Only the ripped shirt, torn jeans and green skin were missing from Tuesday’s press conference. Don’t make Peyton Manning angry. You don’t want to see him when he’s angry.
The Broncos quarterback couldn’t hide his fury with Tuesday’s joint practice with the Houston Texans at Dove Valley, offering a scathing assessment.
“I thought our offense stunk today. I thought their defense kicked our butt,” Manning said. “We will learn from the film, and hopefully we come out tomorrow and do a better job from a players standpoint and execute.”
The Texans appeared a step faster, a bit more intense. The Broncos’ offense looked nothing like the unit that went through the Seahawks and 49ers like a knife through hot butter, buried by missteps and penalty flags.
“Were you watching?” Manning said when asked what sparked his frustration. “Bad.”
Manning motivates with his attention to detail. Words, not actions, were used to spur the Broncos on Tuesday, Manning talking more like a disappointed coach than the NFL’s reigning MVP.
“I kind of call it like I see it,” said Manning when asked if he was playing mind games with his teammates. “When you have a pretty below-average practice, you have to call it a below-average practice. I think this team does a good job of being even-keeled. I don’t think we are overexcited about beating a San Francisco team that didn’t blitz us one time and played a vanilla scheme. I think we have a humble attitude about what we have done so far.”
Receiver Demaryius Thomas caught an 18-yard touchdown from Manning. It was of the few highlights, but even Thomas exited Tuesday unsatisfied.
“I don’t think we had our best day as a group, especially on offense,” Thomas said. “There were a lot of penalties. We weren’t converting well. And I definitely didn’t have one of my best days, as well.”
Troy E. Renck: , trenck@denverpost.com or twitter.com/troyrenck
