Ware expects Manning to return next season
>> DENVER: Denver Broncos defensive end DeMarcus Ware doesn’t know who his head coach or defensive coordinator will be in 2015, but he’s confident Peyton Manning will be playing quarterback for his team.
Ware said he’s spoken to Manning since the Broncos’ divisional round loss to the Indianapolis Colts and is confident the five-time NFL MVP will choose to play in 2015. Manning was non-committal about his future following Sunday’s loss.
“Me and Peyton will always talk back and forth about things. Now he’s just looking forward to the next season and how we can get better,” Ware said on Thursday. “I think he’ll be back.”
Manning will turn 39 on March 24, shortly after his US$19 million salary becomes guaranteed if he’s on Denver’s roster on March 9, the final day of the 2014 league year.
“He just needs time to get healthy, rest,” Ware said. “Calm the brain down. Turn it off a little bit and then hit the restart button once it’s time.”
Ware will be doing the same. He’s leaving Thursday evening for a short vacation in London before heading to the Pro Bowl next week in Arizona. He’s hoping that the days he spends with his son and daughter on their European excursion will help him get over the Broncos’ early play-off exit and subsequent drama. Head coach John Fox and the team parted ways on Monday, and defensive co-ordinator Jack Del Rio has been named head coach of the Oakland Raiders.
“You think about who is going to be the head coach, who is going to be the defensive co-ordinator, what coaches are going to come in. And the one thing that I’ve always learned in the NFL, it’s all about how you take change,” said Ware.
“Sometimes, I think for me, I’ve been with at least five defensive coordinators throughout my career [and] a lot of head coaches. And each year, you always think about: ‘Is it going to get worse because it’s a new change?’
“But you have to embrace the change and say, ‘What can I do with what I have?’ And then you always come out on top.”