Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Peyton Manning Sheds Light on his Offseason Contact with Broncos' QB Drew Lock
We learned from Drew Lock at the end of the Denver Broncos' 2019 season that he planned to importune Peyton Manning for any advice, any tips on how to best attack the offseason. Heading into his second year in the league, Lock has real momentum after starting the final five games of last season and leading the Broncos to a 4-1 finish.
Since then, it's been kind of quiet on the western front, as it relates to Lock's offseason, although we knew he was going to be vacationing with family in Florida. On Friday morning, however, we got an update on Lock and it came from none other than Manning himself.
In an interview on 104.3 the FAN's morning show, Manning joined radio host and former teammate Brandon Stokley to reflect on the retirement of his brother, Eli Manning. Eventually, the conversation turned to Lock.
"Drew and I have talked," Manning told Stokley and his co-host Zach Bye. "He was kind of asking for my thoughts on the offseason, kind of how I went about my offseason training and when do you start throwing and weight-lifting and all that, and so I sort put my thoughts together. We were kind of set to talk this week but he had his wisdom teeth taken out, so it kind of delayed that, so I don't know if that's breaking news that he had his wisdom teeth taken out, but there you have it. Don't say I didn't give you any scoops. I think hopefully by today he'll be recovered and we can have that conversation."
It's kind of unique that Manning just revealed that Lock is recovering from a medical procedure on Denver radio. That's a good indication of the relationship budding between the two.
For anyone who's been down that road, you know that getting your wisdom teeth taken out, depending on the person and the severity of the procedure, can put you on your back for many days. Speaking for myself, I had my wisdom teeth taken out at 20 years old and I was down for the count for three days.
Hopefully, as Peyton said, Lock will be soon recovered and back to being himself. But if you're going to get the procedure done, Lock obviously chose the best possible time on the NFL calendar to do so.
Manning has maintained his residence in Denver since hanging up his cleats as a World Champion in 2016. Although he hasn't been involved with the Broncos on any sort of daily basis, he's made himself available if and when the team has reached out.
The same can be said for the young Lock, whom Peyton has history with dating back to the former's time at the Manning Passing Academy. Now that both Peyton and Lock share the Broncos as an additional commonality, on top of their QB brotherhood, the 5-time NFL MVP has expressed his willingness to help the young signal-caller out any way that he can.
"But yeah, like I said, knowing Drew from our football camp that you referenced earlier, there's always kind of been a fraternity there of keeping up with those quarterbacks," Manning said. "Whether they go play for other teams or go into business, there's sort of a fraternity there. So I've enjoyed keeping up with Drew since he's been here and try to be there as a resource. Certainly, he's got great coaches and people in his ear over there at the Broncos but I try to be there like I would for any quarterback that has a question. If I can help him, I'm certainly happy to try."
If you're Drew Lock, it's got to be pretty cool and surreal to know that Peyton Manning has, in essence, put himself on standby to help out. Heck, Manning's even breaking medical news as it relates to Lock, which speaks to his comfortability with Drew.
It'll be interesting to see where the Manning/Lock mentorship goes and what type of fruit it might bear. But as we know, anything Manning has a hand in typically doesn't turn out bad. Quite the contrary.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
