News

ROMEO CRENNEL: “We had to go inside because it was a little wet out there but that was okay, the kids worked pretty hard inside. I think we’re excited about the game on Sunday, see if we can bounce back and make some good things happen for us and see if we can win the ballgame. That’s been the focus all week and that’s what we’ve got to try to do. We’re excited about it and are ready to go out there and win one.”

 

Q: Do you think your defense has been wearing down at the end of games?

CRENNEL: “No. When you look at the Buffalo game, we played five, full, hard quarters. We just haven’t been making enough plays at the end of games, that’s the thing. Last week we got our hands on three balls and if we catch any one of them we probably win the game. You can’t disparage the fact that they’re in position, we’ve just got to work on them and concentrate more so that we can make the plays.”

Q: CB Brandon Flowers has been playing great but he had a few chances to maybe make a play last game but didn’t. Was he down on himself, have you talked to him about bouncing back from that?

CRENNEL: “I didn’t talk to him about it, but I know from my experience in this league that those guys that play that position have to have short memories. That’s what I mentioned to him – I said it’s never one player or one play that causes a team to lose – it’s a team. I talked to him about that and he’s been working good this week and I think he’ll go out and play good this week.”

Q: What is S Eric Berry’s responsibility? A lot of people don’t necessarily understand the different safety positions and what their biggest responsibilities are?

CRENNEL: “Our safeties have to do it all. We’ve had him down in the box just a little, bit more but we’ve had him in the deep part of the field, as well. Eventually we’ll get to the point where both safeties can play left and right and there’s no difference between. But he’s going to do it all and he’s made more plays in the running game because he’s been down in the box a little bit more. Now, if we put S Kendrick (Lewis) in the box, he’d make those plays as well. We’ve got to be total safeties, we just can’t be limited.”

Q: When you got here, did you see LB Derrick Johnson as sort of a blank canvas? He had an interesting year last year, but has thrived this year. How did you see him when you first got here?

CRENNEL: “Well, when you looked at the team, he wasn’t playing a whole lot, he wasn’t even starting and so that was a concern. What we decided was that we were going to let guys compete for positions and then we would go by what we saw. By wiping the slate clean, he was able to show what kind of ability he had, how he approached the game and as a result of that, he was able to win the job and has been playing really good. That’s all that I can go by is what I see and so things that have happened in the past, like I said, we wiped that board clean – and not only with him, but with everybody on this defense – because there were some disparaging remarks about several guys on the team. We went by what we see and they’ve been playing hard and they’ve been playing decent.”

Q: What got your attention about him as a player, as a guy, what stood out immediately?

CRENNEL: “Well the fact that he intercepts passes and runs for touchdowns. That stood out. If he keeps doing that, that’s going to make me better.”

Q: The Broncos used to always run the ball and that was all they did. When you started watching the tape, did it surprise you to find out just how much they’ve moved away from that?

CRENNEL: “They still have run capabilities and they do run the football, sometimes the game situation dictates that you don’t run it as much so when you get behind, then you have to try to play catch up and that generally happens in this league and I think they’ve been behind some and trying to play catch up so that’s where they end up throwing it a little bit more.”