Peyton Manning believes Joe Burrow will struggle at times in his rookie year, but that the quarterback must learn from those tough times.
Manning told SportsCenter on Sunday that Burrow recently called him for advice on being a rookie quarterback.
Burrow also attended the Manning Passing Academy last summer.
\"He called me about some of the things that I tried to do as a rookie that maybe he can apply to his NFL career,\" Manning said. \"Looks like it\'s going to be for the Cincinnati Bengals. What I told him, \'Look, Joe, if you\'re the first pick in the NFL draft, you are going to a team that has earned the first pick in the NFL draft. There are going to be some holes there. There\'s a reason the Colts were picking No. 1 that year. There\'s a reason the Bengals are picking No. 1 this year.\'\"
Manning pointed out that he lost more games in his rookie year than he had in his high school and college careers combined.
\"[Then-Colts coach] Jim Mora never took me out,\" he said. \"I learned some things in the fourth quarter of those blowouts about what it took to be an NFL quarterback, and the next year we went from 3-13 to 13-3. That wouldn\'t have happened if I hadn\'t have hung in there and learned the ropes as a rookie, even though we took some bumps and bruises.
\"So that\'s what I tried to encourage Joe and all the other rookie quarterbacks, that your rookie year is not going to be the same as your senior year in college. But if you learn how fast the defensive backs are, how soon you have to get rid of the ball, understand defenses, you can become a better player and really get it going the year or two after that.\"
Via ESPN