Demaryius Thomas felt his quarterback's disappointment every time he ran the wrong route in practice, learning this sobering truth along the way: There's nothing harder in football than earning Peyton Manning's trust.
Manning, half-man, half-computer, has set absurdly high standards for the people around him, a character trait that elevated the Broncos' collective IQ en route to Super Bowl XLVIII Sunday against the Seahawks.
He's demanding, but fair. So, when Thomas initially struggled with the transition from the Broncos' Tim Tebow-led read-option offense to Manning's graduate-level pass-happy schemes two years ago, the quarterback didn't chew him out. If Thomas ran a "go" route when the play called for a "comeback," Manning dropped subtle hints that he wasn't pleased.
"You had a comeback, right?" Manning would ask, hoping for the right answer from his receiver in the huddle.
"Yes," Thomas admitted.
It's the Manning way. Teach, don't scold.
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"He tries to beat around the bush," Thomas said. "So he'll ask a question, but he never really gets too mad at me. You've just got to know what you're doing on the field and not mess up."
Manning, who admittedly felt like a "outsider" in his own locker room last season, gave his new teammates a grace period, a window for the guys that they ultimately needed to understand how he operates.
He made a career in Indianapolis challenging teammates every week to be as precise as he was each day. The details mattered.
The Manning Way is an exact science. If you wanted to enter his circle of trust, everything had to be precise. You needed to see, feel and hear everything he did on a given play … or get unceremoniously pushed to the sideline.
"It took some time," Thomas said. "But we just kept working."
Thomas wasn't the only one who needed to earn Manning's trust for Denver to have any chance to win its first Super Bowl since John Elway was under center. Manning needed more help.
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He didn't have to ask for it. His resume was enough to prompt new teammates to morph into mini-Mannings, film junkies who called the Broncos' facility a second home.
Receivers who broke off a 15-yard route at 14 yards got failing grades. Running backs who didn't pick up a blind side corner blitz slipped on the depth chart. Manning made mental notes if anyone failed to grasp his last-second audible at the line of scrimmage. He needed to count on his guys without hesitation. He needed to have complete faith.
"You earn trust through experience and having success," wide receiver Eric Decker said. "For all of us skill players, we put a lot of work in these last two years — running extra routes, going over film, talking about adjustments being made throughout the game and then making plays for him on the field. That's how you earn trust."
Manning's physical ability and football acumen are only part of the reason why he's the best quarterback of this generation. His ability to improve teammates' work habits is just as critical.
"Watching film is different," Decker said. "I'm studying defenses differently. I'm doing stuff to prepare myself for practice and games differently because he knows the best way to do that."
Pleasing Peyton is extremely difficult. "He wants the game played perfectly," left tackle Chris Clark said.
Nobody understands that better than Knowshon Moreno, who was buried on the running back depth chart after spending much of last season as a backup. Moreno slowly got into Manning's inner circle by improving study habits and obsessing over the details that he had glossed over in the past.
"He strives for perfection, so you kind of want to be there and do the same thing," Moreno said. "He rubs off on you a little bit that way. I just wanted to make sure I was doing the right things, being in the right place at the right time."
That collective desire to live up to Manning's expectations turned the Broncos offense into the most prolific in NFL history.
Players weren't the only ones who wanted to get on Manning's good side. First-year offensive coordinator Adam Gase, already a tireless worker, improved his own preparation to keep up with his quarterback to help the offense evolve.
"The only thing I knew I had to do was work as hard as possible and give him as many answers as possible as quickly as I could," Gase said. "(Manning's former offensive coordinator with the Colts) Clyde Christensen told me, 'Just grind, work as hard as you can and when he has a question, have an answer for him, and you'll be fine.' That's what I tried to do right from the get-go."
Manning's work ethic has been infectious. Thomas, Moreno, Decker, Wes Welker and Julius Thomas excelled due to the trust they built up with Manning.
The numbers tell the story: Manning believed and depended on all of them, completing at least 60 passes to five different players. He threw double-digit touchdown passes to his three receivers and tight end.
"He'll tell you what you need to do and he'll straighten you out," Demaryius Thomas said. "You'll know how to make it right."
Easier said than done.
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