Following Thursday’s OTA practice and the announcement that All-Pro left tackle Ryan Clady would likely be out for the entire 2015 season, head coach Gary Kubiak, offensive coordinator Rick Dennison and right guard Louis Vasqez met with the media.
These quotes about Clady and the team’s plans and mindset in the wake of his injury stood out:
Kubiak: “I’m just devastated — I just feel bad for Ryan. He’s worked really hard and he’s a great kid and we’re counting on him but there are challenges in this business and we have to work through them we are got to help Ryan work through it. Players have to work through it, coaches have to work through it and somebody else has to step up. Anyway, [it was] very tough day for me and even tougher day for Ryan.”
Dennison: “Between him and Louis [Vasquez], we’d have a good solid guy on either side. We thought we were in good shape.”
Vasquez: “With Ryan down, there is a little more sense of leadership out of me. I’m not really feeling it from the coaches, but I put it upon myself. I’m kind of the old man left standing that’s been on this line the last three years. With a leader like that—Clady going down—I put it upon myself to kind of carry the group and be their anchor.”
Kubiak: “Anytime you lose a player it’s a blow. Ryan is obviously not only a veteran player on this team, he’s a leader on this team too. So that makes it even more difficult. If you’re in this business—player and coach—you’re going to face these very difficult situations like this and how you respond to them has a lot to do with how you end up being, what your football team ends up being.”
Dennison: “My heart goes out to Ryan because I know how much work he’s put in to being a professional athlete and we have a great relationship. I feel bad for him, but there is very little that we can do about that other than support him and then work on from there. I’m crushed.”
Vasquez: “…we’ve still got a good leader in [T] Chris Clark, who’s obviously been in the league a number of years and he’s got a tremendous amount of snaps under his belt. I’ll pull him alongside with me and have him help me tow the group where we need to go.”
Kubiak: “I think the thought right now is to leave [T] Chris [Clark] on the right side. They’re going to move around. Those guys have to play everywhere. We actually practiced [T] Ty [Sambrailo] on the left today. Ty is a very athletic young man, that’s a lot to ask of a very young player. But we’ve got a good month here of work…”
Dennison: “I don’t have a crystal ball. I wish I did, but he’s athletic and he’s smart. We’ll give him his chances just like we’ll give everybody else. Mike [Schofield] will get a chance. Everybody will get a chance to play. It’s five [starters]. That’s why we drafted him (Sambrailo).”
Vasquez: “As far as I’ve seen in the huddle, he (Sambrailo) kept his composure. He’s got to grow quick. Just from being in the huddle today and a little bit of yesterday, he held his composure pretty well.”
Kubiak: “It’s a tough road and it’s one you’ve got to step up and meet the challenge on. And it’s our job as coaches to get that done and the players—it’s my promise they’ll give everything they have.”
Dennison: “I hope there is competition through camp. We don’t want to have anything etched in stone. I think those guys need to really work and play in a game. Game situations are really key for us, especially with our system on how we work together. I think that’s important to the game speed, playing against other players.”
Vasquez: “At the end of the day, I can only do so much. They’ve got to produce. I’m going to help them as much as I can whenever I can to get them ready to play. But it’s up to them to pick up the slack that’s there and to not have that drop off in production.”
