The Denver Broncos defense has been one of the best in the league for awhile now. Last year they were first in sacks, pass defense and total defense, and this season they are looking to do the same, if not more.
With great success, though, comes financial benefits, and the Broncos witnessed that this offseason as Malik Jackson and Danny Trevathan bolted for greener (as in the money) pastures. But while their presence will be missed, don’t expect the defense to skip a beat; they’re just as dangerous as ever.
Just listen to what the team has had to say over the first few days of OTAs:
Coach Kubiak on the defense playing with an edge
“I think our team in general is motivated. In the offseason in this league, there are so many things that get evaluated. The draft, free agency, so there is a lot of talk that goes on. One of the things our guys have done a great job of is just staying focused on their work. We want to get to the fall and be the best team we can be and get the most we can out of our team. Last year—I said this over and over again—we gave everything our team had last year. Now we need to go get everything that this football team has. I think our guys are motivated to do that. Like I said, it’s been good to this point. We need to have a good month here coming up.”
Paxton Lynch on facing the Broncos’ defense in practice
“It’s a lot of fun. in my opinion, when you go against the best defense in the league, it only makes you better. It feels good knowing that we come out here every day facing the best competition. It’s only going to make the offensive guys better, and especially us younger guys to get to see that coming straight from the college level. It’s a lot of fun and pretty exciting.”
Mark Sanchez on his first impressions of the Broncos’ defense
“There is not a lot of room out there on field. Those guys cover ground quickly. There is a reason why they had so much publicity last year. They’re a pretty talented group. Not only that, there are a lot of good, veteran, savvy guys out there. They know how to pattern read. But it’s fun for the quarterbacks. It’s tight windows, it’s game-like experience and you’ve got to throw guys open and really anticipate against this group because they’re that good.”
Mark Sanchez on how this defense compares to Jets’ defenses that he’s been on
“It’s a real similar group with a great savvy secondary, guys that are athletic and physical. Not just the guys that can cover, but the they’ll come out and pop you. You see it on film from last year. They’ll come and hit running backs or receivers. And then a D-Line that puts pressure on the quarterback quickly and disrupts your passing planes. And then a linebacker group that can feed off of both ends really, the first level and then that third level. That linebacker crew is running side to side as fast as they can and they’ll blow you up. They’re pretty similar, but obviously I’m here now, so these guys are the best that I’ve ever seen.”
Darian Stewart on the defense getting back to work
“It’s a new season. But you can tell we’re ready, especially on the defensive side. The communication was there today. We’re getting better.”
Derek Wolfe on how the defense can improve
“Cleaning up mistakes. There are a couple of run plays that got broken on us. We want to be No. 1 in everything—not just 14. We were No. 1 in 14 different categories on defense. We want to be No. 1 on all of them.”
Derek Wolfe On why he thinks the defense can continue to improve
“Ultimately defense is about effort. Our defense plays with a ton of effort. It doesn’t matter what adjustments people will make. We’re going to play hard. That’s what it comes down to. I think a lot of defense lose it not just because of people adjusting to what they do, but it’s because they lose guys to free agency. You lose that chemistry. You’ve got to keep that chemistry. That’s why we’re such a great defense. We care about each other. That’s why we’re such a good team because we all have each other’s back. The offense has the defense’s back. The defense has the offense’s back. As far as team chemistry, we’re not going to lose anything.”