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BB: No changes on the injury report. We are going to work outside today, but put a little noise in the outdoor fields. We have not obviously been to Invesco yet, but reports are that it is loud there. I thought it helped us a little bit last week with Indianapolis, so we will stay with it again today. That is pretty much it. The Broncos are a real good red area team, offensively they are one of the best in the league. That will be a real challenge for us. We will start to work on that today. Also third down defensively in the third and less than five, less than six type areas there. They are also one of the best in the league in those situations so you usually think, I'm sorry more than five, they are one of the best in the league, so what we are obviously trying to do is keep the yardage situations down a little bit on third down because they have had a lot of success with their third down sub package, which is kind of a unique one. Knocking people out of there on third down unless people have been able to get the yardage short and then they have done a little bit better against it, but they are a good third down defensive team and they are a good red area offensive team in terms of getting the ball in the end zone. Those are two more challenges that we have to fight this week.
Q: In training camp red area production on both sides of the ball was a concern. Why has the production improved so much?
BB: Yeah that's one of the biggest improvements that we made from last year, both sides of the ball. We put some time into it. I think that schematically we feel like that we have a couple of things that are helping us, but also the players have executed well in that area and that's really what it comes down to. Everything you do in the red area just happens faster. The ball gets thrown quicker. The receivers are open for a briefer period of time. It all happens in a hurry. If there are any holes to run the ball in they usually close a lot quicker. And defensively it is the same thing. The ball gets thrown quicker; the routes are faster, everything happens quicker. Crossers go, they're two yards, you can't afford it down there. Two yards out on the field, that's nothing. It's just I think the understanding the pace of the game when it gets closer to the goal line and being able to react quicker and being more confident that you know what to do and you are doing the right thing and match on it in a hurry. That's really where the emphasis has been is just to try to play faster and quicker down there.
Q: How's Seymour doing?
BB: Richard's doing better. He did a little bit in practice today, or yesterday rather, did a little bit in practice. I talked to him this morning, we'll try to see if we can do a little bit more today and tomorrow and see where we are at for the game.
Q: Have you defined his best spot yet?
BB: Well I think he can definitely play inside for us and help us between the guards, anywhere in there between the guards, I think he's done a real good job. He can also play on the tackle. We've had him do that, but I think he's probably been better closer to the center for us, but I think there's no question he can play on the tackle too.
Q: Will Terry Glenn try to practice today?
BB: Will he try? I mean you'll have to ask him.
Q: Do you expect him to practice?
BB: He didn't do much yesterday. So if he is the same as he was yesterday, then I'd say he won't do much. If it's better then maybe he'll do a little more.
Q: Does that surprise you since he said he wanted to play last week?
BB: I don't know if surprised is the right word.
Q: What would be?
BB: Give me the thesaurus and let me flip through it. I don't know. I don't know what the right word would be. Surprised would not be it though.
Q: What has Roman Phifer added to your team?
BB: Roman's got a real good package. He's a very experienced player. He's a very smart player. So he brings the experience and the ability to pick up things quickly and understand defensive concepts. That's a very valuable piece to the puzzle defensively. Even though he is a linebacker, he's athletically kind of like a safety. He runs well. He's got good quickness. He can play in space and cover receivers and that kind of thing. So he gives us a good player that can cover at linebacker, whereas most of our linebackers probably the strength of their game is in the running game or pass rushing as opposed to coverage and playing in space. So he's a nice compliment to those other guys there with experience and real know-how and is an instinctive football player. He's picked up things quickly and I think he's got a good personality and a good way about him where he gets along pretty well with everybody and at the same time is well respected. You know I think he's good for the chemistry of your team.
Q: Has it been tough to keep things in perspective having won three out of four? Have some guys been getting a little swelled up?
BB: I don't think there's too much to get all that swelled up about. I mean we are three and three. So winning three out of four is good and losing the first two wasn't good. We're six games into the year and we are .500 and that's not a goal for us. Of course when we were one and three it was. I think that we'reā¦what I have tried to emphasize to the team and I think talking to some of the leaders on the team that we totally understand that we are right where we were six weeks ago. We were zero and zero and now we are three and three. We dug ourselves into a hole. We were fortunate to be able to dig out because it was pretty early in the year. We are in a competitive position now. I wouldn't say we've got a strangle hold on anything, but we are in a competitive position. If we can move that forward and get into an advantageous position, then I think that will help us in the second half or the last third of the year. If we dig ourselves into another hole, then at this point in time it will be a lot harder to dig out of just because there are fewer games. So that's the way I've approached it and I think that's the way talking to a lot of guys on the team that they think of it too. I mean I can't speak for everybody, but my general feeling is that's the way we feel about it. We haven't accomplished anything. We are three and three.
Q: Do you sense that the team is developing some consistency, do you see that arriving now?
BB: I see some signs of it, the proof will be in the pudding though whether we can do it continuous weeks, but being able to do it on the road last week I think was a step for us, three out of four weeks that we have had consistency in some parts of the game. We were bad on the kicking game and then that got better. We played well on defense in a couple of those games and then didn't play well. Offensively we didn't play well in Miami, but were able to score some points in the other three games. We would like to keep that on a consistent level and on a good plane. There are some signs of it, but I think two or three weeks isn't really enough to say that we have arrived yet. If we can continue to string them together then, then I think we will have something, but right now there are some signs, but the results aren't totally in.
Q: Is there something that you are looking for to show that they are ready for the next step for developing the consistency that you want?
BB: Winning consistently. Basically what you need to do to win in this league is you need to having a winning record in your division and you need to have a winning record against the common opponents which for us this year is the NFC West, that is the team that everybody plays. So those 12 games right there, I mean there is a little bit of fluctuation in that NFC West schedule, but a lot of it there is carryover on and in the end all the teams are going to play those 12 games. Then you throw in the other ones, they are all important, but those 12, having a winning record in the NFC games and then having a winning record in the AFC East games, if you can do that then I think you are either going to be in the money or pretty close to being in the money depending on what happens in the other four. If you don't do well in those games, if you have a losing record in the division and have a losing record against the NFC, which is what happened last year we were 0-4 against the NFC and had a losing record in the division, then the chances of being in the money, you don't have much going for you. You don't have enough wins, you don't have any tiebreaker advantages, you just don't have enough going for you in that situation. That has been our goal from all the way back in mini camp. To have a winning record in the division, to have a winning record against the NFC, that will give us a chance to win the division and to be in the playoffs.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about Joe Andruzzi and what he has done this season, enduring some adversities and making it through, from his brother and his knee and now he is not even on the injury report and the juxtapose between him and a guy like Glenn?
BB: After what Joe did two weeks ago from Miami to San Diego it is hard to even put him on the injury report. If he is walking, looks like he is playing. Joe has shown tremendous resiliency this year from the personal situation that he went through in September and the injury that he had in Miami. He missed some time early in the year too in training camp when his back tightened up on him a little bit and that was another one where he probably came back a little sooner than other people would have or maybe some people thought that he would, maybe with what the prognostication was. He just kind of willed his way back in there and played with that back brace and looked pretty uncomfortable doing, but just wouldn't come out of there. When you talk about leadership you can't really get any higher form of leadership than that. Some guys stand up and can give a team speech and all of that, but to go out there and play and play hard when everything is not perfectly right for you that shows toughness, it shows courage, it shows leadership, it shows commitment to the team and that is probably the highest level you can do it on. Then to be able to go out there and play well on top of all of that, not just show up and play, but actually show up and play well and play winning football that's pretty impressive and Joe is a pretty impressive guy.
Q: Do you wish more guys would take his example or are you getting more guys that are taking his example?
BB: I think we have a lot of players on our team that, it is not that I would wish anybody would have back problems and knee problems and have family problems so that they can prove that they are tough enough to go through that, but I think we have a lot of tough guys on this team. Guys that are committed, guys that will put the team first and will sacrifice personally some things that they need to sacrifice for the team to be successful. I think we have some other guys that aren't there yet. Maybe they will be there, maybe they won't. You are never going to have, I don't think, I have never been on a team where every single guy, they're are all at the same level in area of skill, area of toughness, leadership, mental mistakes, consistency. I mean anytime you get a group of people together you are going to have a fluctuation there, but I do think it has been a good example. I think we have some other players that have done that, particularly the last two or three weeks, guys that have been less then 100 percent, but they sucked it up, they played hard, they played well and they haven't missed anytime, they just played through it. Not just Joe, but Joe is certainly a great example that you can point to.
Q: With Terrell Davis being 50/50 how big of a wild card is that in preparing for them? Does it make a difference whether it is him or one of their other running backs?
BB: I don't know every time they put one in there one guy looks better than the next. I don't know which one of those three guys is the best to tell you the truth. They all look pretty good to me. I am glad that only one of them can get the ball at a time. Terrell is a great back and there is no question that he has tremendous power and is a good one read, one cut runner and he runs over people and can make big plays, but I can't take anything away from [Mike] Anderson or [Olandis] Gary. I think Gary has looked real good this year. He has shown good ability as a cutback runner and shows good vision and real good quickness through the hole. I think only really the people that are on the field with all three of those guys at the same time, the people from the Broncos, they are probably the only ones that really know which guy is a little bit better than the other guy. Maybe one guy has the strength that the other guy doesn't have or vice versa because trying to defend them, looking at them, all three of them look pretty good to me. It is hard for me to put one over another there, they all look good.
Q: Is Drew okay after throwing a little bit yesterday?
BB: Yeah, I talked to him this morning he didn't have any negative reaction.
Q: Can you tell us exactly how much he threw?
BB: Well he didn't throw where there was any chance of contact. So he threw, it was just him and the receivers and that kind of situation. He didn't throw in any team drills where anybody could inadvertently bang into him or have inadvertent contact. Not that we have contact with the quarterbacks anyway, we don't try to have it, but sometimes it just happens. I don't think he is ready for that situation yet, but he threw on his own. He threw to receivers without any kind of rush.
Q: Is he ready to increase that at all or will that take some time?
BB: Oh yeah, I think we will just gradually go through it. We are not going to go from one day throwing to receivers to putting him into a team situation the next day, but he can do a little bit more. He can just start to build on that and we will take a look at it after a couple of days and see what the doctors say. If the doctors let him take the next step then we will take the next step. Whenever he is cleared to do that and as long as he is feeling positive about it and not having any problems then we will move forward with it.
Q: What would you say he threw like 100 balls, 200 balls, 15 minutes, a half-hour?
BB: I wouldn't say 200, between 75 and 100, I don't know somewhere in there is probably about right.
Q: Is there a point where you would shut him down?
BB: Yeah, medically if the doctors say that we need to back off then we will back off.
Q: At what point?
BB: They are the doctors, I don't know. I am not sure exactly what would trigger that. I couldn't tell you.