Peyton Manning told Denver Broncos teammates Demaryius Thomas and Willis McGahee that they still have his full support despite each player giving up a fumble in a loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday. Manning told the two players that he'll continue to feed them the ball, according to the team's website:
"I stood with them. I told Willis after the fumble and after the fourth down when we had it and told Demaryius after that, that I'm with them. We're going to need those guys all season. Those guys have made key plays in our two wins and they made some big plays tonight, so, hey, nobody wants to have a play go against them or (have) a negative play – it's part of football."
During Denver's first possession, Thomas was first to cough up the football, fumbling on the New England 10-yard line after Manning found him for a 43-yard gain.
Down by 10 in the fourth quarter and again in the red zone, McGahee fumbled and the Patriots recovered before burning off the remaining four minutes in the game as New England won 31-21.
Thomas had nine catches for 188 yards on the day while McGahee had 14 carries for 51 yards.