How Peyton Manning reacted after Aaron Rodgers' injury during ManningCast

The primary reaction appeared to be shock when Aaron Rodgers went down with an injury during his first official series as the New York Jets' starting quarterback.

Then there was the reaction from Peyton Manning on the season debut of ManningCast starring him and brother Eli.

“Who is the backup, Richard Todd or Ken O’Brien?’’ Peyton Manning cracked.

Todd retired as Jets quarterback in 1986, O’Brien took his last snap as the Jets' quarterback in 1992 and there was little doubt during ESPN's alternate "Monday Night Football" telecast about the butt of Peyton’s joke.

That would be the Jets’ actual backup quarterback, Zach Wilson, the beleaguered No. 2 pick from the 2021 draft.

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Wilson got the last laugh, of course, helping lead the Jets to a 22-16 overtime overtime victory against the Buffalo Bills. But not before taking a few more shots – from the Bills defenders, the Manning brothers and John McEnroe, the first guest of the ManningCast.

“Do they have another quarterback on their roster?’’ McEnroe moaned after Wilson threw an interception late in the second quarter.

Who reached out to Zach Wilson?

Ryan Fitzpatrick, the retired journeyman quarterback, delivered as soon as he joined the Mannings in the fourth quarter of their telecast. Challenged by Eli Manning to name in order the nine teams Fitzpatrick played for during his NFL career, he rattled them off with aplomb.

(Sorry, dear reader, you’re going to have to look up the answer for yourself.)

Soon after, Fitzpatrick delivered again when he lightly chastised Peyton for “the negativity train on Zach Wilson here.’’

“I reached out to him this offseason because he kept reaching out to all these successful quarterbacks, Drew Brees and Steve Young,’’ Fitzpatrick added. “And I said, ‘Zach, you’ve got to talk to a guy like me.'’’

That drew laughter from Peyton Manning.

“I’ve been through a lot of adversity, a lot of ups and downs,'' Fitzpatrick said, "so we had a good little text conversation. So I’m hoping to see good things out of him.’’

Saw good things, all right, and sooner than expected.

Wilson connected with Garrett Wilson on a game-tying touchdown pass and played virtually error-free the rest of the way.

'Wow, who saw this coming?'

No ManningCast would be complete without sophomoric jokes.

Eli Manning did the honors, once again poking fun as his big brother’s large head and fresh material – a bald spot on the back of Peyton’s head that Eli noted made its television debut.

But when it came to Zach Wilson, the negativity train had long since rumbled off into the distance.

“Wow, who saw this coming, Peyt?’’ Eli asked after Xavier Gipson sealed the Jets’ victory in overtime with a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Replied Peyton, “Hey, credit Zach Wilson.’’

And, when Wilson’s schedule allows, maybe offer him a guest appearance on a future ManningCast.

How John McEnroe's football career ended

Tennis footage played during the telecast showed McEnroe smashing rackets decades ago. But the earliest image of the tennis great was a photo of what Peyton said was a JV football team. Standing among his teammates, McEnroe sported jersey No. 12 and, as Peyton Manning noted, a bowl haircut.

McEnroe indicated his football career did not end gloriously.

“I took a hit, I couldn’t breathe, wind knocked out of me, coaches grabbing me, get up,'' he recalled. "I thought it was over for me, life is done as we know it at 14. And I decided when I came home, I said, ‘mom and dad, maybe I should play soccer. Or tennis.’ A helluva lot safer, so I think I made the right decision.’’

Probably so, considering McEnroe won as many Grand Slam singles titles as Tom Brady won Super Bowl rings.