Rich Scangarello has an interesting take on halftime adjustments

Some Denver Broncos pressers have more interesting questions and comments than others and Friday was one of the most interesting ones - provided you ignored every question about Antonio freaking Brown and focused on things that matter.

Even Von Miller joked about the media obsession with that sideshow, saying he was given an over/under of five questions on Brown. He took the over and won, because he got six questions total - none of which are in this post.

However, with head coach Vic Fangio, offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello, and defensive coordinator Ed Donatell all meeting with the media on Friday, we were bound to get some good quotes from the trio.

Halftime adjustments are for losers

• Scangarello didn’t actually say halftime adjustments were for losers, but that is basically what he was saying when he talked about how one should approach adjustments in a game situation.

“If you’re waiting into halftime, in my opinion, to make adjustments in the NFL, you’re waiting too long. I think it’s how you communicate in between series that you’re always never wasting an opportunity because the possessions are so precious in the NFL. The game goes by quickly and there are so few plays. You need to be on top of it and it’s our job to see it. That’s one of the luxuries of being up in the box versus being on the field and getting that communicated to your assistants and your players. Making sure you’re on top of what they’re trying to dictate to you, so you can put the pressure on them.”

• Aside from that great quote, Scangarello dove into a question about the offensive line and the running game. Sure the Broncos landed Joe Flacco, but it certainly feels like this team will thrive if the running game spearheaded by Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman is consistently productive. Personally, I love that his goal is to focus on balance and commitment to get the run game going.

“The run system is always—when you’re doing things like we’re doing, it’s about getting the backs opportunities. If you give up on it, sometimes it can look sluggish, but eventually it’ll pop. When you don’t take a lot of preseason reps, when you don’t do a lot of live action, sometimes the run game takes some time to get flowing. It could be a quarter, it could be a half, it could be a game. You don’t know that, but you can’t give up on it. I think our goal is always to be balanced and I look forward to trying to make that happen on Monday night.”

• As a little side note, it sure seems like Fangio has complete faith in Scangarello to run the offense, and I really read his comments on how much of a hand he has in the offensive game plan as a sign that Fangio has given Scangarello free reign to run that offense.

“I go in and out of their meeting and talk with [Offensive Coordinator] Rich [Scangarello]—Intermittently.”

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Andrew Beck is your starting fullback until Andy Janovich returns

• Vic Fangio confirmed what we all knew when the Broncos claimed Andrew Beck after he was released by the New England Patriots. He’s going to play fullback.

“He’s a fullback for us. That’s where we’re playing him. It’s not a big deal because that’s what he played in New England all camp was fullback so he’s just picking up right where he left off for us.”

Inside linebacker is a position that is in flux

• It is unlikely that Todd Davis will be ready to play on Monday, which leaves the Broncos in a precarious situation inside on that defense. Donatell alluded to the fact that even the coaching staff isn’t sure who is going to fill that role in Week 1.

“We’ll be confident with what we put in place. It’s yet to be determined. We’re trying some combinations. In Game 1, there’s always some roster adjustments at the end and this is a year where we’re doing some of those as we work through our preparation.”

• Fangio also noted that the plan is to have several players sharing the load at the inside linebacker position.

“They’re will be a bunch of guys in there sharing the duties.”

Fangio seems to be a pretty damn good leader

• All offseason, we heard how Fangio coached and worked with others. By all accounts, I like what I am hearing and what I have seen. This tidbit from Scangarello about what he has learned from Fangio is particularly good.

“Honestly, he’s helped me grow in ways I probably couldn’t have imagined before I got here. One, just practicing against him every day and his style of defense is very difficult. Aside from the talent, the scheme itself is a very—it’s a challenge. That helps you grow as a play caller and in developing your offense. And then just the situations he likes to practice, he’s so on top of game management and the things he asks of you. He’s just really asking a lot of you to be on top of it—players and coaches—and that helps just elevate our game. In those critical situations, you’re just kind of trusting what you’ve been doing in practice. You’ve seen it be successful and you can execute it in a game because you believe in it.”

• Von Miller continued to reiterate the kind of teacher Fangio is and how his attention to detail sets him apart from others.

“He’s a teacher so he’s going to teach every scheme, every element of the game not only just defense or offense, but scenarios. He’s going to teach it to you. You have to be a smart player to play in Coach Fangio’s defense and really to be successful in the National Football League. You have to study. You have to be on top of stuff. It’s not just a game plan that you get, and you look at it and, ‘This is my game plan.’ You have to stay on top of it every single day and go over it and refine techniques and schemes.”

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Just win, baby - for the Broncos, not the Raiders

• Scangarello and the Broncos, in general, are just focused on finding a way to win. Scangarello hopes to see Joe Flacco find the right guys in the right position to put enough points on the board to win. That’s his expectation from Flacco in this game.

“Again, the ultimate goal is to find a way to win. Regardless of the score and the output of the offense, it’s to take care of the football and to help people around you be better players by putting them in the right position whether it’s throwing accurately or getting us in the right play. Just being a great leader and I think he’s done a great job of that. He’s had a great week of practice and we’ll see how it goes on Monday night. You never know how it’s going to play out, but I feel good with where he’s at and I look forward to seeing him on Monday night. Excited about the opportunity.”

• Von stuck with the ol “Just win, baby’”kind of mantra. Except in this case, it’s going into Oakland and taking their ‘Just win, baby’ slogan and shoving it down their throats for the L. I added all of that, Von just wants to win and play good defense. Which is fine by me too.

“You just have to win. I wish I had the key, that’s what we would do. Every single time you just have to go out there and play solid defense just like any away game. You’ve got to play solid offense, solid defense and you can’t really let the home team control the game. If they do that, it’s over. That’s all I’ve really got. You’ve got to out there and play defense.”