Ex-Patriots CB Ty Law on Peyton Manning: 'We were in his head'

During ESPN's alternate broadcast of Monday Night Football this week, Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning said when he played the New England Patriots, he used to avoid discussing plays at his locker "because I know it's bugged."

Ty Law, who played cornerback with the Patriots for many of those matchups, said Tuesday that he thinks he knows why.

"(Manning) might’ve thought that because we were in his head a little bit," Law said during an appearance on Boston radio station WEEI on Tuesday.

"Let’s be honest, we were in his head a little bit. And that’s OK. That’s Bill Belichick scheming up things. And we had players that had the confidence. So you probably would think it was a bug in there because we kind of knew what you were doing."

Law, who has also been inducted into the Hall of Fame, added that he wasn't going to reveal any secrets behind the Patriots' preparation but "we knew what the hell (Manning) was doing."

Manning went 6-13 against the Patriots in his career and 6-10 against them when he played for the Indianapolis Colts. With Manning and Tom Brady at quarterback, the two teams were perennial Super Bowl contenders, repeatedly facing one another in the playoffs.

During that same time period, the Patriots were also penalized for videotaping an opposing team's signals from an unauthorized location in an incident that later became known as "Spygate" – which might have contributed to Manning's suspicions.

"Every time I played against New England, I used to go and talk to my receivers like in the shower in the far corner," he said on ESPN on Monday night. "I’m like, ‘Don’t talk about a play next to my locker, because I know it’s bugged. I know it’s got a hot mic in there.' "

Despite his jab at Manning, Law also called him a friend, as well as a "great quarterback" and "great competitor."

"I's going to always be a lot of talk about that rivalry, whether him joking where he's saying we had it bugged, or this-gate, that-gate," Law continued. "What’s that one called? 'Bug-gate? That’s just another '-gate' they want to add onto it for whatever reason, man.

"But Peyton is great. I think his analysis is funny. His wit is awesome. I enjoy listening to him."

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ty Law on Peyton Manning locker room suspicions: 'We were in his head'