Patrick Chung

Patriots safety Patrick Chung joined Mut & Merloni on Monday morning for his weekly appearance, one day after the Pats’ 31-21 victory over Peyton Manning and the Broncos. To listen to the interview, go to the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.

Sunday was the first time the Patriots saw Manning in a Broncos uniform. Chung said the quarterback didn’t seem to change much since they last saw him on the Colts.

“I saw a man who was commanding the offense and throwing that ball,” Chung said. “He didn’t lose a step. He was still the same Peyton. Still reading defenses and still getting his guys in the right position to make plays.”

The Patriots prepared by watching film of Manning leading up to the game, but not film from his days with the Colts.

“We really just watched him this year,” Chung said. “We watched Peyton this year with the Broncos, preseason and everything. We just got a feel for the players, what kind of players they had, what kind of offense they were running. It was very similar to Indy, but when it comes down to it offense is always going to have a certain package or formation or play that we’ve never seen before, so we have to still be prepared for it and just get ready to execute.”

Chung said he had solid communication with rookie safety Tavon Wilson during the game.

“Tavon’s a smart player,” Chung said. “He’s smart, he’s confident, and he’s still having fun. He’s just a player out there having fun playing football. But he’s smart, we had no problems out there.”

The Patriots’ no-huddle, fast-paced offense is part of practice during the week. Chung said it helps prepare the defense for anything.

Said Chung: “No-huddle is no joke. … It helps us. It gets us prepared for any situation. … Every situation we can practice, we’re going to practice it so when it comes to the game it’s not like a huge surprise.”