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Broncos Plan to Preserve Peyton Manning with More Brock Osweiler

In order to keep 39-year-old Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning in top condition in 2015, the team reportedly plans to phase in backup quarterback Brock Osweiler to relieve the pressure on Manning.

New head coach Gary Kubiak reported at the NFL Annual Meeting that he has talked with Manning about decreasing his reps over the preseason practices and during training camp (via the Denver Post).

I want to do what’s best for him. I went through the same process with John (Elway) late in his career, and it was a battle for me and Mike (Shanahan) to do some things with him.

If he is able to start 10 games this season, Manning would become only the fifth quarterback in NFL history to have accomplished this milestone at 39-plus years old.

In addition to mixing in a dose of Osweiler, it would appear that Kubiak plans to run the ball more in 2015, which will reduce the load that Manning carries on his shoulders.

I’m the one who has to adjust and find out how I’m going to mesh everything together. We are going to run his offense and do what he does best, but it’s going to be the Broncos’ offense.

Obviously, I love to run the ball, and I love the play pass. I love to do those things, so there is going to be a commitment there, but there is 17 years of investment in what he’s done better than anybody, and we’re not going to run away from that.

This all may be a hard pill for Manning to swallow considering he is used to monopolizing all of the starting reps. For 2015, the Broncos will have to juggle keeping Manning playing enough to advance the team towards playoffs, yet not sacrificing him to wear and tear that comes with aging.

As for Osweiler, who has only completed 17 passes for 159 yards and one touchdown during three seasons for the Broncos, he is going to need to share in Manning’s first-team reps over the next few months in order to prove to the Broncos that he can be the quarterback of the future when Manning retires, whenever that might be.

Photo: USA Today

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