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QB-PEYTON MANNING (on a good opportunity coming up this week to clinch the division heading into the final stretch)
"A good stretch coming up for us. We have five games left, all five AFC games and three AFC South games all on the road. So definitely a good test and a good solid month of football for us coming up. It starts this week going to Nashville. Every time we've gone down there, we've had some good games with these guys. We were fortunate to win the first game, 14-13. They're 4-2 since that game and probably playing some of their best football right now. So, we need to have a good week this week at practice."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on WR-Ricky Proehl seeming ready to go)
"Ricky's a guy that I've kind of gotten to know a little bit. I think he's excited to be here and we're always looking to add good football players. That's one thing (Colts President) Bill Polian's always done, is try to add quality football players. And anytime you're going to add a wide receiver, you're never going to get any complaints from me. But a pretty impressive resume', 17th year in the league and he's played in a number of big games and played in some championship games. He's a guy that it will not take him long to pick up this offense, that's one thing for certain."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on how much a guy like Ricky Proehl, who has a lot of experience, can help a team that already has experience)
"Anytime you add a good veteran, a guy that's been around, a guy that's just used to winning, it definitely can help you. It can help you in the locker room or could help some of our younger players. Nobody has the kind of experience that he's had. He and Junior Seau are the only two 17-year veterans in the league that I know of. He's a guy that can come in and I think help us real soon."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on getting the three-wide receiver set back)
"We just haven't used it a whole lot. The three-wides package was always kind of geared around Brandon (Stokley) and that position that Ricky (Proehl) will play also, that slot position. So, it would be nice to be able to have that back into our repertoire. We used it some against the Titans the first game and that kind of got us on a little bit of a roll. We always like to be mixed and like to have a mix of formations and personnel groupings. So, it would be great to get both of those guys out there this Sunday if possible."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on the difference between the Titans team now and the one the Colts played in October)
"They're just playing well. They're making a lot of plays. They have (DT-Albert) Haynesworth back, who's a huge presence inside and some of their new starters like (David) Thornton and (Chris) Hope, it's their first year in the system. We played them early on and now those guys are more comfortable in the system, so you just see them communicating and making a lot of plays right now."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on the difficulty of playing three road conference games in four weeks)
"No question. Every time you play on the road in this league, it's tough, especially here in (December).
