McNuggets: Broncos 19, Cardinals 0

Post-game quotes from coaches and players after the 19-0 shutout the Denver Broncos delivered to the Arizona Cardinals.

DENVER BRONCOS HEAD COACH JOSH McDANIELS

On finishing the preseason with a victory

“There were certainly things that we wanted to accomplish tonight. We wanted to play more physical, and I thought we did that on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. We wanted to try to eliminate the penalties. I think we ended up the night with two. Certainly, we wanted to win the turnover margin. I think in all three areas, it was an improvement upon last week. (We are) still not exactly where we want it to be in any phase of our game, but we played against a good football team tonight and did some things we wanted to do.”

On the defense’s performance throughout the preseason

“We felt better and better about our defense as training camp has moved on and the preseason has gone along. There are certainly areas where we can improve, but defensively, we have done a good job against the run. I think we did another decent job tonight against it in terms of winning the line of scrimmage. (There were) no big plays and (we) really got off the field on third down, for the most part. We wanted to be a more physical unit. I think we are on our way to doing that, and our covering ability in the passing situations showed up tonight. We are not where we want to be anywhere, but they are getting better.”

On QB Tom Brandstater’s performance against Arizona

“I think he did some good things. He certainly did. He runs the team okay. There are still some things that we can work on and fix, obviously. For a rookie quarterback, I have had an opportunity to coach a number of them, and he has really done a nice job. It is not too big for him. The game isn’t too big for him. The huddle is not too big for him. He operated with that first unit pretty well and continued on and certainly made his share of mistakes. I am happy with his progress, and we have got to keep pushing for better.”

On OL Russ Hochstein’s and G Seth Olsen’s extended playing time

“Russ just got here not too long ago, and (we) wanted to give him an opportunity to play in some of the things that we are doing here and get comfortable with our guys. Olsen is a rookie. If we had another two or three preseason games, it probably would be enough for him. That was part of the night. We wanted to make sure that those guys got some playing time together, and they did.”

On the importance of the players who make the roster

“I would say they are extremely important because we are going to take 45 to the game, obviously. You would like to have depth at certain spots, certainly across the board. You would like to have guys that if you fall upon some injuries, they come in and play and you don’t necessarily fall too many levels down in terms of your performance. Tonight was a big night for a lot of guys. There is some competition, obviously, that we will evaluate again tomorrow morning, but that is what training camp and football is all about. There are a lot of guys out here working their butt off trying to make our roster, and certainly, we cannot keep them all. I thought, for the most part, we got everything out of everybody tonight. Those guys have made it tough on us, and we will have to make those decisions here in the next two days.”

On RB Darius Walker’s performance against Arizona

“(He had) a lot of carries. (He played) tough, made some tough yards and did a nice job of getting it in there on the goal line. Darius is a good player. He plays well in the passing game and did some nice things that probably didn’t get noticed in terms of his blitz pickup. He ran and made some tough yards for us. We are glad we have Darius. He is a good addition to our backfield.”

On when the Broncos will make their final roster cuts

“We will decide that tomorrow. Certainly, there are some decisions that need to be made going into Saturday. We are going to, certainly, take the time that we feel we need to take to make the right decisions. It could be tomorrow. It could be Saturday. We are going to make sure we make the right decision.”

DENVER BRONCOS PLAYERS

S DAVID BRUTON

On forcing turnovers

“[OLB/DE Darrell] Reid, he set it up. It felt good to get the first pick in the NFL. That was very exciting, and my first fumble recovery. It’s always exciting to get your first turnover in any way. Just how we put the defense together tonight showed what we can do.”

On shutting out the Cardinals

“That is a dream game, turnovers, hold them to that goose-egg. You always want to see that goose-egg, that means you usually win.”

On winning

“It builds momentum for us. We can carry this feeling throughout next week until we go to Cincinnati. We are putting together the things we worked on, and keep getting better.”

OLB ROBERT AYERS

On the excitement of the game

“It was real fun, we got to run around and make plays. And we came out with a victory, so it was real fun.”

On forcing turnovers

“A lot of that is credited to knowing the other side of the ball, It was one of our goals for the game. [OLB] Darrell Reid made a good play, we kept feeding off that. The vibe just kept going for the rest of the game. ”

On the defense’s growing confidence

“That is just good team defense, that is how it is supposed to be. This defense is not about one person making key plays, but about everyone making plays and having fun and playing together. Hopefully that can carry on to the regular season.”

CB ANDRE’ GOODMAN

On going into the regular season

“We feel good, I noticed a lot of things we need to work on during mini-camps, training camp, and the pre-season. I think we got a lot of kinks worked out, and we are ready to go.”

On getting a shutout

“As a defense you look forward to it, that rarely happens in the pre-season or the regular season in the NFL. It rarely happens.”

On playing the defending NFC champions

“They played their starters for the first quarter. The defense showed up as did the offense. We put ourselves in a good position, scored some points, and made some plays.”

WR BRANDON LLOYD

On the team’s play

“I’m generally happy with how everybody played. We cut back on penalties and the defense got turnovers. It was definitely good for us to have this kind of momentum going into the season.”

On the meaning of the game

“The preseason means something. The starters are out there playing and if we came out flat we would have had to play a lot more. It helps to have a good preseason and it helps to finish on a good note.”

On QB Tom Brandstater

“He has a lot of poise for a rookie. He has a really calm demeanor and everything about him is positive. And that’s the only thing you could really ask for. He wants to be good and make plays and he goes out there and does it. I feel like he comes out here prepared. He’s been here since he was drafted and he knows the offense well and it’s good for him to get out there and get those live bullets. I’m happy for him.”

WR BRANDON STOKELY

On adjustments from last week

“We limited our mistakes like penalties and turnovers. Those can just be drive killers. It’s one or two bad things that can make a game look bad for you, and we didn’t do that tonight but we did it last week against Chicago. It’s just two different teams when we don’t do that.”

On momentum from the preseason

“We played well tonight and we’re going to try to continue that into the regular season.”

DL KENNY PETERSON

On the turnovers forced

“Any time you get a turnover it’s a good thing. You have to try to win the turnover battle. On defense you want to try to take it away as many times as you can and [OLB/DE] Darrell [Reid] got one tonight. It comes in bunches and, shucks let’s hope we keep it going.”

On winning the final preseason game

“Preseason doesn’t count but it still matters. It gives us a good taste in our mouth and we know what winning tastes like. Let’s just hope we can keep that taste in our mouth in the regular season.”

ARIZONA CARDINALS HEAD COACH KEN WHISENHUNT

General

“This game is so difficult because you are playing so many people. One guy, I think, who really stood out tonight was [CB] Michael Adams. He made some plays for us and competed. [CB] Greg Toler got some great work which is what we needed. On the opposite side of the ball we were a little out of sync early on. We’re not running our packages, so it’s hard to get in sync. I think we’ll look at the tape and see a few mistakes. The thing I’m concerned about are the penalties and the turnovers, but two of those [turnovers] were off interceptions that were the cause of [QB] Matt’s [Leinart] shoulder. I still feel good about our football team and the way we have been working. You’d like to see a little bit smoother start on both sides of the ball, but it was a little better than last week. At least we weren’t down 28 [points] at the half.”

On WR Larry Fitzgerald

“He’s looking good. He’s had a very good training camp. He’s made some big plays for us in games so we feel very good about where he is. He’s coming to camp this year in as good as shape as ever. The thing I like about Larry is that he’s worked very hard on the details — his routes and finishing.”

On QB Kurt Warner

“Bringing him in the second drive, I wanted to get a little bit of flow going for him. We had a couple of throws the first drive where we were a little out of sync. I wanted to get him another throw, but obviously that kind of back-fired on me because we had the interception where Kurt never saw him [Broncos OLB/DE Darrell Reid], which happens. Kurt and I have talked quite a bit and he feels as good as he’s felt coming out of the preseason. One thing you lose touch with is that he’s worked with a number of different receivers. It’s hard to get guys on the same page when you don’t know how they’re going to come out of their breaks and you haven’t been working with them.”

On the Broncos defense

“They made some big plays. They look like a good football team on the tape we’ve watched. Coach [Mike] Nolan does a great job defensively.”

On the Cardinals defense

“I don’t like the fact that we gave up a big play, but I like the fact that we were better in the Red Zone. One of the things we talked about coming into the season was limiting teams to field goals in the red zone. From that standpoint I’m pleased.”

On injuries

“Obviously, [CB] Wilrey [Fontenot] had a concussion. He got knocked out. [WR] Jerheme Urban banged his knee. There’s a little bit of swelling, but we’ll get that looked at.”

On G/T Elton Brown’s ejection

“I don’t think it was intentional. From what I saw, I think Elton was focused on the Broncos player and inadvertently bumped into the official. He certainly didn’t go after the official.”

On QB Matt Leinart’s shoulder

“Ultimately, you look at the position and think that he will be the starter, and there will be times when your shoulder is sore. You have to work to come through that week, and I think that’s what this week was about, so Matt would have a baseline about what he has to do to get ready and how he has to play through that. Next time if he’s in that situation he’ll understand better what he has to do.”

ARIZONA CARDINALS PLAYERS

WR LARRY FITZGERALD

On his energy after his long third-down conversion

“I was just trying to get them into a little rhythm, that’s all. We weren’t sharp. It’s disappointing, especially because we’re going into the regular season now and we have to play a tough-nosed team. Hopefully we can get some guys healthy and get going when the season starts.”

On spending offseason time with Jerry Rice

“I think from a mental standpoint it helped me tremendously. I have to do more, not just on the field, but off the field as well. My maturation process has to get better, and spending time with Jerry Rice really helped me.”

On improving before the regular season

“I think it’s the same offensively, defensively and on special teams. We have to improve in all areas. We have one week to make it happen. The preseason doesn’t count, come December no one cares about these games.”

QB KURT WARNER

On how he feels the offense is progressing

“I feel worse after this week than I did before. I didn’t feel like we got into a rhythm. It’s the preseason and that’s a good thing, but today we didn’t execute very well. I think some of the guys were pressing a little. At the same time I know there are a lot of things we can do and there are a lot of things we haven’t shown. We haven’t been doing a lot of the detail things in practice and it’s carrying over to the games.”

On the Denver defense

“I thought they did a good job. They were really getting to the ball and making some good plays. I thought they looked good.”

On the offensive rhythm

“I don’t want to point to any specific receivers, it’s just a lack of details overall. I’m such a rhythm quarterback and when you start guessing what’s going to happen it can be frustrating. I didn’t think the offense got comfortable out there, we just need to get everyone on the same page and we’ll start to make plays.”

DE CALAIS CAMPBELL

On coming back to Denver

“It was a great homecoming. I had a lot of friends and family come. I think I got like 50 tickets for the game. There were a lot of people here to support me, and that was great.”

On whether he has played in Colorado since high school

“This is the first time back. I wish I could have played a little more, but it was nice to come back and play in front of my supporters.”

On Arizona’s preseason struggles

“It was the preseason, and we didn’t want to show too much. I know the offense has as stacked playbook, and they are going to score a lot of points just like they did last year. Our defense is in the same boat. We have a lot of things we just don’t want to show yet.”