DENVER BRONCOS QUOTES (11/30/17)
HEAD COACH VANCE JOSEPH
On injuries
“We had five guys ‘DNP’. [DE Derek] Wolfe, [NT] Domata Peko, with his knee, and Wolfe with a neck. [QB] Paxton Lynch, ankle; [G] Ron Leary with a back and [OLB] Shane Ray with a wrist and illness. We had two guys limited, [DE] Shelby Harris with an illness and [TE Jeff] Heuerman with a knee. We had four guys full. [DE] Adam Gotsis with his ankle and shoulder; [WR] Emmanuel Sanders with his ankle; [ILB] Todd Davis with his shoulder ankle and [DE] Zach Kerr with a toe—he was also full.”
On whether he’s learned anything more about Wolfe’s injury
“I have not. He’s still getting tested. Again, we’re being really careful with that type of injury.”
On whether G Connor McGovern will start if Leary is out
“We have some guys that can step in. He’s one of them.”
On whether Wolfe is dealing with numbness
“Numbness? I’m not sure. I can’t speak to that, but it’s a neck injury. I’m a football coach. I just listen and learn more about those things as we go along. Again, when it’s a neck, it’s serious. It’s his life.”
On his level of concern with Leary’s injury
“My level of concern? He was ‘DNP’ two days now, so it’s an injury that could hold him out of the game. That’s my concern.”
On Dolphins DT Ndamukong Suh
“He’s a good man, first of all. He’s a hard worker, he was the first guy in the building and the last guy to leave. His work ethic was off the charts. As a player, he wanted to win every week and he worked that way in practice. On gameday he’s a dominant guy. If you don’t have a plan for him, he can wreck the game. But the person was very engaged and he was very involved with game planning. Also a great leader for our football team. It was a pleasure working with him after watching him play from a far for so many years.”
On whether RB Devontae Booker will see an increase in playing time
“Well we have a gameplan each week, how to attack a defense and we have big plans for all three backs every week. It depends on how the game’s going, but he’s playing well right now. We’ll continue to feed him.”
On Kerr
“Zach played well last week. The first part of the season he was injured so we didn’t get to look at him for about the first six weeks, but he played well last week. We signed him because of his size, quickness and his pass rush ability. It showed Sunday against the Raiders.”
On what it would take for RB De’Angelo Henderson to play
“What would it take? It’s purely numbers with De’Angelo’s deal. He had a great preseason and he’s going to have a great future here in my opinion, but when you have three backs already dressed—it’s hard to have three, so to have one more dressed or to take one of those guys out and put him in, it would be hard to do and have a fullback up. Barring an injury, he’ll probably sit and watch until we have a guy [miss time].”
On whether he believes Leary’s injuries have affected his performance grade
“Last week? I can’t speak to that. I watched the game and it wasn’t perfect. He battled. He was obviously sore from a number of injuries, but he battled last week. I can’t speak to his overall grade outside of this building.”
On WR Cody Latimer
“Cody’s made a lot of plays, starting with the Philly game. He made two big plays in Philly, he’s been or gunner this year and he made a bunch of plays on Sunday. I’ve been impressed with Cody because he’s done more for us as far as playing teams as a core player and also being one of our best receivers. He’s been our third guy from the last three or four weeks he’s proven that were right to make him that, the third guy.”
On using the up-tempo offense early in the game
“It’s always in our plan and it’s always timing on when to use that. We have it. We’ll see if it’s time or where we do it.”
On the disadvantages of playing up-tempo too much
“The disadvantage? The guys get tired and that can be a disadvantage. Its different weather down there. I’m not sure what the temperature is down there right now, but their guys get tired if you do it too much. It’s different tempos you can go; you can go really fast or you can go really slow. It’s on the ball, but you can take you time and go slow. We can gear it back and still go on the ball, we have different tempos we can go at.”
On OLB Von Miller
“I thought Von’s played well. Von’s played really well in the run game. The pass game, everyone has a plan to block Von. He’s being chipped and doubled `every week and I don’t blame them. You can’t let Von Miller wreck the game. That being said, we have to move him around again and find some soft spots for him in the protections. Other guys have to rush the passers who are getting the one-on-ones. In my opinion, Von’s played very solid this year.”
On T Garett Bolles
“I think he’s progressing fine. The holding penalties bother me. That’s more of technique and having a clock in your head the same way a quarterback does. If you’re blocking guy and your clock says it’s over, let him go. If the QBs holding the ball too long, that’s his issue. But he has to learn that he can’t block the guy past the quarterback and have holding calls. That’s the part he has to fix and it’s all about experience and having a clock in your head the same as a quarterback. When that clock expires, let that guy go.”
On G Max Garcia
“Max Garcia played well last week. In my opinion, he was the best O-lineman we had last week. He played physical, he was good in the pass game and the run game alike. It was fun to see.”
On Bolles getting a holding call versus giving up a sack
“If we whiffs on a guy and it’s a clean line to the quarterback, you should grab the guy and keep your quarterback clean. If you’re blocking their guy for 2.3-2.4 seconds and the clock in your head’s up, let him go. His holding calls have been on trying to finish plays and he can’t do that. If he whiffs on a guy and he grabs a guy, I’m all for it. Keep our guy off the ground, but if he’s clocked this guy for the time of the down, let him and go and play him next time.”
On whether G Allen Barbre will be playing right tackle
“[T Donald] Stephenson’s working there and then Barbre’s working there also. We’ll see where we are end of the week.”
On whether there is an urgency to play young players
“We want to win a game. We have five ball games left and it’s been a tough, tough year so far. We want to win a football game so we’re playing the guys that can help us win.”
On whether winning is more important than evaluating for the future
“Absolutely. It’s more important than having a future look at a guy. We watch them every day here, so that’s part of the evaluation also.”
On whether he’s had to motivate the guys this week
“You have to motivate them every week, so that’s not different for me. Every Monday morning you walk in win or lose and you have to reset the week. On a Wednesday morning it’s your first day of work and you do the same. It’s no different if you’re winning or losing as far as motivating the football team.”
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