Frustration continues to mount for Broncos veterans
Oct 3, 2019, 6:23 AM
The Broncos are 0-4 for the first time in 20 years and this team has never been 0-5. We all thought the worst was behind us after Vance Joseph was fired and Vic Fangio was hired as the head coach, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Now, without star pass-rusher Bradley Chubb for the rest of the season, the remaining Broncos have to pick up the pieces and salvage what they can for 2019.
Fangio was had a very matter-of-fact statement on Monday about the frustrating start and losing Chubb.
“There’s no pity parties in the NFL, we’ve just got to keep going. The losses are our own doing. Injuries don’t have an effect on those. We’ve just got to keep going. Nobody is feeling sorry for anybody here. Just another one of the things you have to deal with in the NFL during a season. We’re not the only team that’s had them,” Fangio said.
Key Broncos veterans are clearly frustrated with this season. Let us count the ways.
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Post-Game Frustration
Emotions run high on the football field. Those emotions can – and did – boil over for the Broncos after the loss to the Jaguars. In the locker room after the game, Broncos players exchanged words as the pressure of the season reached a boiling point.
Broncos safety Justin Simmons did not shy away from a question about the post-game yelling that happened.
“Yeah, the way I looked at it at least is I’d be a little bit concerned if after an 0-4 start, especially after the loss we had with Jacksonville, if guys weren’t a little frustrated. Coming into the locker room, obviously things got heated, but it all comes from a place of understanding of trying to win a game. We look past that now, obviously it’s been addressed and we talked as a team, now we’re focused on the Chargers and we’re focused on trying to go get win number one in L.A.,” Simmons said.
Nobody thinks the shouting match is a big deal.
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Injuries Mounting
After four games we still have yet to see the Broncos defense at full strength. This team has been playing without cornerback Bryce Callahan all season. The Broncos have also spent most of the season without starting inside linebacker Todd Davis. Now, they’ll move forward without star pass-rusher Bradley Chubb, as he suffered a knee injury against the Jaguars in Week 4.
Chubb said that his teammates responded as one would expect upon hearing the news about his season-ending injury.
“They were all sad for me. They were all reaching out, encouraging me and letting me know that they were there for me and just the same thing back to them. We’re 0-4 right now and I was just letting them know that I’m going to be there for y’all like y’all are going to be there for me. It’s going to be a fun journey. I’m excited to see how it goes,” Chubb said.
It’s difficult to judge what the Broncos have done (or not done) this season as we’ve never seen them at full strength. One can easily conclude that their record might be different if the team was playing with all their starters on defense. Injuries happen in the NFL, so the Broncos are going to have to deal with further frustration due to star players getting banged up.
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Youth vs. Experience
There are a few players left from Super Bowl 50, but mostly the Broncos have a young roster with inexperienced players. It has to be difficult to get a message through to young players who have yet to experience what it’s like to win consistently at the pro level.
The division between the young players and the older players is one of the biggest issues with this team in my opinion. There are star players that young Broncos need to listen to, and I hope they are listening when these guys tell them to stay positive while winless.
It’s a question I asked Emmanuel Sanders about on Tuesday. I had to know what kind of difficulty was involved when trying to get through to inexperienced players who have yet to experience the ebb and flow of an NFL season.
“You don’t have a choice. Anybody who’s walking around here with their head down, I really don’t want them to be around here. I always say football players and being in the league and being in the NFL in general you’re going to face adversity. Everybody is going to face adversity and right now we’re being challenge mentally, physically, emotionally,” Sanders said.
This next part of his quote is absolute gold. The NFL will test your mettle, and we’re about ready to see what these young Broncos are made of.
“I asked all my teammates, ‘Will you or will you not pass the test?’ That’s kind of what my receivers coach, Zach Azzanni, was preaching. Will we pass the test? I’m definitely going to pass the test because I’ve been challenged not only on the football field, but in life in general. This is just a small bump that I can overcome and that we can overcome.” Sanders said.
We shall see if the Broncos can shake off the frustrations of the season and get their first win of the season in Week 5 on the road against the Chargers.
