COURTESY OF DENVER BRONCOS MEDIA RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
On if his added muscle and weight gain has translated to the field and his impression of OLB Von Miller’s leadership this year
“I think camp has been great for a lot of us, especially me. Not having OTAs, it was going to be a hard transition. For me, the weight has been great. I’ve been able to move. I think the offseason was great for me, and it’s showing right there. You know how I am. I’m going to always play with a chip on my shoulder and I’m going to give you everything I have. As for Von, like I said, he’s been in the league for a while. He wants to win. He makes sure he checks on all of us. We have a good relationship. Me and Von, our lockers are right next to each other. Of course, at a six feet distance, but we’re right next to each other. We’re always talking. It’s always good to pick his brain and he gets to pick mine just to get on the right page. For Von, we want to win games and he is going to be a big key piece. It was good to see him get a vet day off. Hopefully a couple of these other [guys] get a little bit more time off.”
On if he’s played Madden NFL 21 yet
“No, I haven’t. I really don’t play Madden. I don’t play video games, especially after having my kid. I just go home and spend time with him. My brothers do. Why? Did they mess my hair up again (laughing)?”
On if too much is being made of who starts at running back and how the playing time will be split
“The thing is this—it is what it is. I can’t control any of that. I told you before—I can’t control putting myself in the game. I can’t control starting. My rookie year, I wasn’t supposed to play the first game, and I ended up carrying the ball 17 or 18 times. It’s just about going out there and doing my part. The fact is, I’ve told you before, I don’t need 20 carries to get where I need to go. You give me one carry, and if it’s a great set up for me, it’s going to be a big gain. That’s how I am. That’s how I’ve always been. I don’t need to get warmed up. Get me in the game right now and I’m going to break something. I’m going to be a spark player. When it’s time, if I need to be the starter, I’ll be the starter. It doesn’t matter to me. At the end of the day, I have one mission. It’s not going to stop me from starting or not. I’ll have the same mission at the end of this year. No matter what or who’s in the way, they can do well too, but I’m going to make sure I do my part.”
On if he and RB Melvin Gordon III need to carry the offense early on
“Like I said before, you guys went out there and made a big deal about the passing game. What people don’t understand—when you watch football in general, it’s about the running game. It’s about getting your lineman involved which opens the passing game. Other than the Chiefs, everybody else that wants to get to the playoffs—it’s about running the ball. You have to establish that. The easiest thing to do is establish a run game early to help [QB] Drew [Lock] out. Drew is going to be fine and our offense is going to be fine. The receivers are going to do great. If we can take pressure off him and get the DBs and get the linebackers in the box, then it’ll be so much easier for Drew to do what he has to do. It also helps our offensive line. What people don’t understand too is sitting there pass blocking all day—that takes a toll on you. It’s hard when you have 320-pound men running at you athletic and you’re sitting back, and you’re trying to protect or going at somebody. For me, you get them going and get those juices flowing, then it’s easier to pass protect. It’s easier to do that. No matter what, we’ll be ready. Melvin has to do his part, and I have to do my part no matter what. At the end of the day, I’m going to make sure I handle my business.”
On what it will be like getting hit in Week 1 for the first time and if the lack of hitting favors offensive players
“I think it affects both sides of the ball. For me, honestly, I’m wild anyways. It doesn’t matter, I’m ready to get hit all the time, so I’m going to be ready. It affects the offense because if you haven’t been hit and you haven’t been as physical, it’s a shocker. That’s when you have your fumbles and you’re not as focused when you’re catching the ball. For defense, I feel like it’s a lot harder because you haven’t really tackled that much. In this game, and [Head] Coach [Vic] Fangio always stresses it, it’s about breaking tackles and making tackles. In this first game, whoever can make tackles and break tackles is going to win this game.”
On if players wanted to have live tackling periods in practice during training camp
“I think everybody goes with the flow of it and takes it as it comes. You have to understand that they are paying people a lot money to go out there and make plays. People have been playing this game since they were nine years old, so they need to go out there and do what they are supposed to do. They shouldn’t need a bunch of practice reps of tackling. That’s why you’re here. You’re supposed to be the best of the best. When that first game comes, just do your part. Be ready, make people miss and tackle. I think we have an older, mature defense that understands that and have been through a lot of games which is going to come in handy. For offense, we’re just going to have to get physical as it goes. Like I said before, that’s when you lean on the run game. There’s nothing better than when you can knock somebody in the mouth running the ball. That’s just my take on it.”
On if he’s enjoying the Nuggets and Avalanche respective playoff runs
“I’m a big fan of it. [Nuggets guard] Jamal Murray is inspiring with the things he’s doing. That team in general—they’re a young team. They’re like us in a way, but they all jell. To see them get down like they did, and to find a way to get over the obstacle and win—they’re going to be a great team for a long time. For the Avs, they’re out there kicking butt. I’ve seen where they were down 3-1 and they came back. It’s crazy, but it comes down to that mentality, and they’re showcasing that mentality of not giving up and staying in it with each other. We can learn from that with a lot of things. We can learn that with what the NBA is doing for Black Lives Matter and what they’re doing for each other. They’re setting an example. Even hockey is as well. You have to love that.”
On if he’s inspired by the Nuggets and if he sees any parallels between them and the Broncos young core
“For sure, you can see it. Also, let’s be real—you don’t want to be the only Colorado team not in the playoffs. That doesn’t feel good to have basketball doing well and you have hockey doing well. The Rockies—they were doing well, and now they have to get back on track. You don’t want to be that odd man out. You know what I mean? Studies and facts show that when Colorado does well all around, it’s just a better environment. When we were at Colorado and we went to the Pac-12 championship, it was a better environment for everybody. Even the fans, it was just better. You had the Broncos shining at that time. It just makes things better for people. People, for some reason, they’re happier.”
On if he’s surprised at how well the COVID testing has gone and the low number of positive tests throughout the league
“I’m not surprised right now because one—you have to think about it—everybody is in camp, so everybody is really focused. We’re here from 6:30 [a.m.] to 8:30 or 9:00 [p.m.] at night. By the time you get home, you’re tired. If you have kids, you have to make sure that they’re OK and make sure your wife or your girl is OK. You don’t have a lot of time. I’m not surprised that we’re doing well. The biggest thing now if for everybody to hold each other accountable and hold each other accountable to everything you do. If you do that, then we’ll be able to get through this season and show we can do this. Now, if everybody starts—camp breaks and we start traveling and everybody starts to go out. You’re paying a bunch of 21 and 22-year-old kids and telling them to stay home with all this money and all this little freedom. You hope that they’re mature enough to say, ‘Look, if you’re going to do all that, do it after the season.’ Let’s get through the season, and after the season, they should have something figured out, or at least know more about it. For me, I tell the young kids in our locker room, the young men in our locker room, ‘I have kids at the house. This is what I do. If you go out and you get it and you give it to me, you don’t give a damn about me and you don’t give a damn about my family.’ That’s what it comes down to. Look to the left and right of you. I don’t want to get anyone sick and they have to miss games, or they die. That’s the scariest part about this. We don’t know who’s immune to it and who isn’t. I don’t want to be the reason someone dies, or I don’t want to be one that dies and leaves my family behind because somebody didn’t want to make the right decisions. It’s scary, but if everybody sticks with this game plan and are in it with each other, we’ll have an OK season and we’ll be able to get through a season.”