What's the next best thing to Peyton Manning playing for the Dolphins? Imparting his wealth of knowledge on Dolphins players.
Manning, the future Hall of Fame quarterback who retired this offseason, has visited Dolphins camp multiple times in recent months, largely because of his friendship with coach Adam Gase.
And Manning took his involvement to another level over the past two days: He addressed the entire team for seven minutes on Sunday night, then spent 40 minutes meeting with the quarterbacks and then attended practice Monday.
"For him to swing by was great; he always has a good message to deliver to the guys," said Gase, who coached Manning in Denver and attended his retirement party two weeks ago.
During the Sunday address to the entire team, Manning emphasized "the importance of studying and not taking things for granted, putting your phone away at night and getting into the playbook, even if it's 30 minutes, an hour," quarterback Brandon Doughty said.
When Manning met with the quarterbacks separately on Sunday, he answered a lot of questions, discussed "protections" and changing plays, and advised them to work on their hot reads.
With protections, "he walked through some of the stuff that they did," Doughty said. "It's very similar to what we're doing, so being able to pick at that guy's mind, it's unbelievable, he's a future Hall of Famer. Ryan [Tannehill] picked his mind. Peyton Manning, holy cow, I mean, this is like a star-studded performance here."
Tannehill didn't speak to reporters Monday, but in May he said he appreciated Manning's input after his first visit to Dolphins camp.
"When he came in the offseason and worked out in the back of our weight room, running on our treadmill, I would go back there and say he's my favorite player," defensive end Chris McCain said. "I'm honored to shake his hand and be around him."
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