







ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – At one point during the opening practice of Denver Broncos training camp, so many fans were trying to get in that the fire marshals had to hold people at the gate.

"It's like being at a nightclub," a Broncos employee noted as more than 4,000 fans and media (a team record for training camp) watched some or all of the 2 ½-hour practice.

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Welcome to Club Peyton, where the excitement is akin to a new hot spot on South Beach or Hollywood. The problem with nightclubs is they tend to come and go, burning out nearly as fast as Paraskevi Papachristou's Olympic dream. And that's the lingering question with Manning. For all the moments of sharpness and a couple of passes where Manning showed subtle arm strength by manipulating the arc of the throw, there was an ominous feeling from the crowd.

Is this really going to last?

"This was a good first day, but there are things I need to improve on," Manning said. "I'm just not going to share what those things are with the rest of the world."

Manning admitted that not everything is back to normal with his arm after four neck surgeries. The last of those was nearly 11 months ago, when two vertebrae in his neck were fused. While plenty of players have come back from that injury over the years, Manning isn't just any player and the demands of playing quarterback are different.

[Related: What was one of John Elway's biggest issues with Tebowmania? ]

On Thursday, after a brief run of high throws during some one-on-one drills, Manning's accuracy was impeccable. He put throws in tight spots and consistently made it easy for his receivers. Working primarily with wide receivers Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, and tight ends Jacob Tamme and Joel Dreessen, Manning put throw after throw into the tight window between the top of their shoulders and the top of their waist.

"Sometimes you turn and the ball just drops in your hands," said Thomas, smiling like a guy who just found a stray $10 bill in his pocket. For Thomas, the transition from Tim Tebow to Manning has been dramatic.

"Tim was a running quarterback where sometimes you would see the ball coming out of your break and sometimes you were doing an adjustment because he broke the pocket," Thomas said. "Peyton is a pocket quarterback where you're getting the ball coming out of your break every single time."

To be clear, that's: Every. Single. Time.





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