When Jake Plummer retired from the NFL in 2007, he did it on his terms. After spending four seasons (2003-06) in Denver, with Gary Kubiak as his offensive coordinator, the Pro Bowl quarterback was traded to Tampa Bay, where a new team and a fresh start awaited him.
But less than a week after the deal was made, Plummer decided to call it quits. He left knowing he still could physically play the game the way he wanted.
On Sunday, Plummer watched Peyton Manning have the worst outing of his career, against Kansas City. He watched knowing the 18-year veteran doesn’t have the same luxury he had at the end of his career.
Playing through multiple injuries at age 39, Manning completed only five of 20 pass attempts for 35 yards, threw four interceptions and recorded the lowest-possible quarterback rating, 0.0.
Manning was benched in the third quarter, and on Monday Kubiak announced that Brock Osweiler will start Sunday at Chicago.
“(Sunday) was tough to watch,” Plummer said. “It’s frustrating to see (Manning) be on his reads and going to the right guy, but the ball just not getting there like we’re used to seeing. Obviously the injury wasn’t talked about, and no player wants to say that’s what it was. But if you’re going to throw and you have a foot injury, I know that’s where it starts. It’s hard to compensate when you’re already 39 and banged up in other spots, too
“Physically, everybody plays banged up. When you’re 30, it’s even hard to get those bumps and bruises to go away as opposed to even older at 39. And he took a lot of hits last week (at Indianapolis).”
On Saturday, the Broncos announced that Manning has been dealing with a rib-cage injury in addition to his foot injury. The injury, on top of the others he’s played through this season, led many to question why Manning played at all Sunday.
“I played with some injuries when I probably should have sat down, but as a competitor it’s hard to pull yourself out of a situation when you feel your team needs you to be in there,” Plummer said. “You’ve got to be close to 100 percent, and if you’re not there, that’s a tough call to make. But it’s got to be one that comes from that player, not anybody else.”
The decisions of both Kubiak and Manning drew some criticism. But not from Plummer.
“It’s hard to do, but probably the best thing for Peyton is to sit and get healthy, get a little bit of that spring in his step and still come back and be the leader of this team in a couple of weeks or whenever that time is,” Plummer said. “In the meantime, we get to see if Brock Osweiler is going to be the future here.”
Nicki Jhabvala: njhabvala@denverpost.com or @NickiJhabvala
