HEAD COACH JOSH McDANIELS

 
On if RB Peyton Hillis' skill set has surprised him
"No. When you evaluated Peyton from last season, the tape that we had on him... and I also was familiar with him coming out of college. He is a very versatile guy, very physical (and has) great hands. He has been able to play in all of our packages, which is a credit to him in terms of his preparation and the way he has approached this whole thing mentally because he has got a lot a lot on his plate and he has been able to handle it. Nothing that Peyton does surprises me really because he is a really good football player, and we are happy to have him on our team."
 
On working with his brother, Coaching Assistant Ben McDaniels
"There are challenges to everything. He certainly has got a tough, difficult job. I was in his position before. There are a lot of things that get dumped on that guy. I don't really show any favoritism to him. If anything, I make it harder. Those guys in that position, (Coaching Assistant) Jay Rodgers, (Special Teams Assistant) Keith Burns and my brother, they do a great job with what they are responsible for. There is a lot on their plate. I enjoy it, obviously, having him out here. He is very deserving of the position that he has because he does a great job at it."
 
On evaluating his performance in his first NFL game as a head coach
"There are a few things, obviously, that we want to fix as a staff. We had a couple delayed substitutions, which forced us to use a couple time outs. In the preseason, there are 80 guys on the sidelines, so you have got to be on top of that a little bit more because we have got a little bit more moving parts. I can learn something from every one of these preseason games. I learn something from every one of these practices and try to keep notes and do a better job each day that I am out here. Hopefully, I will do a better job in Seattle, and our team and our staff will perform the same way."
 
On his father's evaluation of his first NFL game as a head coach
"He is hard. He is hard to please. That is great to have somebody that has a background in coaching and head coaching and (to) have a critical analysis of some of the things that maybe don't necessarily jump out on you on tape or on TV. He knows a couple things that I just mentioned, and obviously, we are going to work to tighten those up. It is good to have a positive influence that can also be critical and help you out along the way with some of the things that he can help me out with."

 
On if the Broncos are making progress correcting mistakes from the first game
"I hope so. Certainly, (there are) things we did well. Any time offensively... We had two negative plays or two negative runs in 67 snaps, (and) that is always a positive thing, but we turned the ball over three times. There are pros and cons on both sides of the ball. Defensively, we got some pressure on the quarterback (but) gave up too many yards on second-and-long. We are working diligently out here to try to fix the things that we feel, at this point, (are) things that we either struggled with or we made some mistakes on. All of the mistakes that we feel like we made on Friday night and in practice are fixable and correctable, and that's hopefully what we are targeting and trying to improve on."
 
On OLB/DE Elvis Dumervil
"Elvis is a downhill player. Our outside linebackers are going to be downhill players. He has shown an ability to be physical on the edge. He is working his butt off to try to get all of the little things right at that position. I know it is a little new for him, but he has had 42 practices at it now. I don't know when you declare somebody ‘ready to go' at a spot, but he has had plenty of work there. I think his skill set has certainly showed up. He certainly did some good things the other night in the game and continues to try to work to improve the things he is not comfortable with."
 
On TE Tony Scheffler
"Tony is a versatile player for us. He has definitely shown a solid toughness. In camp, he works against the outside linebackers every day, and they are all 265-plus (pounds). Tony is holding his own there. Obviously, he is a threat in the passing game and a factor on third down. In the red zone, we haven't really gotten into game planning a whole bunch into some of those situations, but once we do, Tony will be a big factor there. He has got great hands and knows what to do. He is a smart player, too. Again, we feel like we are talented and deep there at tight end, and he certainly is one of the guys that we will count on to provide us a lot of production."
 
On the importance of the five-technique defensive end in a 3-4 base defense
"When you have got a 3-4 system in place and you use those five techniques, if you play a true 3-4 where you are not stunting a lot and trying to play two gaps at a time, those five-technique players have responsibility for the C gap to their left or right and the B gap, which is the inside gap, on the other side. There is quite a bit of pressure on those guys because they have to handle the (offensive) tackle and also be able to fall into plays inside or outside. They can't jump around blocks. It is a very physical position. It is not for the weak-of-heart. You have got to go in there and slug the tackle and try to knock him back and win each play that way. It is not fancy. If you do a good job, that allows the inside linebackers to play where they are supposed to play and the outside linebacker to play where he is supposed to play. Everything kind of works together. I wouldn't say that it is more pivotal than any other spot on the defense, but it certainly is one of those positions where as you look at college football, there are not a lot of players that play that spot because there are not a lot of systems that do that. There is a lot of stunting and those kinds of things. In college football, that is what is in-vogue. To find those kinds of players that can play that way and be effective, it is a task. We certainly are looking hard for it all of the time."

QUARTERBACK KYLE ORTON

 
On chemistry with receivers
"(I) really (have it) with all the guys. We've worked hard all camp. I've strung together some good days, but they really do a great job of getting open, and it's my job to be on the ball."
 
On TE Tony Scheffler
"Tony's a good player. Tony can do a lot of different things-you can keep him at the tight end position, you can split him out wide, he's got the speed to play outside and he's really a big guy, so he's a good target to throw to, for sure."
 
On watching film from the preseason opener at San Francisco
"Really what I thought coming off the field (was) that I did a lot of good things and made three bad decisions. Certainly it's something that I've got to correct and do it quickly, but I haven't been a turnover-prone guy in my career and I'm not going to sit here and press about it. I'm going to go out and just continue on. I knew going into the first preseason game there were going to be corrections to make, and that's one of the corrections I'm going to make."
 
On playing in the red zone
"It certainly quickens up. Guys aren't going to be as open-You've got to fit it into windows. You've certainly got to know what situation you're in. That was probably the most disappointing turnover that I had, down there, second-and-3, we're in good scoring position after a great drive, and I'm smarter than that to put the ball in jeopardy. That ball should've gone out of the back of the end zone, and we would've had a good chance on third down or kicked a field goal."
 
On the offense against San Francisco
"I thought the entire offense came out of the game with a lot of confidence, myself included. We've got to get back to work and correct the things we did wrong and have improvement coming into the second game."
 
On RB Knowshon Moreno's play against San Francisco
"He ran hard, he played tough, he played smart. He's going to be a good player for sure."
 
On having a deep stable of running backs
"It's great to be able to keep on bringing one in after another, keeping them fresh, having them run hard and not having to play tired. That's always an advantage for an offense."
 
On if playing in the shotgun is different
"Not at all. I did it all throughout college. It's a comfort level for me, and I certainly like to be back there."
 
On if there's still a learning curve in the offense
"Oh yeah. We just got done playing one game. There's always things that come up in a game that don't come up during practice, and I'm sure there will be new things that come up this game. That's always good to have, so you're not getting surprised when they really count."
 
On if he will still be mastering the offense during the regular season
"I would assume so. It's new for everybody. We work really hard in practice and try to go over every possible situation, but that's just an impossibility. There's always something that comes up-a different look, a different scheme, whatever it is-and guys just have to try to adjust to it on the fly."
 
On the fans
"I think the fans and the public have been supportive. I understand they want us to be playing perfect right off the bat, and that's just how it is in this league. But I just try to stay on track, do my job and get better this week and play better on Saturday."