Broncos linebacker Steven Johnson met with the collected media on Friday to discuss the team’s offseason workouts, his foundation and other topics.
One quote stood out among the others and made us take pause:
Johnson: “I think this coaching staff has done a great job of pushing us on the practice field because it’s certainly different from what it used to be.”
Dating back to the Shanahan era, Denver has been known as a “veteran friendly” franchise because of its laid-back approach to offseason workouts, OTAs and even Training Camp. Save for the two years when Josh McDaniels had the team practicing in pads twice a day, Dove Valley has been a place of comfort for some time.
The reason, it was always explained, was to keep the team fresh for the long grind of the season. But Johnson’s comment suggests that the players might have felt that the team was taking it too easy under John Fox.
Fox and his coordinators, Adam Gase and Jack Del Rio, were widely criticized for not having their team ready to play in big games – namely Super Bowl XLVIII and the 2014 Divisional loss at home to Indianapolis. It was almost as if Denver expected to be handed victories in those contests.
Clearly, new head coach Gary Kubiak is instilling a different attitude and work ethic at Dove Valley and the players are taking notice.
Reading between the lines, it appears that the 2015 Broncos are not a team that will expect the rest of the league to roll over as they waltz their way to another playoff – and hopefully Super Bowl – appearance, even if that was the attitude carrying over from the previous coaching staff.