Rivers embraces short week, Broncos test
Short week.
Long season.
Pick your subject, and Philip Rivers warmed to it Tuesday.
While Thursday night games aren’t everybody’s favorite flavor of ice cream in the NFL shop, Rivers figures playing an AFC West game, under lights, in front of a national audience and a sea of orange-clad Broncos fans, is a pretty cool prospect for him and his Chargers teammates.
“These are the games you can’t wait to play in,” said the quarterback Rivers, who had but 52 hours more to wait for the 5:25 p.m. kickoff.
Peyton Manning will there, too. On the Rivers’ boyish enthusiasm scale, he always warrants a 10 because he brings a “little more awesomeness to the game.”
Identifying one of Rivers’ less-heralded strengths, ex-Chargers coach Norv Turner once said, “He never gets bored with football.”
He is not cranky, at least any longer, about Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs.
“Obviously we’ve got a tough task ahead on Thursday to keep from losing two in a row,’’ Rivers said, “but we’re a 5-2 team that’s got off to a heck of a start, and we ought to be fired up and excited about what’s ahead in these next nine weeks.
“We’ve got a lot of good ahead of us. And we’re going to do our part to make sure that happens on Thursday. But it’s a long season, and we’ve put ourselves in position early to have a great season.”
Freeney and Peyton
When Dwight Freeney followed Manning to an AFC West team, it seemed the former Colts teammates of 10 years would oppose each other in a game for the first time. It didn’t happen last year because Freeney’s season-ending injury came before the three contests with Denver, but Mike McCoy said he anticipates Freeney, absent from Tuesday’s practice for reason unrelated to injury, will play Thursday.
For a decade’s practices, Manning was a quarterback that Freeney wasn’t permitted to hit.
“It would definitely be great to get after (Manning),” Freeney said in 2013, via 1360 AM. “He’s a great competitor, I’m a great competitor. How many times have I envisioned hitting him during practice, when he had that five-yard halo around him and you couldn’t go in that circle? Millions of times. So it would be fun to get after him a little bit.”
Manning got off a quip Tuesday in reply to Freeney’s “halo” comment.
“You’ve got to talk to the head coach about that as far as not being able to hit the quarterback,” he told San Diego reporters. “I doubt he’s hitting Philip in practice. I wouldn’t think McCoy and (Genearl Manager Tom) Telesco would allow that to happen.”
Manning, 38, is a five-time league MVP who on Sunday moved past Brett Favre as the NFL’s all-time leader in touchdown passes.
Freeney, 34, is sixth among active players in career sacks.
They won a Super Bowl together eight years ago.
“Dwight was a great teammate, a fun guy to play with all those years,” Manning said. “I played in a lot of big games with him. I always liked having Dwight as a teammate. Offensive line knows what kind of challenge we have going against their front, especially going against Dwight.”
Notably
Jerry Attaochu (hamstring), Jason Verrett (shoulder) and Steve Williams (groin) were limited in practice. The following players didn’t practice: Donald Brown (concussion), Brandon Flowers (concussion), Ryan Mathews (knee), Manti Te’o (foot), Rich Ohrnberger (back) and Freeney. McCoy said Ohrnberger’s absence owed to “quality rest.”
Broncos who didn’t practice were RB Montee Ball (groin), backup CB Omar Bolden (concussion), LB Steven Johnson (ankle) and K Brandon McManus (groin).
