QB JAY CUTLER

General
"I felt good going into the game. We just have to go back and look at the film."
On the biggest issue offensively "Turnovers; it’s that simple. When the first pass gets picked, it sets things back a bit."

On WR Brandon Marshall’s touchdown pass interference penalty
"It hurts when you have an 80-yarder called back, but we had other opportunities."

On the short week
"You have good games and bad games as a quarterback. This was a bad game. We have a quick turnaround this week against Cleveland which can be either a good thing or a bad thing. Hopefully, it’s a good thing."

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Opening statement
"Our game plan going in was to run the football. Obviously we didn't do this in the first half. I think our average third down distance was third-and-nine. Obviously we have to improve in that area to be the team that we want to be. We did not do a very good job offensively. Defensively, they did enough to keep us in the game. We had some opportunities in the second half on offense and just weren't able to move the football the way I thought we'd be able to do. Credit to them [Broncos defense], they've done a good job with the rushing defense: 3.7 yards per carry. Obviously, very embarrassing to go out there and run the football the way we did. When [RB] Michael Pittman went down, obviously we went to a kind of different game plan early in the second quarter, and we did that by necessity."

On the Dolphins game plan today
"They played pretty consistently all year, that's what they do. A 3-4 scheme and they changed the coverages but they have just done a good job...much better than we did today."

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HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN

On the difference between Miami this season and last season

“I didn’t study them a lot last year, but they are very impressive. They are playing some great offense, some great defense and they are keeping people off balance on both sides of the ball. They have (beaten) some good football teams by dominating a couple of those games, so they are very impressive.”

On Miami QB Chad Pennington

“Any time you are able to go into a situation and get a quarterback like Pennington—an experienced quarterback that has played and understands defenses—to come in and help the franchise immediately is something that you don’t expect. Very seldom do you have the Drew Brees’s out there, the Chad Penningtons. But when you come in as a new head football coach and are able to have a quarterback with that type of experience, I think you feel very lucky.”

On Miami’s ‘Wildcat’ formation

“You watch it quite a bit in college. You watch a lot of these formations and some of these plays at the collegiate level, especially scouting a lot of the players from Arkansas the year before. It is not like we haven’t seen it before. We worked against that when we faced the Raiders. We thought we might see it in the first game but we didn’t. They are having a lot of success with it, and (RB Ronnie) Brown is an exceptional back. Any time you have a guy with his type of skills and you put him at that position, he can make plays when nothing is there. It has a lot to do with type of offense and he is skilled enough to throw the football as well. It just presents some problems.

“It is a plus. Regardless of what type of offense you are running, if you can do things that keep a defense off balance and make them spend extra time (preparing), it helps you.”

On T Ryan Clady

“He has done a great job. You can’t ask a rookie to do much more than he has done. He is there every day, he has been very consistent and hopefully he keeps on getting better.

“You never really know until you have a guy come in. Obviously we felt very good about him before we drafted him. At the position we drafted him at (No. 12 overall), we didn’t think he would be there. We were very happy and surprised, and he has lived up to the billing.”

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HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN

On the Broncos’ defense

“They played well. We did a lot of good things on defense. Any time you have six series with three plays and out, it is a good start. I was pleased with their effort throughout the game. We are starting to build and starting to make some strides forward. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”

On the defenses having more enthusiasm against Tampa Bay compared to previous weeks

“I wouldn’t go through that. I think people have a short memory sometimes. We played three quarters against the Raiders that we allowed 128 yards in total offense, 27 zip. They are a pretty good rushing football team. We did some good things against San Diego. We have had some opportunities where we have played a good three quarters or a good quarter, but in this game we played a good four quarters.”

On how WR Brandon Marshall is handling being double covered

“That is football in the National Football League. You have to understand what it takes to win and the quarterback, I thought, managed the game very well. In that situation, most people don’t look at the fact that we had three third-and-2’s, two third-and-3’s and a third-and-4 that we missed. We were 6-of-14. The ones we missed were ones that keep drives going. Instead of having 16 points, you end up having 30 points. We have been much better in our third down area. When you miss three those and you are still 6-of-14 against an excellent defense, you are doing some good things. We just have to work on that third down area to keep the ball and get some more plays. We completed 68 percent of our passes for 227 yards and that is good. You can’t turn the football over and you can’t get second and long and third and long, and for the most part we didn’t. That is what you have to do to win the football game. Especially some of the young guys, they want to contribute but they don’t understand what it takes to win sometimes. You have to make those third downs.”

On the contributions of DT Dewayne Robertson

“He is doing what we ask him to do. It is always a change going from a 3-4 to a four-man front. You have to be pretty unselfish in the four-man front because a lot of times the linebackers are going to get the tackles. I think it was obvious after you saw the stats following the game that the defensive line did a good job occupying the offensive lineman and giving the linebackers an opportunity to make some plays.”

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I am taking a "glass half-full" approach to the defense, but what about the coach?  Let's find out in his transcript from his weekly Monday meeting with the press -- 

On the defense

“We have talked about it from day one. You have to be able to stop the run to have a chance to have a good defense, and we did that holding them to 3.5 yards per rushing attempt. That is where you start. We will get better with our pass defense as time goes on. We are doing a number of things that are new in comparison to a year ago. It just takes some time. If we have the effort that we had overall, offense, defense and special teams, good things will happen for our football team.”

 

On if he is alarmed at the defense giving up so many points

“I am not alarmed at all because if you get that kind of effort overall, good things are going to happen. You have to be alarmed because you gave up so many passing yards but that is something you can work on and get better at. You have drops and different zones. You get different things that different offenses do that you have to adjust to. You get different scheming and different quarterbacks that can sometimes give you different opportunities to come up with big plays. We have to get better on third downs. They were 8-14 on third downs, and they had a third down and 12 and a third down and 7 when it was 21-3 and that game was almost over. You just have to be on with your zone drops and you have to make a tackle here and there. It is something we can work on, especially with that type of effort. That was as hard as we have played in a long time.”

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On if anyone called him and asked him why he went for two against the Chargers -- "Not really. I am pretty happy we made it though."

On if he was planning on attempting the two-point conversion ahead of time --
"We talked about it when we got the ball. I told these guys to get ready for it because if we score a touchdown, we are going for two. I just wanted to get it into the back of their mind. You can always back off of it if you want but I wanted them to be ready. If we scored, to go for two."

On attempting the two-point conversion to win the game --
"As I said before, you kind of have a gut feeling. We have a lot of confidence in our offense, offensive line, your receivers getting open and just coming into an important game. We only got about six plays in the third quarter and we had a bunch of plays in the fourth quarter that got our momentum going. I thought that with the coin flip, it was worth taking the chance."

On if it is in his personality to go for two in a win-lose situation --
"You go with your gut feeling. I remember the one time we were playing the Rams and we had the ball backed up right around the 30-yard line and we went for it on fourth and one. Our defense had been on the field for a long time. Was it a smart call? Probably no. You can kind of get a gut feeling with your football team and you just do what you think is right. I thought that was the right call and thankfully it worked."

On Chargers RB Darren Sproles --
"Sproles is one of the most underrated backs in the National Football League. He has great strength and great speed. When he caught that screen pass he ran away from a couple of our players that can run. He has strength, quickness, agility and if you make one mistake on kickoff coverage, he is gone. I have a lot of respect for him. It is a great one-two punch that they have."

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Shanahan, Cutler and Marshall Take the Podium

HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN

Opening comments --
"It sure was a good way to start. Any time you start on Monday night in the AFC West against the Raiders and you get a big win... But it's short lived because have to get ready for San Diego."

On WR Eddie Royals' play at Oakland --
"To be totally honest with you, that was part of our game plan. We were hoping that he would have a big night. You never know until you actually go out there and get it done. But as you mentioned, Eddie has been very consistent in practice. He's been very impressive since he's been here. To make something like that work your offensive line would have to play as significantly well as they did."

On being called contenders --
"You can call us whatever you want to. We are 1-0."

On devising a game plan with so many offensive weapons --
"I think that's what you want to be able to do. Not too many teams have that opportunity. When I was with San Francisco through some of our best years or here in Denver, you have to have a balanced attack. You can't have a weakness in any position to be one of the top offenses in the league. If you don't have any weaknesses, you got a chance to do something special."

On San Diego losing LB Shawne Merriman --
"Any time you lose a great player its tough, but it's the nature of the game. You're hoping that it doesn't happen at the same position to too many guys because if it does, obviously you will run out of players."

On scheming against San Diego's defense without Merriman --
"Any time you lose a Pro Bowl player is it easier? Sure it is, but does that mean another guy can't come in and play extremely well like Casey Wiegmann has done for us? That's the nature of the National Football League. Every team has depth. You know they thought enough of their back-up to award him with a new contract so they have a lot of confidence in him as well."

On how surprising it was to see Carolina's offense perform against San Diego's defense last week --
"It wasn't San Diego's normal game. They didn't play like they normally played. We know we are going to get their best shot. That was something that I have not seen them give up-250 yards in a half- before. They just didn't play at the level they normally played. They've got 10 Pro Bowl players on that team from a year before. They've got the same team the same scheme. They just didn't play at the level they normally played. We know they'll get to that level this week."

On San Diego QB Philip Rivers' actions on the sideline in Denver's game at San Diego last year --
"I don't get into that to be honest with you. That's history they beat us pretty good. The only thing I can remember is that we weren't in either game. They embarrassed us. Hopefully we will play a lot better than the last two games. There is a lot things don out on the football field. In competition you really don't what is said. The bottom line is whatever they did was between the lines. They kicked us pretty good."

On Broncos RB Andre Hall --
"You know it was really a tough situation. I talked to Dre (Bly) about 2:30 in the afternoon (on Monday) and went through on what he was going through with (Running Backs Coach) Bobby Turner and a couple of other guys. I told him I said, ‘Hey, I could understand if you can't play.' He said, ‘My mom is going to have the best seat in the house.' He wanted to play and it was tough time."

On QB Jay Cutler being hit on a scramble against the Raiders --
"I didn't see until the next day. I gave him a hard time about not turning it up field. He could've got the first down easy. I don't if he was thinking he was Bronko Nagurski going outside and inside trying to make a great run against an excellent athlete. He had the first and he took a shot on top of it."

On if C Tom Nalen will practice today and his return --
"Yes he will. We will get an idea to see what he can do. This is the first time he is able to come out and practice. He'll go through drill work and see if can take some scout team plays. It's going to take a while for him to get back into football shape. How long it will be, I really can't tell you. He's working out extremely well in the weight room and conditioning on the bike but football related drills are a lot different. So he'll be out there today and we'll get a chance to feel where he's at."


On how the defense will perform against San Diego's offensive weapons --
"For three quarters we held them (Oakland) scoreless and to 130 yards, but we didn't play the fourth quarter like we were capable of playing against them. We gave up 184 yards and 14 points and two fourth down conversions. We got to play a whole football game, something in which our team is well aware of. This is a team that has a lot of strengths. They have a great running game and passing game. The quarterback has a great field of coverage on how to read. The kid throws the ball pretty quickly. So it will be a good test. We didn't give them a game last year. Hopefully we'll be able to do that this year."

On the offensive line's performance --
"I felt pretty good about our offensive line through the preseason. Now it's not going to be perfect every week, but you get a good feel of your football team through the OTAs and preseason games and how they are handling themselves. This will be great challenge this week. Not that it wasn't last week as well, but you know we are going to gain experience and a lot of confidence in our offensive line even though their young. We do have some talent we have the right mind set and hopefully it will show when we play the games."

On what it will mean to the offense to get WR Brandon Marshall back --
"Well it's always good to have your starters. If you lose a key guy its always tough. When you lose great players, it's tough to play at the level that you like to play at, but it's going to happen. We talked about these things during the off season that through the season it's going to happen to starters and back ups the great teams are able to play at a certain level when they lose some of those guys. That's why I was pleased when we lost Brandon on how we stepped up as a unit offensively, defensively, and special teams. It's good to get Brandon back and get him back in football shape after a weeks rest. Hopefully he will be playing at the same level that he was playing in the preseason.

On WR Eddie Royal --
"He's a pretty talented kid. He's fast and quick when comes out of the break. He has good hands. For those defensive backs, it wouldn't take them very long to realize that he's got the speed to beat you deep and make them give up the big play. Hall is an experienced guy. We had a number of times that we had time and jay had him a number of times. Hopefully we can give him that time and we can get some big plays out of him."

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For a look at the game from the Raiders view, check out SilverandBlackPride

HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN

On the first week of the regular season --
"It's enjoyable. You look forward to it ever year. We have been working throughout the offseason-obviously the OTAs, summer camp. We have gotten a chance to see our team in live situations. We have a lot of young players playing on Monday night, and I'm looking forward to it."

On whether playing without WR Brandon Marshall will change the game plan against the Raiders --
"I don't think Brandon will dictate the (complexity) of our game plan. We have some young players, so it might not be as deep as it normally is, but we have enough to show up and play."

On Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell --
"He hasn't played a lot, so we haven't seen a lot of him. We have watched a lot (of him) on film. He has played in one game as a starter and played in four other games. Like all other young quarterbacks, it's a growing process. You know how talented he is, being the first pick in the draft. Everybody knows his size, his arm strength and him being a No. 1 pick. So he has a big, big upside and he has a good supporting cast around him.

"He was practicing the whole season, so that is sometimes better than playing-you get some good reps in practice and a chance to grow with an offensive system. He played enough to feel, I would think, somewhat confident in the offensive system, and he played extremely well in his one start against San Diego. Hopefully he doesn't play that well Monday night."

On Raiders RB Darren McFadden --
"He is averaging over five yards a carry, I think 5.4. He has had a good preseason. The have given him a lot of reps and he is a weapon. He has great speed and everybody knows what he did in college. He is going to try to do that at the pro level. They are very coordinated in their offensive line. They went from 29th in the NFL in 2006 to sixth in 2007 (in rushing). That's a big, big jump. There is no other team that made that type of jump. They are running the zone blocking scheme very, very well. They have a lot of confidence in it and they are very well-coordinated, so he is going to a system that gives him a chance."

On why the media is not predicting big things from the Broncos --
"We understand why they are. When you take a look at where we were at last year, both offensively, defensively and special teams-wise, why would they pick us? We have to go out there and prove ourselves each week. We are a young football team and we just have to go out and get it done. If you win games then you get the attention you deserve."

On whether there is extra motivation playing the first game on Monday night --
"The first game of the season is always big, especially in the AFC West on the road on Monday night. It's a big first game for us. We get a chance to showcase our team on national television... It's something that we look forward to."

On Broncos TEs Nate Jackson and Tony Scheffler --
They are both football players. You have guys who are very competitive. We have three tight ends (Jackson, Scheffler and TE Daniel Graham) who can play, and it's a good weapon to have. You can go into a game plan with a three-tight end set or a two-tight end set and not skip a beat. Not very many teams have the luxury to have three tight ends like we do. All three will dress and all three will play."

On how Scheffler has improved in his blocking --
"Tony has done a good job. He has improved every year. He is not at the level of Daniel Graham, but he has improved drastically from when he first started."

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