Reading Between the Lines – The Season-Ending Press Conference

Mike Shanahan‘s season-ending presser was full of nuggets. In the end, Shanahan was certain to pin the blame on himself while mentioning the host of injuries and setbacks that had befallen the Broncos in 2007.

Before I get to the juicy stuff on players and coaches, here’s his take on 2007 –

“Well, going back to me, I am in charge of this thing. I just think if I were to have done a decent job coaching, we would have won 10 games or more. And so, it goes back to me. You have to make the decisions that you think are in the best interest for our football team, and sometimes it doesn’t work out.”

Before the season started I, along with many fans, thought this was a Championship-caliber team. This season was lost in the trenches, and a huge part of that had to do with injuries.

On Javon Walker –

“Well, I’m not going to talk about the guys that we have who are up for possibly free agency or contracts for obvious reasons. We will talk with Javon and some guys like (RB) Travis Henry, (S) John Lynch and different guys who have question marks on where their career will go from here.” …

“The doctors thought that after his surgery that it would take five to six weeks to get back full speed. There’s talk of a microfracture (procedure) somewhere down the line. I don’t know when that’ll be, it could be two to three years from now, it could be four years, you just don’t know.”

With the virtual certainty of more knee work down the line, the Broncos will definitely ask Walker to restructure part of his deal. Announcing that Walker needs more surgery some time down the line isn’t a big surprise, but doing it in such a public manner can only hurt Javon’s trade value. I have faith Javon can return healthy, and I think Shanahan believes it too. But I get the impression that Shanahan isn’t willing to put up with Walker’s comments again, and is taking this month to let cooler heads prevail.

On Travis Henry –

“Like I said, I’m not going to talk about those situations. But any time there’s a setback with a guy, I think you have to look at what he did in his first four or five games then you make the decision on what you thought he did in those four or five games.

“I don’t think he ever recovered [from his knee injury]. He had the MCL and I don’t think he ever recovered, never got back in football shape and tried to work though it but never did so I don’t think he ever got healthy. Any time you’re out 3-4 weeks with an MCL, you kind of get out of football shape unless you can really work. He tried but never could get back in shape.

“I’m hoping not, but could [future injuries] be an issue? Sure if he keeps on getting hurt but with a good offseason program he should be coming back to full speed. I think the question everybody has, you take a look at the money involved, you have to make a decision about what you think is best for the organization because once you make that commitment, it’s a big thing, so you’ve got to look at everything.”

To me, it sounds like Shanahan is fed up with Travis Henry. Henry said after he won his appeal that he would run through a brick wall for Shanahan, in gratitude for Shanahan’s support of Henry during that time. It’s time to show your gratitude, Travis. You did not earn a $6 million signing bonus, and it behooves you to restructure your deal.

On John Lynch –

“I think John will decide here in the next month what direction he wants to go. I had a good talk with John today, talked about an hour-hour and a half. (We) had a good conversation, and well see what happens.”

I’m guessing Lynch returns for another year.

On the rookie defensive linemen –

“With defensive lineman, it usually takes a couple years. It doesn’t happen over night. The thing with both Marcus Thomas and Tim Crowder, they both got a lot of experience this year and usually the jump from the first year to the second year is huge in defensive lineman and even more from the second to the third year. With the playing time both of them got, I think they’ve got a big upside.

“Obviously [Jarvis Moss is] going to start behind because he was on injured reserve the majority of the year. But he’s been working in the weight room every day. You can see the hunger there. You can tell he’s got passion for what he’s doing, so I look at him coming back and playing at a pretty good level.”

The bar has been raised for these guys, but it sounds to me like Shanahan is confident they can get the job done.

On Al Wilson –

“To be honest with you, our doctors felt like he could play right away. It was another doctor that felt differently. I’m glad that whatever situation has warranted for Al has cleared him to play because Al has a lot of passion, he’s done a great job for us, a great leader… I wish him nothing but the best.”

Those comments don’t sound too promising for a Wilson return in the orange and blue.

On Rod Smith –

“I’ve talked to Greek (Broncos Head Athletic Trainer Steve Antonopulos) about him and supposedly he’s going well and what a warrior he is and what a big influences he was for our football team in the locker room. A guy like that, he’s the reason why you win Super Bowls with the character and that type of character and that type of mindset… When he’s not playing to influence the younger players on the football team.

“I’m going to try and get Rod Smith a part of this organization doing something because he’s a guy that comes around very seldom. Hopefully we can work something out down the line, something that he’s interested in, somebody that smart not to coach, you’ve got to try to get a part of your organization doing something.

“It’s always great to have veteran players, players that guys respect around, especially with a guy like Brandon Marshall to listen to Rod every day. I think we all know as a player you can only really lead when you’re playing. It’s hard to do from the background, but if anybody could do it, Rod could.

“If they don’t buy into it then they won’t be around. That’s why you’ve got to make the decision that you think will give your football team the best chance to win. Sometimes you’ve got to get rid of talent to get that message across regardless of somebody’s potential.

“I think what Rod’s saying is that he understands what it takes to win Super Bowls. Not many people do. He understands the grind, he understands how tough it is as a football team and an organization to get everybody on the same page. He see these kids with talent, but they don’t have the mindset to do the little things that it takes to separate yourself. He’s not afraid to call people out and that’s what you need. You need you leaders taking over and let some of the younger guys know that that’s the way we do things. If you want to be part of this organization, a part of this professionalism this is the standard you’re going to have to operate at. Sometimes, it takes a guy a year or two to understand that.”

Just as Jonathan had asked a few weeks ago, Shanahan will do everything he can to make sure Rod Smith will be with the Denver Broncos in 2008, in one capacity or another.

I only scratched the surface of Shanahan’s presser here. There was plenty more on coaches and some of the other Broncos players.

Special thanks to Mile High Report for the presser transcript.