Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said that through the first four games of the 2012 season, he hasn’t seen any issues with Peyton Manning’s arm strength. Patricia, speaking on a conference call with reporters Tuesday afternoon, indicated that Manning, in his first season with the Broncos, is “throwing the ball extremely well” after spending a year on the shelf because of neck problems.
“I just see a guy who is making extremely good decisions and is doing a great job of getting the ball to the receivers that are open,” Patricia said of Manning, who will lead the Broncos into Gillette for a game against the Patriots on Sunday afternoon. “I haven’t seen any issues with that whatsoever. He looks like he’s throwing the ball extremely well, extremely confident and getting it into some really tight locations and I just think it’s building every week. I think he’s just doing a tremendous job out there.”
According to Patricia, Manning -- who has eight touchdown passes and 1,162 yards through four games with the Broncos -- will present the usual series of challenges this weekend for the Patriots defense.
“I think that anytime you’re trying to play Peyton Manning, you’re always trying to figure out what the best thing to do is and how to go up and challenge it and figure out how to beat him,” Patricia said. “He’s an extremely smart and intelligent football player. He has a good idea of what you’re trying to do at all times, which certainly makes it challenging.
“He is obviously a tremendous player and is really driving that offense right now and doing all of the things that he does that make him Peyton Manning. He's certainly a very difficult and challenging quarterback to face, and one that really seems like he has a good rhythm going.”
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