DENVER BRONCOS QUOTES (12/22/16)
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER VON MILLER
On goal for the defense at Kansas City
“We want to have some of the same success that we had last game. When we get to the quarterback [is] where our success starts. Getting after the quarterback and putting pressure on [Chiefs QB] Alex [Smith]. They have a great team [and] are on an incredible run. That Tennessee Titans game, you count it, but you really don’t. That came down to the wire. They have a very good team and we’re going to have our hands full going into the [Arrowhead Stadium] this Sunday.”
On the team’s mentality
“It’s the playoffs now, for us. We’re in playoff mode. I know for me, I’m great. Another week we play another great team. We still have anopportunity and we still have all of our goals in front of us. The mentality is right where it needs to be. We have to go out there and get a win this weekend. We have to go out there and get a win this weekend and next weekend. Those are ‘musts’ for us and that’s where our focus and our priority is.”
On his leadership role in the locker room
“You’re dealing with 25 [year-olds] and [OLB] DeMarcus [Ware] 36-year old; you have all of these guys in the locker room. It’s really not much that you do. I don’t have to stay on these guys and tell them, ‘This is a big game, this is a big game, this is a big game.’ You kind of take the sting away from it, in my opinion. We all know that it’s a big game from leadership, all the way down to the guys in the cafeteria and the field guys. We all know what type of game this is for the organization and we’re going to go out there and take it one play at a time. Hopefully it swings in our favor.”
On the defensive reaction to a conservative Kansas City offense
“We have to make them make mistakes. I don’t know any other way around that. You have to make it happen. We have to force fumbles. I don’t think we have had a turnover in a couple of weeks now and that’s what we pride ourselves on. Whether it’s an interceptionor ‘strip-sack Miller’ or whatever it may be, we have to get the ball out and we have to get the ball back for our offense. If we’re able to do that then I feel like the magic will start flowing for us. It starts with us getting turnovers and we have to make it happen; no matter what they show us.”
On the NASCAR package with OLBs Shane Ray, Shaquil Barrett, Ware and Miller on the field
“It’s a great package. Shane, he’s an incredible rusher for us and so is ‘Shaq.’ We’re really putting all of our pass rushers out there on the field and the depth at D-tackle fives us an opportunity to get some of our pass rushers in there to rush. It’s a great package. I love it. We get all of our talent on the field. It’s kind of like having [Russell] Westbrook, [Kevin] Durant and [James] Harden when they played for the [Oklahoma City] Thunder. We have guys that can rush; we just have to get them on the field.”
On getting selected for the Pro Bowl
“It was great. Whenever you get voted by your peers, fans and coaches, it’s an incrediblehonor. I go out and I compete and compete againstthose guys week-in and week-out. For those guys that I compete against to vote me to the Pro Bowl, there is really nothing like it. It’s all types of awards and accolades that you can achieve, but the Pro Bowl is very important to me and I appreciate it.”
On whether the Chiefs have received his Christmas gift
“I think so. I texted [Chiefs OLB] Justin [Houston] and he said that he was giving it out. I just put it in the captain’s hands. Justin is the captainover there, so whatever decisionhe makes with it will be cool. I did my part. It’s in Kansas City’s facility (laughs). They have it. Justin is the leader over there. Whatever he wants to do with it. I can’t go the facility and pass it out myself, so it’s all on Justin. He’s an incredibleleader for those guys and he’ll work it all out. I did everything that I’m supposed to do.”
On his personal competition with Justin Houston
“We have our best games when Justin gets a sack and I get a sack or I get a sack and Justin gets a sack. We kind of go back-and-forth. Those types of games—those Chiefs-Broncos games where we’re both having great games are incredible. I like to see success from Justin. He’s oneof my favoritepass rushers in the National Football League and we’ve been through some of the similar-type stuff with ACL [injuries]. I think I’m just drawn naturally to Justin and the type of guy that he is. I wouldn’t want him to be any different. I would want him to be dominant. I want him to get three sacks so I can go out there and get three sacks, too.”
On the gifts provided by K Brandon McManus
“I loved it. ‘B-Mac’ isincredible. I don’t know too many kickers around the league that got the whole team a gift. That just shows you what type of team that we have and it shows you what type of kicker that we have. He’s an incredible guy. I spend a lot of time with ‘B-Mac’ and he’s an incredible guy. For him to do that stuff for us is great. I appreciate my onesie. I just don’t have it on for you guys right now, but I appreciate it and I’m going to go home and sleep in it and get it dirty in all of the toddler stuff when I get home (laughs).”
On gifts that he got for his teammates
“I already passed them out. It was a bag where you can put your suit in there, too. You can put your suit in the travel bag and you can roll it up and it becomes a duffelbag. Of course, I had to give the guys a little holiday spirit around the locker room. That’s just what I do every year and was able to do a little bit more for those guys this year.”
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