After all that happened between Chris Harris, Aqib Talib and Harry Douglas on Sunday, it was a little surprising to see that Demaryius Thomas, the Broncos’ star receiver and offensive captain, swapped jerseys with the Titans wide receiver charged with taking a cheap shot on his teammate.
#Broncos Demaryius Thomas post-game jersey swap with Harry Douglas. After what Douglas did to Chris Harris Jr. What do you think? pic.twitter.com/Gu7m6tvUnX
— Lionel Bienvenu (@lionelbienvenu) December 15, 2016
On Thursday, though, Thomas told the media he hadn’t realized what had gone on earlier in the game.
“At the time, I didn’t even know about it,” Thomas said. “I stayed on the sidelines. I don’t get into brawls. I didn’t really see it until after the game. I’ve known Harry for around eight-plus years now. He’s a great dude. I know he didn’t mean anything bad, but from seeing the play, he could have stayed up and not done that to [CB] Chris [Harris Jr.]. I’m always going to have my guys’ back. I fight with him every day. I see him every day. At the time, I didn’t know it was him. I thought it was No. 18 at the time. Once I saw it, I saw it was him.”
Harris admitted that he would have been angry with DT had he knowingly swapped jerseys with the man who took a cut block to his knees, but accepted the explanation.
“If he didn’t know about it, I can’t be mad,’’ Harris said, via 9News.com. “If he knew about it, of course I would have been mad. But those guys have known each other for a long time, they probably arranged before the game to exchange jerseys after the game.’’
Likewise, Von Miller said there was no blame directed at DT.
“I’m not sure that DT even knew what happened on the play,’’ Miller said Thursday. “Even if he did, is DT supposed to not give him a jersey because of what happened? I think they go way back. They have a relationship off the football field. It was really foggy during the football game, anyway. I didn’t really see what happened until we got in the locker room and I got to my phone.’’
The Broncos didn’t end up winning the game, but the incident undoubtedly brought the team closer together. We’ll see if that plays a role against the Patriots on Sunday.