The preseason is over and the Denver Broncos regular season opener is less than a week away. But before the organization can turn its attention over to the Carolina Panthers in full, they have some tough decisions to make.
Saturday is cut-down day.
That means that by 2:00 p.m. MST tomorrow, Gary Kubiak and John Elway will have to part ways with 22 players on their roster, ending several of their professional football dreams for good.
Following the Broncos 38-17 loss to the Cardinals on Thursday night, roster cuts were the first thing on everybody’s mind.
Kubiak on when they’ll begin the cut-down process
“I don’t think we have to do things until Saturday, but John (Elway) and I plan on doing most of our work tomorrow morning with these kids. We’ll get back pretty darn late tonight, but it will be a lot of work to do tomorrow morning. We’ve got to switch our gears and get going onto Carolina.”
Kubiak on the decisions that’ll have to be made
“We have decisions to make. Obviously, running back decisions to make. We’ve got defensive line decisions to make. At wide receiver, Jordan (Norwood) comes in there and plays his tail off. It’s not about one spot, what we are going to do at one spot. It’s about what we are going to do with the team.”
Kubiak on whether Jordan Taylor did enough to make the team
“Like I said, I am not going to get too far ahead on how we are going to structure the team. Obviously he is a kid that has done a lot of good things since he’s been here. He got to play the most he’s played and goes out and makes plays. I think without me getting into too many names, I think the guys that have been consistent around here in camp and stuff showed it again tonight really when you go back and look at it.”
Kubiak on the decisions at outside linebacker
“I think that is one position we feel pretty darn good about. We’ve got five. There were certain guys that we sat for the game that we did not want to play, and Dekoda (Watson) was one of those players, so we got by with three guys. Those guys battled their tail off. We had certain guys that we wanted to have fresh the next week and we were concerned whether we could do that, but we were able to get through it.”
C.J. Anderson on cut-down day
“That’s the dirty business. It’s the saddest time in the NFL. Throughout the year, teams are changing trying to make their team the best they feel. Those guys who went out there today, they gave it their all and all they can do is just wait. The whole goal is, what I was told (during) my undrafted rookie year, the whole goal is that you want to play in the NFL and I just wanted to make the Broncos. I just wanted an opportunity to play in the NFL. 31 other NFL teams got this film, so hopefully some of them will land somewhere.”
Anderson on knowing some running backs could be cut
“You just never know, you just try to do your part and what your business is, so you got to focus on what’s in front of you. Everybody gave it their all today, but at the end of the day what I learned at the combine (was) no matter who is out there, they’re going to put the ball down in September and somebody’s got to go out there and play.”
Ronnie Hillman on the upcoming roster cuts
“I’m not going to be too nervous. Whatever happens, happens. I will be playing football somewhere. I love to play here (Denver) and if it works out that way, it works out that way. I will be nervous, but I will be playing football somewhere.”
Juwan Thompson on what he thinks will happen
“I don’t know what’s going to happen but I tried to solidify myself by playing running back, fullback and special teams. In the next 24 hours we will see what happens. You can’t think too much about it. We did our part by playing all preseason games that we could and getting all the looks we could. This comes down to the coaches. We are going to get back late tonight and then in the morning we are going to get a good call or bad call. But, it is an opportunity because we are trying out for all 32 teams at the end of the day.”
Thompson on how hard roster cuts are
“That’s the truth of it. You try to build relationships and those relationships kind of end or end up going elsewhere. So, it is a tough business but that is what we deal with. That is what you sign up for.”