Broncos embraced ‘next man up’ mentality to ‘survive’ San Diego

Denver Broncos head coach put it best Sunday when he said his team “found a way to survive.”

And survive might be the correct expression, with Denver limping into Sunday’s ever-important AFC West tilt with the San Diego Chargers.

The Broncos lost running back C.J. Anderson to a torn meniscus on Thursday.

Denver’s defense went into the game without arguably its best player, cornerback Aqib Talib, and starting linebacker Brandon Marshall.

Cornerback Kayvon Webster left the game with a hamstring injury that’s plagued him for several weeks.

Then, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, on a play in which cornerback Bradley Roby scored on an interception return, was knocked off his feet on the sideline by Charger running back Melvin Gordon. Phillips was placed on a stretcher and carted off the field before being taken to a Denver-area hospital for precautionary tests.

“When Wade went down, it was like ‘Man, what’s going on?’ I was going to make sure he was OK and all signs were saying that he’s good and he’ll be fine,” Roby said after the game.

Phillips was indeed OK and released from the hospital Sunday evening, though he did not finish calling the game. Instead, linebackers coach Reggie Herring, who was already balancing the loss of Marshall, took over those duties.

“The thing that’s really tough is remember that guy coaches a position. Not only did Reggie have three linebackers he was working with today because ‘B-Marsh’ was out but also he was coaching all of those guys and now he has to call the game,” Kubiak said after the game. “It puts him in a dual role. It makes it tougher on everybody.”

But, despite those obstacles, Denver survived for a divisional victory, 29-17. And they did it chanting the mantra of “next man up.”

“Not only did the players on the football field but our staff and the front office guys, it’s next man up,” linebacker Von Miller said after the game. “Coach Wade went down, and Reggie Herring was right there.”

Stepping into Talib’s role, Roby combined for 10 tackles to go along with that pick six. Safeties T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart tacked on two more interceptions, the most by a Broncos team since 2013.

Cornerback Lorenzo Doss didn’t even know he was playing until Sunday morning, head coach Gary Kubiak said, but ended up contributing two passes defensed — one to shut down a possible late score by San Diego.

“You look at what Doss did and what Bradley did. You watch those guys come together after losing their leader in Aqib. I’m very proud of them,” Kubiak said.

Offensively, Juwan Thompson had just one carry for one yard in the game. But the third-year running back, just called up from the practice squad to replace Anderson this week, made his one touch count with a touchdown.

However, Denver only mustered up 57 yards on the ground, leading Kubiak to call the rushing attack Sunday “nonexistent.”

But Thompson didn’t squarely put the blame on the loss of Anderson.

“I mean we’ve still got to get better as a unit. One guy goes down doesn’t mean the team doesn’t go down. We’ve just got to keep pushing and figure out what our flaws lay,” Thompson said.

It wasn’t all next man up for the Broncos Sunday, however. Linebacker DeMarcus Ware did make his return to the field, nearly strip sacking Chargers Philip Rivers at one point during the game before having the play called back during a review.

Miller said it was great to have the defensive leader back, especially since he didn’t miss a stride.

“It was great. I thought that play was a sack. That’s right in his back yard, legendary, taking a couple of weeks off and he’s right back like he never missed a step,” Miller said.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.