ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Eric Decker's stock is rising in the eyes of the Denver Broncos and quarterback Peyton Manning.
The third-year receiver, who struggled at times catching Tim Tebow's erratic throws last season, has been hauling in Manning's precise passes for a month now.
The sessions, held at local high school football fields and, starting this week, team headquarters, have helped Manning start to regain his arm strength and rediscover his form after a series of neck operations sidelined him all of last season and led to his departure from the Indianapolis Colts after 14 years.
They're also helping him find a rhythm with Decker, whom he spoke highly of this week.
Demaryius Thomas, who finished last season as Denver's top receiver, recently had an operation to remove pins from the left thumb he shattered last season, so he hasn't spent as much time with Manning.
Manning revealed that the coaching staff wants to expand Decker's role, moving him around to use him in different ways next season, and he had high praise for the player he called the leader of the receiving corps.
"It's humbling, coming from such a great player as Peyton Manning," Decker said. "... As I build my career, I try to build upon being reliable, being dependable, and also building a leadership role, and now having that chance, that's something I'm going to take advantage of."
While Manning, who signed a five-year, $96 million deal in Denver on March 20, has been peppering Decker with questions about his new teammates and coaches, Decker's been taking the opportunity to learn from one of the game's all-time cerebral greats.
"The more you're together, the better the relationship comes," Decker said. "I think the more football you talk, as well, you get on the same page, and that's the big thing in the quarterback-receiver relationship, is getting that time in the meeting rooms and on the field and understanding how I run routes, how he throws the ball, what he looks at for certain coverages and what kind of different adjustments we make in a game."
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Like Manning, Decker's also coming back from injury. He said he's fully recovered from the sprained left knee he suffered when Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison hit him with a low but legal hit in the wild-card round of the playoffs in January.
Decker said it is like night and day catching Manning (a four-time MVP who is a 65 percent career passer) instead of Tebow (a 46 percent passer), not only because of the accuracy difference but also because Tebow's a lefty and Manning a righty.
"You train your eyes a certain way to catch a football. With different releases, different side, everything you have to train yourself for, and that has been a little different," Decker said.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
