Demaryius Thomas admits to not being in his playbook or running routes

Posted by Josh Alper on June 28, 2012, 2:42 PM EDT

Getty Images

We already knew that Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas is excited about playingwith Peyton Manning this season.

Now Thomas is telling us just how different things will be with Manning running the offense than they were during Thomas’ first two seasons. During an interview with 790 The Zone in Atlanta, via SportsRadioInterviews.com, Thomas was asked about those differences and he pointed to something that’s usually considered a pretty significant part of a wide receiver’s job.

“So to get to play with a future Hall of Famer, I knew I had to step my game up and get in my book more, run routes more, because I never really ran routes much. So I thought it was gonna be a challenge, and it has been so far,” Thomas said. “But it’s been good, too. You’re gonna have to run the whole route tree now. The comebacks, the slants, the posts, the ins. And I didn’t have to do that much when I was my first couple of years in the league.”

Thomas missed six games in his rookie season and was able to rely on his physical skills last season because of the nature of the offense the Broncos ran with Tim Tebow at quarterback last season. Playing with Manning in an offense that is going to put a greater priority on timing will force him to step up the technical aspects of his play. It’s a good sign that Thomas realizes the need to do that, although it remains to be seen how much progress he can make on that front in a relatively short amount of time.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TTR is looking for more writers!