These situations will include the two-minute drills and red-zone possessions.
“And if the offense can make those difficult on you, really stretch you and force you to do everything right that’s only going to help you,” Bailey said. “You know with Peyton’s preparation, he’s going to be ready every single day, every single play. So you have to be ready to. And if you’re not, he’s going to make you pay for every little mistake. You’re not going to make a mistake and he misses it and has to come back to it later if you make it again.
“If you make a mistake, he’s going to see it, find it and throw the ball into it. That makes everyone better. And you know the guy you face on Sunday won’t be better than the guy you saw every day out here in camp.”
Jeff Legwold: jlegwold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jeff_legwold
