05-16-24 Hour 1 of Broncos Country Tonight

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome into Broncos Country tonight on KOAeight fifty am and ninety four to one
FM. I'm Eric Dalala from DenverBroncos dot Com film in for Benjamin Albright,
who is out tonight. We gotNick ferguson a Hall of Famer Steve
Atwater in the building with us tonight. Hey, I'm telling you, I
am impressed. I've never seen ad in this position here on radio.

(00:22):
This is impressed in the radio righthere, especially when you run a days.
Well, I'll tell you this.We've we've worked, but this is
the third time working together. No, this is the first time. Just
we're gonna say this is the firsttime. So Steve's more impressed. Oh
okay, so this is our firsttime working together. But yeah, it
is a tough job. He canbe, but man, he knocks it

(00:44):
out of the park every single time. There we go. All right,
we got three hours to praise me. But I know that people probably want
to hear about the Broncos schedule aswell. It was released yesterday. Some
exciting games on that schedule. Steve, when you look at it, what's
stands out to you? First andforemost? Oh, first and foremost.

(01:06):
We got to go to Seattle againfor two times out of three years old
this season up. Now, allthe drama won't be there with Russ,
but uh, you know still Ithink there's gonna be a good football game
for us to start out with.Also, man the Chiefs. Uh,
not only let me get I'm gonnaget to the Chiefs, but playing the

(01:29):
AFC North, you know that that'sgonna be a nice stretch there when we
got to play against the Ravens,we got the Browns, we got Cincinnati,
and we got the Steelers. Andthe Steelers are coming to us,
aren't they? They are Week twohome opener, the Pittsburgh Steelers. We
think Russell Wilson. I mean everyone'stalking about, Hey, this is Russell
Wilson coming back to Denver. He'sgot to beat out Justin Fields and Pittsburgh

(01:51):
first, which I know everyone's thinkingas a fore gone conclusion, But Mike
Tomlin's not saying it's a fore goneconclusion. So I'm I'm just putting a
little as risk there that really doesit matter? Even if if Russ is
not the quarterback. You know howthe fans are going to react anyway,
They're going to be booze because there'sa story rivalry between the Broncos and the

(02:15):
Pittsburgh stillers, you know, datingback to when Peyton Manning and John Elway
play, even when I play,because it's just those two franchises are always
at the bitter end where they're fightingfor playoff position and for the right to
go to Super Bowl. Now weektwo, obviously that's not going to be
the case. But I mean Russdid not leave on you know, I

(02:36):
guess good reasons, so fans willstill a little upset, and whether he's
starting or not, they're gonna lethim know. Yeah, it obviously would
be a more exciting game if Russis starting. And I do think sitting
here right now in May, beforewe get to training camp and all that
that, it's all it's likely thatRuss is going to be the guy,
Steve when you think about that matchupfrom a football PETI having Russ come back,

(03:00):
it will be a new offense forhim. It's a good, a
really good Pittsburgh defense. Typically thoseteams are always well coached under Mike Tomlin,
and that's gonna be, in mymind, a difficult game whether or
not Russ is the quarterback. Ornot. But when you look at it
from a football perspective, just whatsort of challenges that? Well, I

(03:23):
would say that as as a team. I know that when I looked at
the schedule as a player, Ididn't really go down the listening, oh
man, we got it. Wegot Pittsburgh the second week. It's the
schedule, is what it is.So from a player's now stand by I'm
knowing not a player it any longer, But from a player standpoint, I
would imagine they're wondering, what's allthe hoopla about? They get they got

(03:46):
to play the game regardless, youknow, if it's going outside, if
it's reigning, if it's ninety degreesoutside, they got to play the game.
Uh So I don't think it's sucha big deal to the players,
But yeah, people make a big, a huge deal a lot of this
whole whole situation with you know,when we play teams, who's on the

(04:08):
team all It doesn't matter though,Yeah, and I mean even year to
year, right Nick, the turnoverfrom roster to roster, Like a bunch
of the guys that played with Russlast year aren't here anymore and we're just
a few months rose. I mean, Jerry Judy's not here anymore, Justin
Simmons, Josie Jewell. I mean, you can keep going down the list.

(04:28):
There's a bunch of new guys onthe roster along the defensive line,
offensively, got some new receivers.I mean, it's a different thing.
It's a different group, even thoughit's going to be nine months after they
played a game together. And sothat's where Steve, I think you're right.
The schedule and all these matchups andthe narratives is a fan thing,

(04:49):
right, more than a player thing. Maybe I would say it is.
It's both because let's talk about froma fans standpoint, trying to figure out
which game that you're going to goto. From an away standpoint, and
the reason why these schedules mean somuch more now than maybe they did years
ago because fantasy football. Everyone isengaged from a fantasy football fans. They

(05:15):
could be diehard Broncos fans, buthave DeVante Adams from the Raiders on that
fantasy team, so they are kindof entangled in the web of football.
Like that's why when you think aboutstreaming and how the league is playing so
many games of streaming services, fanshave to watch even if they don't want
to stream the service, they're stillgoing to do it. From a players

(05:39):
standpoint, yeah, Eric, likeyou said, this is a roster that
has a lot of new faces anda lot of new faces who are going
to be started for the first time. As a player, you want to
make sure that you're not only ableto compete against the guys in your room
in your building. Well, youwant to be able to go out on
a Sunday, Thursday night and Mondaynight and really show other fans outside the

(06:02):
market that you still can compete.And let's be totally honest, there are
a lot of indiviewual from a nationaland local standpoint that are not looking at
the Broncos as being somewhat of aplayoff contender. And I understand why that
is the case. But you wantthe guys to go out and compete and
the Broncos finally have their quarterback ofthe future. No matter how the season

(06:26):
winds down, we're gonna get achance to see a lot of bow Knicks
and what he could potentially bring tothe organization. So that's why the schedule
means a little something to the playersand the fans alike. I have gret
What positions do you think will bemost impacted by the changes. I know

(06:47):
we're gonna have a new center becauseLloyd Chustienberry is no longer here. It's
gonna be a nice battle with thereceivers. Jerry Judy not being here anymore
courtless sudden he's holding out right now. We're not one hundred percent sure where
that's going to go. Hopefully he'shere. He's here. We know he's
one of the starters. But whatposition is most interesting to you guys in

(07:12):
terms of new guys and also acompetition. We obviously it's it's quarterback,
because I know it is probably themost obvious one I know. But I'm
just saying because that position affects everyoneelse. We're talking about the new Vercina.
No, no, I'm going toimpact it. No, I agree.
Agree. But would you say thatbecause of the Broncos drafting bow Knicks

(07:39):
in the first round, that amajority of Broncos country is thinking that brow
Nicks is going to be the start, starting quarterback. Absolutely, because that
is always the consensus when a playerat that position is taken in the first
first round, whether it's ten orsix, whatever it is. The idea
is that you were drafted for areason. And knowing though the Broncos really

(08:00):
don't have a Day one quarterback becauseZach Wilson was traded right before well Knicks
was drafted. The incumbent is JarifStidham. But you still have to say,
okay, well, if there wasa lot of confidence in Steadham,
why those two moves. So youhave to figure that everyone's rooting for Bownicks
to be that guy. Yeah,yeah, I mean at some point or

(08:20):
another, bo Nix is going toget a chance to be the guy.
We'll see if it's week one,we'll see if it takes a little bit
more time. But certainly they draftedhim because they think he can be the
guy. They see all the necessarypieces there, and you don't just take
a guy in the first round andthen not give him that chance. And
I'm not going to go crazy theway that I've seen some tweets out there.

(08:41):
But he did look good. Hewas in rookie Minni camp and he
made some nice throws, quick,decisive, made good decisions. I mean
in things that you want to seeat rookie mini camp. And it's just
rookie mini camp, right so let'snot make it more than it needs to
be. But it was encouraging,I thought, And so we'll see how
it all plays out during training campin the preseason, but I would think

(09:03):
that sooner rather than later, you'reprobably going to see bo Nicks out on
the field leading this team because thatto me, we talk about the schedule
and which games are important, whichones are exciting, what's the toughest stretch.
To me, this season is allabout can you get bo Nicks ready
for Hey, if it's a runthis year toward the playoffs, great,
great, But moving forward, wekeep hearing the Broncos talk about and we've

(09:26):
heard Greg Penner say this, GeorgePeyton, Sean Payton, we're building for
the future, but we also wantto be competitive now. And so part
of this is trying to be competitivenow but making sure that moving forward you
have that guy in bow that canget you back to where this franchise expects
to be. But that is theoperative word competitive, right You want the

(09:50):
team to be competitive. You wantevery single week Bob touches the field.
If he's started that you can seewhat we saw when he was a member
of the Oregon Ducks. You wantto see growth from week to week,
even if that means though it endsup in the Broncos loss by six points
and three points, what's their growth? Are there things that you can build

(10:11):
on and as players? That makesyou really optimistic about the people upstairs making
their decisions about the players that theyhave recently assembled, by the quarterback that
they're saying he is the future ofthe organization. You want to see growth
because I didn't play with Elway.You did, but I played with Jake

(10:31):
Cutler and Jake Plumber, and everyweek we saw something great for either guy
when they were in and especially JakePlummer. It made you want to go
out and do your job as adefender and play well. Study Well,
that's what the Broncos are hoping,in my opinion, to get out of
this season. Yeah, and there'sgoing to be some competition at that position,

(10:52):
don't. I don't think that bowKnicks is just going to be handed
that position. No, he's not. And I would say that that Zach
Wilson. He's pretty motivated as wellto show people that hey he's not a
bust. You know, he's thesecond pick in the draft. What how
many years ago? Three years ago, come on, and I don't think

(11:13):
that many people made it in errorin judgment. So I believe it's gonna
be some great competition in camp.And I just don't think that it's a
shoe in that Bow will be startingthe first game now eventually, willly,
obviously, I think so. ButI think that it's gonna be some great

(11:35):
competition and iron sharp and sharp asiron. They're gonna make each other better,
and that's gonna make the team better. They're gonna make the defense better
because they're gonna be throwing some accuratepasses, Receivers gonna be catching some great
passes, and they're gonna make thewhole team better. The great thing about
adding competition at every position that it'ssupposed to make everyone better. And I

(11:58):
know everyone's for jobs, but I'vebeen in places before where I've been fighting
for jobs with other guys and weit's almost like you breaking your rule.
Because when I was coming up asa young player, some older players wouldn't
do what I'm about to tell you, which is share information with the young
guys you're competing with, right,because it's like, well, we are

(12:20):
all on the same team, we'refighting for a job. But if Steve
plays, well, guess what Ihave to do. If I'm trying to
fight to make the team. IfI'm Jel Skinner, I have to up
my ante. So that means justguess what. PJ. Locke has to
elevate his level will play. KaydenStearns has to evlate to excuse me,
elevate his level play. Brandon Jones, I think that's his name, Brandon
Jones. They all have to taketheir game to new heights. So that's

(12:45):
gonna make the overall team that muchbetter. It's going to make the decision
when the coaches get in the roomand they sit down and say, okay,
well let's put our roster together.Who do we have and are too
deep? Right? You want tomake sure as a player that you make
it so tough on those coaches whenthey get in those meetings, And for
me, I can't wait to seewhat that quarterback room is like from a

(13:05):
relationship standpoint, each guy leaning onthe other guy to somewhat help them out,
because at the end of the day, the Broncos could have all three
of those quarterbacks on this roster.I agree, I agree, and I
think that's important. Well, hereyou talk about older guys helping out,
mentoring even as it's a competition,and maybe, you know, we hear

(13:26):
different things from veterans. Some sayit's a younger guy's job to come to
me and take notes on my jobto help them. I mean, you're
all sorts of different things. Thatguy doesn't really exist in the Broncos quarterback
room at the moment, right.I mean Davis Webb, who is the
coach, is the closest thing toa veteran in that room. I mean
Chared Stidams obviously played. He's beenin the league four or five years,

(13:46):
but from a playing perspective, hasn'tstarted all that many games. Yeah,
Zach has Moore starts in the NFL, but he's coming into a new system
on the same page as bo,so there's no advantage there in terms of
learning Sean Payton's system. And Ithink back to the owner's meetings back in
you know, end of March,Sean Payte was I think he was asked

(14:07):
about quarterbacks learning from veterans, andI think it was specific to Jordan Love
and he basically talked about the benefitof if there's that veteran there to teach
a young quarterback, then it canmake sense to sit. But if that
veteran is not necessarily in place herein Denver, and Bo goes out,
and there's gonna be very specific.You know, you got there and you

(14:30):
chart throws and oh, this guythrew a pick. This guy completed seven
of eleven passes. This guy completedeight of twelve passes. Sean Payton's made
it pretty clear what he's looking for. He's looking for good decisions, don't
take sacks, exacts, don't turnthe ball over. I mean, those
are the things that he accuracy.I mean, those are the things that
he's gonna want to see. Andso I think it's going to be Obviously,

(14:50):
you wanted to be a close competitivesituation where each guy has a good
day and then kind of makes theirclaim, but I think it's going to
be clear at some point like thisis the guy based on what they're doing
out there. And I think Bosegot just as good a chance as any
of them, even though he's arookie, because he started so many games
in college and has all this experience, and Zach doesn't know the system,

(15:13):
he's coming in learning it, andJared it just has a couple of games
of starting experience in it. Butthis is where, believe it or not,
I feel Zach Wilson comes in asa veteran. He's had the most
starts out of any of these guys, more than jareds did him and even
though a lot of his starts endedup in a lot of failure, this

(15:35):
is where I believe it could bea strength for Zach Wilson because he can
tell both Knicks what it's like tobe a first round quarterback and be subjected
to so much pressure. What hedid wrong in his first couple of years
with the Jets that he should havechanged. Now Bo can lean on that.
Even though I know it's not aresume that we're saying, Okay,
well, Zach Wilson won know ofthe thirty one games he played, he

(16:00):
won twenty of those games. No, he can tell you about those failures,
and believe it or not, it'snot, in my opinion, your
your successes that actually help you along. It's the failures because you learn from
those things what hopefully hopefully you do. And this is why I feel as
though Zach can be a key cogand helping Bo Nicks grow as a quarterback,

(16:22):
don't make the mistakes that I make, even though he'll be learning a
new system for the first time.Yeah, well, I think the battle
is going to be great and theplayers, the other players on the team
will be watching this playout as well. Right and after every practice, Hey,
man, well, Nicks, hethrew some dimes or man, fak

(16:48):
Wilson, Man, you see themscrab a lot of there and make that
play. Are guys talking about that? Ye in the locker room as you
tell me? Yes? Yeah,so you guys as defenders. If you
were in the locker room and youknow, Steve, I know you said
you don't play anymore, I've seenin the lunch line you still got the
speed and hit hit the gap.You'd be in there. You guys think
you'd know before the coach said,Hey, this guy's gonna start preseason game

(17:08):
one. You think you know youhave a great feel for because you've played
again. You're playing against them andhe's completing pass against you, or he's
throwing the ducks that you're catching andintercepting and taking back, so you're catching
up. Well, I mean,I mean, I mean, bobble it
a little bit, but still gonnabe yeah, but yes, I know

(17:32):
what Steve is talking about. Becauseone of these quarterbacks is going to be
pissled in as a starter, sohe's going to be playing against the second
team defense. The other guys isgoing to be playing against, you know,
the first team defense as the backup. So if you get a backup
performing well against the starting defense,the coach is going to go back in
the meeting and say, you knowwhat, I think that guy has earned

(17:52):
more reps with the starting team.That's how it was. I mean,
that's how I was able to geton the field myself. Someone got injured
and they said, well, let'sthrow him in with the starting defense.
And that was all based on whatI was doing against the starting offense to
try to give me an opportunity.So this is why the competition is going
to be great because it's going tobe an on off type of situation.

(18:14):
We know there's not a single playerthat's ever played this game, even in
practice, that didn't have an offday. So it's like, how do
you respond to that off day mentallyand how do we read that body language.
But players on the opposite side ofthe ball they always know first because
they could say, well, man, did you see, like Steve said,
Zach, just the way that hewas able to throw that ball on

(18:34):
the line in the scene and scoreda touchdown. That was that was one
of those throws that everyone's going tobe like ooh and on because it reminds
me of what it was like whenTeddy Bridgewater was here and it was competing
against Drew Lote. Everyone was lookingfor those ooh throws. Yeah, So
that kind of draw the line betweenwhere we see the quarterback throws back then.

(18:56):
But he also unfortunately made the ohyeah, and so I think that
that's what you're going to have tosee here too, is like Sack Wilson
may make the wow throws, butif Bo's more consistent or Jared Simms more
consistent, I mean it all itcomes into it, right, and it'll
get to a point to where it'sobvious of who's the guy that you and

(19:17):
you hope that it doesn't happen andyou hopefully hopefully they're both playing really well
and tough decision. But that's thekind of competition they got to bring the
training camp, they gotta they gottabe ready, man, they got to
come with everything they got. Ifyou want to start at the NFL and
be an elite player. You gotto be on your game all the time.
Even when you are not on yourgame, you have to do something

(19:40):
that makes you stand out something.Luckily we played defense and once you put
on the pads, that was awes. You wrote that great stuff about the
quarterbacks, Fells. I want totalk more when we come back about the
primetime games that these quarterbacks could beplaying in. We will be right back
here on Broncos Country Tonight on kand ninety four one FM. Back here

(20:03):
on Broncos Country to night on KOAAM and ninety four to one FM.
I'm obviously here filling in for BenjaminAlbright. We got Nick Ferguson if you
want to join US Texas on theCommon Spirit Health text line at five six
six nine zero. Fellas, whatdo you think two prime time games?
Is it uh a little disrespectful ordoes it sound right about right? To

(20:25):
be honest, I think that that'sabout right. You got to player wins
at those big time games, uh. And I think we're going to be
a better team this year. Ithink it's just gonna take a little a
while few years for Sean to getthe Sean Payton type guys that he wants

(20:45):
in the building. Uh, nowdoes he have more? Yeah, he
got got more than he did lastyear. But I don't think it's fully
complete. But he's getting there.He's good, he's getting there, And
I think it's a prove it yearin a lot of ways for a lot

(21:06):
of guys in that guys are goingto show what they're about, what part,
what role do they play on thisteam, especially if you look at
this as a team that wants tobe competitive now, but it is building
for the future. If this team, you know, is going to try
to contend in twenty five or whenever, you know which guys are going to
be here and be the key pieceson that team, be key starters,

(21:27):
b key contributors. And I thinkit expands to the team as a whole
in terms of proven If you wantplayoff games, excuse me, primetime games,
play well early in the season,have a winning record, Get that
game against the Chiefs in week ten, flexed into primetime. Get that game
late in the season against Cincinnati,flexed in at primetime. Yeah. I

(21:48):
mean, if you play well andyou have a winning record, it'll you
guys, know, people pay attention. Sean Payne talks about that a lot.
The good teams tend to play inprimetime and play in these exclusive windows.
The bad teams or the teams thatare building don't tend to do that
as much. And so if you'rea player and you look at that and
you say, man, we shouldbe playing in primetime more will go show
that you show deserve that. Idon't know how much you guys paid attention

(22:11):
to how often you got to playon Sunday Night football or Monday night football.
I'm sure Thursday night football wasn't necessarilyat the top of the list.
No one really loves to play onThursday night, even though some consider that
Thursday night game giving you like asecond bye week what it does to your
body. But you guys are absolutelyright. In order to get those primetime

(22:33):
games, you have to really showwhat you can do on the field is
based on results, and there's alot of uncertainty right now with the Denver
Broncos having a young quarterback. Andwhen you look at other teams like the
Cowboys, the Jets, and theforty nine ers, all three of those
teams have six primetime games. Allthe other team the Can't City Chiefs.
They have five and even think thatthey would have more, being as though

(22:56):
they are the reigning champs. Imean they've been in Super Bowl four time,
three times in that particular time.So you have to go out and
you have to play. And thereason why most players want to play on
prime time because there are no othergames on. Everyone gets a chance to
see you, and anyone that's eversaid anything negative about you, you get
to show them on prime time.Because I remember my first Monday night football

(23:19):
game here we were playing again toRich Gannon and the Raiders, and John
Madden was on a call and Iremember I made to tackle on special teams.
After the game, had like twentytwo messages. Twenty two messages.
That's how much of a brand builderthose primetime games can be for players.

(23:42):
Brand building. Never you worried aboutwhat I wasn't worried about that around it.
So it was like this is theidea of saying, okay, well
you are like I was a reservedsafety and that was known for playing on
special teams to go out and haveseveral big plays that kind of swung the

(24:07):
game in our favor on special teams. That that was big and for Madden
to say just to you know,we see it all the time every time
before a game is played, guysfaces and flash where they say, you
know, hey Nick Fergus and uh, you know Ponciana Elementary. Right,
you put your city on the map. When someone like John Madden says your

(24:29):
name, that is big. Thatwas big for me. Follow on TikTok.
That's all you want to play inprimetime? Right? Well? The
big those primetime games are are verynice. It does give you the publicity.
But if you don't play, well, guess what you got. But
also the other side of that is, man, everybody sees how bad you

(24:49):
are. It ends up in adifferent posts. Yeah yeah, but you
know, the good teams do playin those games because they tend to make
more plays. And I think thatwe're going to surprise some more people and
some of the games that in theseason are going to be flexed in our
in our in our direction. Soit's not like it's set like back in
the day. Yeah, those gameswas set. The schedule was set.

(25:12):
Now, hey you got six gamesflexed. Oh you start to play bad?
Okay, oh you you only haveyou only have three games primetime here's
another way that the players should lookat the situation not having as many primetime
games, first understanding why you don't, but being upset that you don't,
and going out and playing well againstother teams. Right this, this is

(25:34):
a way that the Broncos can reallychange things because no one is expecting them
to do anything with as far asthe conference is concerned or the division.
You can go out and smack peoplearound and just say, you know what,
I know before the game, youtook us lightly. You didn't even
think that you even had to study, but watch just show you something.

(25:55):
So it should be something of amotivator for the players that they get a
chance to go out and they're theunadult the entire season and they get a
chance to kind of flip things onthe ears with every team they play against.
I mean, I do think it'sa bummer from a standpoint of talented
players who deserve a Pro Bowl oran All Pro don't get the visibility that
they need. I think back,maybe it's twenty twenty, twenty twenty one,

(26:17):
Bradley Chubb had a great game inprimetime against New York and that basically
fueled him to a Pro Bowl.Selection because everybody watched that game and said,
man, Bradley Chubb's really good.And then there are times where it
feels like, oh, maybe PatCertain's not on national TV as much as
he could be, and Sauce Gardneris going to be in primetime what like
fifteen times this year, and soSauce is not a better dbat and so

(26:41):
right, so Pack could play justas well or better. But if Sauce
is in primetime a bunch and getsinterceptions, then you're gonna look at it
him and be like, oh,Sauce got another All Pro and then over
Pat. I mean that that here'syour pocket too, Yeah, because if
you have a contract that had beensaid is if you make the Pro Bowl,

(27:02):
that's taken out of your pocket becauseyou're absolutely right, and fans vote
on that based on how many timesI've seen a guy on television, so
he's he's on television a lot Isee him, so he must be good,
so I might as well check hisbox. That's not always one full
proof plan. And fewer people aregonna swipe up on your Instagram to buy
whatever you're selling. I means ithurts you all. I do think there

(27:29):
is something though, when you're notplaying in prime time, the consistency of
playing Sunday after Sunday after Sunday,getting into a routine. I mean last
year, a couple of years ago, there's some weird weeks. Maybe this
lets the guys just get in arhythm. You don't worry about the other
stuff. You worry about football,You just play. Maybe it helps from
that standpoint. Yeah, Now,I heard you say something about we had

(27:51):
some earlier games. We had somequite a few early games this year too.
Right, there's a lot of alot of AM eleven, AM A,
you know, the Jets, theBuccaneers, Baltimore, Kansas City City,
there's I think I believe there's four, and then you've got the West
coast kind of quote unquote early startsat one pm. So there's gonna be

(28:11):
some games that the Broncos last yearmay not have. Sean Payton said this
at the end of the year.We got to figure out the early starts,
how to get going. It seemedlike in Houston, for example,
they got off to a slow start. They're gonna have to figure that out
in terms of how do we howdo we get ready to go because you
can't have a slow start in Tampaor a slow start in Baltimore, or

(28:33):
it's not gonna go well. Thoseearly practices, that's the way you handle
it. If you know that youhave an early eleven am game that week,
every practice, every meeting is kindof like an hour or two hours
earlier, so your body is acclimated. So once you hit the field,
you're not just waking up, becauseonce you get to the game and they
kick the ball off, you don'thave waking up in the second half,

(28:56):
like oh yeah, I'm here.Yes, I don't think we did that.
Why didn't do that with you guys? I don't think so, because
I don't think so, and Iknow we didn't do it. Did practice
in the evens half of Monday nightgames? I know it did? What
a minute see Monday night games,we would at least have one practice,
one practice walk through at the stadiumif it was a home game, for

(29:19):
to get guys kind of acclimated towhat Monday night football would in the evening.
No, you guys never did that. No, well watch you guys
remns here. Well we're at break, but we got to head over to
KOA traffic center here Stave O'Brien backhere on Broncos Country to Night on KOA
eight am and ninety four to oneFM. I'm obviously here filling in for
Benjamin Albright. We got Nick Ferguson, we got the Hall of Famer Steve

(29:42):
at Watery. Hey, guys,we were just talking about the Denver Broncos
twenty twenty four schedule, some ofthe primetime games. What it means that
that they've only got a couple thisseason. The other thing that stands out
to me about this schedule, Fellas, is three of four to start on
the road. It's the first timein sixty two years, since nineteen sixty

(30:07):
two, that Le Broncos have playedthree of their first four games on the
road. And it's kind of aweird schedule. They go three or four
on the road, three or fourat home, another three or four on
the road. They've only got backto back home games once the whole season.
That's against the Raiders and Chargers leaveweeks five and six. Steve,
especially if it's a rookie quarterback inbo Nicks, but regardless, to start

(30:33):
three of four on the road,what sort of challenges that can it bring
a team together when you've got thatmuch time on the road or Jeor Doy
you just look at that and say, man, that's a tough break.
Well, it is going to bea little tougher just because of the communication
and you know that the fans aregoing to be super loud, especially knowing
that you have a first year rookiequarterback playing. But at the same time,

(31:00):
if we have our communication down,if old Nicks knows the knows all
the audibles and knows all the handssignals to make the adjustments, hey,
it's no big deal. It's onlya big deal when you can't make your
adjustments when they make too much noise. And then not having that home field
advantage, that love that you getfrom the home field when you run out

(31:22):
out of the stateium, everybody's clappingfor you. Now, everybody's blowing you.
So just if you can get into, if the players can get into
the mind frame of I don't carewhere we plan, I don't care what
they say. I'm still going tostill come out and give it my all
and them will be the best playerout here in the field. Hey,
it won't be a problem no matterwhere you play. He's got to think

(31:44):
about it like this way. He'splayed in a lot of high profile games,
whether playing in Auburn or playing inOregon, and the mentality has got
to be all week leading up tothat first game of the season, that
I'll play you in the Walmart parkinglot. You just tell me what time
and I'll show up. That's gotto be his mentality because whether you're home

(32:05):
or whether you're away, you haveto take that mentality with you because when
you go on the road, itis you and your teammates versus everyone else.
And the easiest way to get ayoung quarterback kind of in the flow
is those quick, short plant passes. And we know Bo has done a
lot of that in Oregon, andhe's got a guy on his team in
Troy Franklin who that chemistry For me, that's that would be the first thing

(32:28):
I go to right away to settlebow down, throw throw a past to
Troy. Let that get you insomeh of of a rhythm and now let's
go and you know you. Butagain, they got to have the communication
down because he can be staying inhis closest and you can't. You won't
even be able to hear him,no hands like out there talking to a

(32:51):
mind. But right, that's whatI'm saying. You gotta have that down
pad by the start of the season, and then these it won't be such
a big deal. That's when yougo sound account. Everything is going to
be on solid account and you doit in practice. Well, I mean,
we say that, and then twoyears ago in Seattle there was all
sorts of communication issues on offense.I mean two goal line fumbles, offensive

(33:13):
lineman not getting the change play callin the audible knowing that what they're running
up there. I mean it's easyto say, oh, you run silent
count. It's a little bit moredifficult, I think, to actually to
do it. But that's where Ithink having Sean Payton as your head coach,
and for even though le Broncos obviouslydidn't achieve the ultimate goal last year
of making the playoffs and making alittle run, in so many ways,

(33:37):
the team just looked like a wellcoached team, and I think that's going
to help him out on the road. Yeah, that's going to definitely helped
him out. But sometimes in orderto solace a crowd, you got to
punch him in the mouth. Sothat means on that first possession, you
have to be aggressive. And thatmight just mean on the first play you

(33:58):
take a shot, whether you completeor not. So that's going to back
that defense off and then it opensup everything else that you can do underneath.
But when you go on the road, I mean, you got to
play with your defense and you gottahave a run game that is really physical.
That's why I like Estimate, Right, that's one of those guys who
can prove to be a big boostfor the Broncos on the road. We

(34:21):
go ahead, No, ae AldEstimate, Estim, that's right. We'll
talk more about those guys Nick aswe go along in the show. Unfortunately,
Steve Atwater he's got to head off, sign some autographs, get that
gold jacket back on, and uhand we got a head to break here
on Broncos Country Tonight on KOA eightfifty AM and ninety four one FM.