It was an all-secondary media session following Tuesday’s OTAs at Dove Valley. Chris Harris, Jr., Bradley Roby and Aqib Talib all met with reporters to discuss their progress this offseason, how things are going under new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and, of course, Deflategate.
Here are some of the highlights:
Harris: “…finally feel like I’m fully 100 percent and not really worrying about my knee after practice. During the season, I would be sore as heck after games and really felt it in my knee. Now, I can go practice and I can feel 100 percent now after practice.”
Roby: “I think last year I thought about not getting beat and things like that because I knew I was a rookie and that they were going to come after me. I was worried about not getting beat rather than paying attention to the right keys that make sure that I don’t get beat.”
Talib: “We sent three guys to the Pro Bowl. Chris [Harris, Jr.] was All-Pro. Roby got a lot of recognition. Rahim [Moore] got some cash and he got paid a little bit. I feel like we was recognized enough. It could be better, but if we had finished even later in the season, we would have gotten more recognition. That’s what we’re worried about.”
Harris: “He’s [Roby] going to get some action. We’re going to need him to be very consistent—even more consistent than he was last year. A lot of times I’ll be in the slot blitzing or I’ll be doing a lot of things all over the field, and he’ll have to be outside sometimes. He has more responsibility within the defense. He has to line up at multiple positions. He has to definitely take that to the next level.
Roby: “I think last year I was just kind of out there trying to stop the receiver and stop all the routes, and you really can’t do that. You can’t stop all the routes at one time. You really have to know where your help is, know where your safety and linebackers are and pay attention to splits and things like that. That will put you in the best position. Last year, I didn’t do that and that’s why I made the mistakes that I did.”
Talib: “Last year he [Roby] kind of didn’t know what to expect. He’s seen what the league was about and he feels like he could be one of the top corners in the league. He’s just soaking in all the information that he can. As long as he wants to be as good as he wants to be, that’s the first step. He wants to learn. He asks a bunch of questions and his comfort level is very high.
Harris: “I’m loving [Darian] Stewart right now. He’s very vocal and a smart guy. I can tell that he’s going to have a physical presence. When running backs come through the hole, I feel like he’s going to land the hammer on them. Add that with [S] T.J. [Ward], so I’m loving what Stewart’s brining, how fast he’s picking up the defense and the chemistry that we’ve already built together out there on the field. I love that pickup right now.
Roby: “The difference between college and the NFL is the quarterback. The quarterback is going to put the ball where you can’t get it. He’s throwing it to a spot and to a receiver, and it’s about timing. We’re working on understanding all of those types of things to throw off their timing and disrupt their routes. That’s really when you become productive. That’s really what I’m focusing on.”
Talib: “…we’re learning a whole new defense together. There’s a lot of knowledge in that back end, so we’re all able to help each other out in different ways.”
Harris: “…he [Wade Phillips] brings the heat. You’re going to be left on an island a lot. With the guys that we have up front, we already understood that was coming playing a 3-4 and that we were going to bring the heat. Everything that they’ve said has really translated to how we’ve been practicing. To be left on an island, everybody is gone. Everybody is blitzing. It’s something that we’ll be looking forward to in the season. He’s an attack mode defensive coordinator.”
Roby: “I’m just learning the whole concept of offense in general. I feel like in college, a lot of guys just go out there and just try to play and not really understand the game. In the NFL, it’s a mental game. Once you start understanding the game mentally and paying attention to the splits, route concepts and offensive coordinators favorite things to do in certain situations, that’s really when you become a great player.”
Talib: “When I was there, Tom [Brady] didn’t go around telling people about his footballs and stuff like that. I don’t know what happened. That’s New England’s problem. We’ve got enough problems to worry about in Denver.”
Mike Tolbert, a Mile High Sports intern and student at MSU-Denver, contributed to this report