Potent Quotables - The Day After - Jaguars 24 - Broncos 17

Quotes Provided By The Denver Broncos P.R. Staff

Opening Comments

"Well, certainly (we're) disappointed in the result yesterday. There were certainly some positives offensively and defensively in the game but not enough in a close game against a good team ultimately to result in a victory. I thought our offense moved the ball most of the day - (we) had one three-and-out but third down was an issue - gave up three sacks, had some penalties there that hurt us on third down. We only had one negative run all day but we feel like we left a lot of yards on the field in the running game where we had some plays (where we) either blocked well and didn't see it exactly the way we need to see it or could have blocked it better based on the opportunity that we were presented and didn't quite get that done. And then, the one turnover early in the game stalled a pretty good drive that we had going at the time and that kind of hurt our opportunity there to score points early in the game. Defensively, we knew that they would give the ball to (RB Maurice) Jones-Drew a bunch - and they did. (We) feel like we played the running game hard, we were physical - we let too many things bounce outside for easy yardage. When they tried to go up inside - which they like to do a lot - I felt like we played it stout, didn't give up the kind of production that I'm sure they were looking for inside, but they found another way to get it. (We're) certainly disappointed in the fact that we gave up three touchdown passes - two of them right there in the fringe outside the red zone and then one on the touchdown pass to the corner there to (TE Mercedes) Lewis in the red zone. (QB David) Garrard had a good day - we didn't harass him enough, didn't get enough pressure on him and he found the guys that he wanted to throw to and made plays. Again, give them credit, they did a lot of good things in the game. They played it pretty much how they thought they would. We figured it would be a close one going into the fourth quarter because that's how they played a lot of their games last year and in the past and we didn't make enough plays there in the end to win. In the kicking game, certainly felt like we didn't play nearly as well as we wanted to or as we have played in the past. Our kickoff coverage unit didn't do a nearly good enough job of containing their return game. I know they had two big returns in the kickoff return (unit) that led to scores and then another big one (in) the punting game too. Overall, (we) didn't complement one another in the three phases as much as we needed to and in close games against good teams like that, that's ultimately what decides the outcome."

On the play of the young offensive linemen

"I thought they played tough. They didn't always do the right thing - I think we figured that that would be the case on a handful of plays where they gave us some funky looks that (we) haven't seen or practiced against. But, that's part of the game and they're going to have to adjust to those quicker as we go forward. I thought (OL J.D.) Walton handled himself well inside - was very tough, physical in there and certainly he'll get better as he plays more. (OL) Zane (Beadles) was in there against some good pass rushers and again, allowed some pressures and some issues in the pocket there that we'll have to try to limit as we go forward here. (OL) Stanley (Daniels) played physical, played tough - again, didn't always do everything right but I think that's some of the growing pains that we're going to have to go through with a younger group up front - again, we only allowed one negative run for negative-1 yard, so that was a positive thing against a team that tries to really create negative runs by stunting and getting in the gaps and those kinds of things. All-in-all, not terrible there's certainly room for improvement though."

On keeping QB Kyle Orton in the game while using QB Tim Tebow

"First of all, that (wasn't) the Wildhorse formation. The Wildhorse would be with a halfback in there. Again, we had (QB) Tim (Tebow) on the field and Kyle threw the ball and completed passes and all the rest of it and it's harder to match the personnel because you're not sure who is going to line up at quarterback who's not. Again, it was just a portion of the game plan that we wanted to go ahead and put in there and if it gave us some benefits, great. Again, we threw a pass or two out of it, completed them - a couple runs, didn't do much with those but again, going into the game, we didn't have it as a significant portion of what we were going to do and we just (wanted to) see how it affected them and if it gave us some positive plays, we'd stay in it longer, if it didn't, we didn't."

On whether he's concerned about QB Kyle Orton losing his rhythm when he is not under center

"Kyle never came out of the game and he was the one calling every play because when you're out there with two quarterbacks, only one of them can hear the call. You can't have two headsets out there at the same time. Kyle's rhythm, I don't think, was affected by that at all. Like I said, he was in the game the entire time. We've done that before where we've split him out of the backfield and he's the one calling the offense the entire time. Again, if we decided to do something other than that we'd have to consider (his rhythm), but I don't think yesterday was an issue."

On the importance of Orton keeping his rhythm

"I don't think I have any desire to do that with Kyle coming off the field, coming on the field, coming off... I don't think that's really something that we're looking to do much of. Like I said yesterday after the game, I think our quarterback played pretty well. I think he will play well. (I have) great confidence in his ability to execute what we're doing so we'd have to have something that would force us to make a decision like that and feel really good about it."

On Orton leading the league with five completions of 25-plus yards

"I think again, we've addressed some of those things in the spring. We feel like we've practiced some of those things more with the same guys this year. We addressed trying to (throw the ball downfield more) in training camp. Certainly that is a strength of (WR) Brandon (Lloyd). Brandon Lloyd has kind of a knack for catching those balls down the field on the sideline which he did yesterday. He did it all training camp and all spring - (WR Jabar) Gaffney has done the same thing. I think our comfort level with those patterns against specific coverages allows (QB) Kyle (Orton) to feel better about doing that and he did what he's been doing, really all spring and all training camp, which is trying to take advantage of some of those one-on-one matchups."

On the Jaguars' passing game

"They're an inside-passing team and I think they had three completions right inside there that gave them 70 yards and one was for the score and I think a couple other ones were big plays on third down which was disappointing because we really focused and talked a lot about how that's where (QB David Garrard) preferred to throw the football, was inside, and he did. There were other times in the game where he was trying to go in there and really we kind of took it away from him a bit and then he dumped the ball off but we limited the opportunities. Again, he's a good player. He knows what he wants to do, he rarely puts them in a bad situation - and he didn't yesterday - and he capitalized on the opportunities that we gave him and made some big plays."

On the Broncos' pass rush

"We had some opportunities there on third-down situations where we blitzed a number of different people. We either hit him or hurried him a little bit and then we had the one sack - the situations against those teams like Jacksonville that really kind of play with base personnel in there quite a bit where you've got to defend the run first most of the time because of who they hand it to a lot - those are situations where you're not really pass rushing a whole lot anyways. When we got them in third-and-long situations, we went ahead and came after them a little bit, and like I said we did create some pressure on them. We knocked them down a few times there in those situations. The trick is getting them in more passing situations where we know they have to throw it and they have to stand there and block whatever it is we throw at them. I don't think there was any lack of scheme in terms of trying to get there. It's just the amount of times you are presented with the opportunities to call those schemes that will work against you if you don't get then in those situations."

On moving on from a loss

"Certainly we're very disappointed that we didn't win yesterday. It's the first game of the season - there are 15 more to play, and again we did discuss handling adversity and understanding that not everything is going to be perfect all year long. Winning is a result of doing a lot of things right. Yesterday we did some things right, we just didn't do enough of them right and I think that if we understand what we need to improve and we can do that, then what matters is how we play and how effectively we do the things we want to try to do to win. If we can do better, then I think we'll get the result we've been looking for. I think we've got to try to have a positive attitude, certainly going forward - coach the corrections that we need to coach today, certainly, and then get ready for Seattle."