Domata Peko may be new to the Denver Broncos locker room this year, but his leadership as a 12th-year veteran is evident with just about every word he speaks.
As his teammates gathered around locker room televisions after Saturday’s 20-17 preseason victory over the Green Bay Packers, Peko made sure to carve out some time for interviews.
While they were transfixed on Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor, he was heaping praise on his teammates and show the media some love.
“It’s cool, man,” Peko told Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro. “Just trying to show some love to you all, but I can see the fight too now. I’m going for McGregor, but we’ll see what happens.”
As a UFC fan pulling for McGregor, Peko may have been a little disappointed with the fight’s outcome, but he’s happy so far with how the defense he anchors as starting nose tackle is taking shape.
“I think in the first half we held them to 30 yards rushing,” he said of his unit’s performance against Green Bay. “Then the twos and the threes went out there for the second half, but I feel for the most part that we’re holding our own. Last week we held [San Francisco] to like 30 yards total the whole game, so we’re making strides.”
Peko was one of Denver’s biggest offseason signings, bringing his 6-foot-3, 325-pound frame and a reputation as one of the top nose tackles in the league over the past decade to a Denver defense that badly needed help stopping the run.
“Last year I think they were 28th in the run, so that’s why they brought me, a couple other big guys here – Zach [Kerr] and big Shelby [Harris] – to stop that run. I feel like we have. We just gotta keep getting better every week,” he said.
Harris has been one of the surprise standouts of the preseason after being pressed into increased duty because of injuries across the defensive line. Denver lost Billy Winn for the season in the first preseason game, then saw Derek Wolfe and Jared Crick go down two days apart in practice the next week. Both Wolfe and Crick are expected back soon, but that has opened doors for Harris and others to stand out.
“We’d love to get Wolfe and Crick back,” Peko said. “You know, two of our starters, two guys that have been hurt. But big shout out to guys like Shelby, Zach Kerr, Adam Gotsis, coming stepping in, doing their jobs and filling in and holding it down.”
Meanwhile, the elder statesman of the locker room (despite it being his first season there), is quite thankful that he made it through training camp and the preseason healthy.
“I do feel blessed,” Peko said. “I give all the glory and honor to my man upstairs for keeping me strong and healthy. Being a nose guard in the league, there’s a lot of [stuff] going on in the middle of the field there in the trenches, but he keeps me strong.”
The Broncos run defense is certainly stronger with Peko at the nose, and the locker room is stronger with such a positive force helping lead the way.
Listen to the full interview with Domata Peko, including his take on the infighting that occurred between Todd Davis and Aqib Talib on Saturday, in the podcast below…
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