Head Coach Josh McDaniels explains his decision at quarterback and his questionable onside kick in the third quarter in the latest batch of postgame quotes. Quotes from Norv Turner and others included as well following the Broncos‘ 32-3 loss to the Chargers.

DENVER BRONCOS HEAD COACH JOSH MCDANIELS

General

“I’ll start as I have the last few weeks. I give Coach Norv Turner and the Chargers a lot of credit. They played well today and obviously forced us into too many mistakes for us to overcome those. Until we find a solution to be able to play a 60-minute game a lot cleaner than we have the last few weeks here, we are going to continue to struggle so that is going to continue to be our challenge going into the New York Giants.”

On starting QB Chris Simms

“He had practice reps. Kyle was certainly not totally healthy, still not totally healthy and could not practice Friday. I was out there at the workout before today and it was touch-and-go a little bit. Able to do some things, certainly, probably would have been a much better situation if we could play the game with Chris because he was able to practice and he was healthy and with(QB Kyle Orton) situation. If we could do that and kind of rest him, that was the idea behind it. It certainly didn’t play out that way and that is why he was the number two quarterback. We didn’t feel like it was a dire situation that he couldn’t suit up and do anything for us. We just knew that we couldn’t do everything and because of the state of his health if we can play the game and win it with Chris.”

On making the QB change in the 2^nd quarter

“We just talked about it and it was something we were going to change a few things that we were doing anyway, and in terms of what we were going to do to attack them that was probably going to suit Kyle okay at that point. Less under center, more in the shotgun, and that kind-of dictated that we at least think about the decision to go ahead and put him in there.”

On if he regrets the decision to start Simms

“No, not at all. We did a lot of decent things there early. Any time you get down there in the red zone four times and come away with three points. …

I think we turned the ball over twice down there. Those are plays that if you make them then you know you end up with points, maybe touchdowns and if you don’t, obviously you have no momentum and you give away an opportunity.”

On if he’ll address RB Knowshon Moreno’s fumble in second quarter

“No, he’s trying to get the ball in the end zone. I don’t like it any more than anybody else does. He’s trying to run it hard and trying to get the ball in the end zone. I’m not going to try and make any more of it than it was.”

On RB Moreno and WR Marshall’s disagreement following the fumble

“We’ve got a lot of emotional players on our team. I’m an emotional person myself, sometime that happens and I’m not saying it’s good but as long as people can work those things out… Obviously we don’t want to make scenes or problems for ourselves on the sideline. There are a lot of things that happen on the sideline that involve emotion.”

On the onside kick

“We’ve been practicing it for awhile and we knew there had been a couple of other situations in the course of the season that we felt like we might want to go ahead and use it. It seemed to be a good situation, we had some momentum. We feel very confident in it. We didn’t execute it quite as well as we needed to. I thought he kicked the ball well. I believe we touched the ball first or had a chance to get it but again those are situations where you take a risk and there is a great reward at the end of it and if you don’t get it it can turn around and hurt you.”

On if playing Orton today will make it harder for him to play again on Thursday

“I think, as far as I know, but I haven’t talk to Greek [head trainer Steve Antonopulos] yet but as far as I know we’ve got chance that he’s going to be basically the same or probably even better. I don’t know that he got banged around tonight so as long as it didn’t get any worse I think the next few days of treatment and all the rest of it. We’re not going to going to have him out there practicing in full pads in the next few days here so that will give him an opportunity to rest it, treat it and hopefully he will be more healthy than he actually was today.”

On if the short week is good

“It’s probably the best thing about this. Anytime you lose a game you’d love to play the next one the next day just to try to get the taste out of your mouth. None of us feel good, none of us are happy about what is going on right now. We’ll look forward to playing on Thursday.”

On S Brian Dawkins injury

“I have no idea about how long it will be.”

On the Broncos offense

“I think any time that you get in the red zone and turn the ball over twice the first few times you’re down there that certainly that doesn’t lend itself to winning too many games and scoring too many points. We’ve had too many issues down there in the red zone. We’ve gotten in situations where we make mistakes early in the game that maybe predicated that we throw the ball more as the game goes on and obviously that’s not the formula we want to implement to try to win based on the success we’ve had this year. We’ve got to do better earlier in the game so that we can stay balanced, run the ball effectively and throw the ball effectively at the same time without giving away what we have to do. As the game wore on today we’re out there with a two tight end set in their nickel package because they know we have to throw it. We’ve got to do things well, early in the game so we can stay balanced and do the things that got us success in the beginning of the season, and obviously in the last four weeks we haven’t done that.”

DENVER BRONCOS PLAYERS

QB KYLE ORTON

On leading the Broncos into the red zone on his opening drive

“We ended up with three points. (That was) not what we wanted, obviously, in a big game. It’s past the point of talking about execution or running the ball or passing the ball. We’ve just got to go out and win. I think that’s the tone coming out of this locker room right now.”

On the Broncos’ offensive performance today against the Chargers

“We got into the red zone twice and came away with zero points with turnovers. We talked about, all week, having to go on 10-, 12-play drives because this defense doesn’t give up one-shot hits. We knew we were going to have to sustain drives. You can’t turn the ball over down there. It’s just the way it is in this league. When you come down (into the red zone), you’ve got to get points, and we weren’t able to do that.”

On the Broncos fumbling at the goal line near the end of the second quarter

“We would have been down by one score, but close doesn’t count in this league. That’s the stuff that has got to stop. It’s just got to stop. Somehow, we’ve got to find a way to get points.”

On when he will be fully healthy

“I think I’ll be ready to go for Thursday. I’ve been getting better every day. I have been doing that, and I don’t think I had too much of a setback or anything today, which is good. (I’ll) be ready to go Thursday.”

On if he was capable of starting today’s game against San Diego

“I don’t know. We wanted to try to practice on Friday. That was the goal was to practice on Friday. I wasn’t ready to practice on Friday. I couldn’t have practiced on Friday. It would have set me back too far for today. I chose not to practice. It gave us 48 more hours to get treatment and rest, knowing that there was a possibility of playing.”

On how he felt physically after warm-ups

“I felt good enough to be able to go. That’s what I told (Head Coach) Josh (McDaniels).”

On if adrenaline helps him forget about the injury when in the game

“It helps. You don’t forget about it. It helps. Guys did a good job of protecting me. I’m just thankful I didn’t have anything to set me back even more.”

On taking snaps under center in today’s game against San Diego

“We did a little bit and did a couple play-action (passes) and did a couple passes underneath (the center), but for the most part, we knew—that was another thing. It got to the point in the game where we were going to start throwing it more, not doing some of the game plan stuff that we had talked about all week. That gave me a chance to go in and just sit in the shotgun to throw the ball.”

On his attitude following today’s loss to San Diego

“I’m done feeling the loss. I’m sick of it, and I know everybody else is. It’s been a long time since we’ve won, so let’s get back on the field and win a game. That’s all we are talking about from here on out is just winning.”

On if the Broncos control their own destiny

“No question, we’ve got four losses. It’s not the way that we wanted things to go after starting off the way we do, but good teams bounce back. I’ve lost four games in a row before in my career, and we went on a nine-game winning streak. That’s what we need to do.”

On how QB Chris Simms felt following today’s game against San Diego

“I’m sure it was (tough). Chris prepared very well and he worked his butt off. He went out there and tried as hard as he could, and it didn’t work out. That’s how it goes in this league.”

On helping Simms from the sidelines

“We’ve always worked great together. Nothing has changed. He helps me out. I help him out. We’re a team. We’re a unit, (QB) Tom (Brandstater), Chris (and I). This is the quarterback room, and we want our room to play well.”

On if he lobbied to start today’s game

“No, we had the understanding of how we were going to try to approach the day. We were hoping Chris would go out there, and we would play well as a team and we’d be in the game. We just thought when it got to 13-0 and we kind of stalled a little bit on defense, (McDaniels) asked me if I could go, and I said I was ready. We tried to give it a shot.”

On the frustration following today’s loss to San Diego

“The last four losses have been frustrating to me. Every loss is frustrating. I know just as a locker room, we’re not panicking. We’re not doing anything else. We’re frustrated, and we want to win.”

On the morale in the locker room

“I think we’ve got a lot of good leaders. I think we’ve got a lot of good pros. The only way I know to get out of it is to work harder. Guys are working their butts off, but obviously, it’s not enough. We’ve got to work harder.”

On if he knew he wasn’t going to start after missing Friday’s practice

“I didn’t know anything, especially with ankles. You don’t know. 24 hours makes a huge difference, so you just never know. Obviously, I wanted to try to try to practice for a day if I was going to come out and start.”

On not converting on fourth-and-five in the third quarter

“I had to get rid of the ball early. I was actually trying to throw it to (WR Brandon) Stokley, and I had to throw it so early where he hadn’t come out of his break yet. We just didn’t execute it.”

On what he said to McDaniels following warm-ups

“I said I’m available if he needs to (play me). We had the understanding once I didn’t practice on Friday that Chris (Simms) is probably going to be going. When he asked me in the second quarter if I could come in, I told him yes.”

On if he aggravated his injury when he was hit by San Diego OLB Shawne Merriman’s

“No, I got lucky. It hurt when it happened. I kind of was taken aback for a second. He landed right on the leg, but nothing happened. I’m feeling pretty good.”

QB CHRIS SIMMS

On his performance

“I just didn’t have the greatest day of my life. Things just didn’t go our way. I think that we all need to get our stuff together and figure out what’s going on here and get off of this bad streak.”

On being under pressure from the San Diego defense

“It is the game sometimes. It is part of playing the quarterback position, and I just have to bounce back and keep working and see where it goes.”

On being replaced by Kyle Orton

“Coach [Josh McDaniels] has been coaching for a long time. He felt like it was the time to make the change, and I respect that. He is the head coach and he was not satisfied, and that is all you need to know.”

On the first drive of the game

“It seems like it has been that way for us the last few weeks. On the first drive, we drove down the field and it just was not rolling our way and we turned it over. We need to get it turned around and bouncing our way again.”

WR JABAR GAFFNEY

On establishing the running game

“We just wanted to get back to running the ball to try to keep our defense off the field.  We tried to establish that [at the start of the game] and we were running the ball and things started like they have the last couple weeks.  We drove all the way down there [on the opening drive] but then we had the turnover [10:44 – first quarter].  We’ve got to finish off the drives in the red area.  We’ve got to find a way to get points when we get the ball in the red area.”

On QB Kyle Orton coming into the game in the second quarter

“Kyle came in [4:10 second quarter] and the crowd got excited and we got excited.  We went right down the field but then we had another turnover [2:06 – second quarter] and that killed us right before the half.  We had a chance to get six points on the board but we didn’t convert.”

On playing on a short week

“In a situation like this, dropping four [games] in a row, we’ve got a three-day turnaround to get this out of our head, so it could be good to turn around and play quick.  Hopefully we can get a win and end this streak.”

S DARCEL MCBATH

On moving past this game

“We’ve got to move on. We play again in four days.  We have to man up and be ready to get back to work, get right in our head and get ready for the [New York] Giants on Thursday.”

On having a short week

“We can get quickly back to work and have less time to think about it, which is better, so we’ve just got to get back to work and get back to a winning way.”

WR BRANDON MARSHALL

On losing to the San Diego Chargers

“It’s obviously frustrating.  This is probably the most frustrating game I’ve ever been a part of.  I approached it like it was a playoff game, and I’m frustrated because we lost.  We all need to look at ourselves first.  I’m going to go back and watch film on myself and see what I’m doing wrong, what I changed from last year, how can I help move the ball down the field, get the ball.  So, I’m going to look at myself first and go back to last year and see if I changed anything, or if my routes aren’t the same, or if I’m not catching the ball as well, so I’ll start there.”

On his frustration boiling over after RB Knowshon Moreno’s second quarter fumble

“It was frustrating.  Those are plays that kind of kill drives, and we need to punch it in next time.”

RB KNOWSHON MORENO

On his fumble

“It is just a situation that is not good; we need to capitalize on those situations. I was trying too much, forgetting that we had three more downs. I was just trying too much to get the score for the team, but we can’t have those fumbles if we want to win.”

On the second half

“I just wanted to bounce back and try and get some yards for the team. The offensive line was opening up holes pretty wide that were easy for us to get through. But I think that it always comes back to that fumble.”

On QB Kyle Orton replacing QB Chris Simms

“I do not know if it changed anything, but we were able to get the ball down the field and get some yards and also get into the red zone, and hopefully come up with the score.”

OLB/DE MARIO HAGGAN

On the Loss

“It’s football, man. We were not doing the things that we need to do to win the game. We had the momentum for a hot second there, but we did not convert the opportunity that we had. Today, the Chargers played a better game. They made more plays and did the things necessary to win. We did not show up today, but we have to get back on track.”

On rebounding from this loss

“We have to think about the blessing and the opportunity that we have to play this game. A good thing about the NFL is that you have the chance to play another day. We have six games left, and a big one on Thursday night.”

On the Chargers running game

“When you have it going, you have it going, and today they got some big runs. It is up to us to stop the run, and you can’t get mad. They had a good game plan and they stuck with it.”

SAN DIEGO HEAD COACH NORV TURNER

Opening statement

“I guess the biggest thing that we’ve been working on throughout the year is trying to play a complete game. Last week I said I thought we played our most complete game, but now I think this is our most complete game. We put a lot of pressure on our guys. The first time we played these guys I thought our coverage was outstanding. Defensively we just keep getting better. Obviously, the moves we made a month ago with [S] Kevin Ellison and [S] Steve Gregory has certainly helped us. Offensively I think [T] Jeromey Clary’s injury is going to be more serious than I’d like. We certainly kept moving offensively. I think we are becoming a more complete offense. This is the first time we’ve been in the position where we could just wear on somebody and grind on them in the second half.”

On shutting down two quarterbacks

“To me it’s about the guys. This is a talented Denver offensive football team. They have dangerous receivers. They have an outstanding offensive line. They have good runners. Defensively that was our approach. We thought we’d see [QB Chris] Simms. We didn’t know what they would do with [QB Kyle] Orton. He came in there and gave them a lift but defensively our guys played complete until the end.”

On the Chargers’ offensive line

“You keep wanting to get in that position and we haven’t been in that position where you can just pound and run. When you do that, the offensive line will love it. It’s nice to be able to do that and keep growing as a football team.”

On differences between the last Denver match up

“I believe the games are all different and this time we controlled the game. We threw when we wanted to and we did some things in the last month that’s all part of our pass protection and I think we’ll continue to play better. ”

On your red zone defense

“With our red zone defense, we’ve got a good scheme. We’ve got good players doing it. I think Don [Johnson, defensive line coach] has a good feel for what people are trying to do to us. The combination of those things has allowed us to play well. We are continuing to grow and grow in terms of how physical we are so it’s harder to run the ball down there.”

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS PLAYERS

QB PHILIP RIVERS

On differences between the last time you played Denver

“Well, I think in that game, obviously they brought a lot of blitzes. It was a combination of a lot of things. In this game, and as we have the whole year, especially these last four weeks, the guys up front have been unbelievable and protective and then in this game they did not blitz near as much so they kind of surprised us. They didn’t bring as much as they brought in the early game. They are pass rushers and our guys up front did a great job. I think I was touched one time that I remember. It was kind of a weird game but we were efficient and able to gain control early. It was nice having a fourth quarter when we were running the ball and as we saw before in that time of the game that’s when you pile up the rushing yards. It was nice to get that done today.  ”

On two of the Chargers’ best back-to- back games

“No question [these were our best games] at a crucial part of the season. You obviously don’t want to start slow. We fought back early this year and we are playing our best ball and hopefully we can keep going that way.”

On leading the division

“To be honest we didn’t think we’d be in the position we are in division wise at this point. I think we had the right approach. We worry about us, we don’t worry about anyone else. We didn’t think we’d be tied at this game, but we were and now we’re ahead. It’s just that it’s not Week 17 of the season so we can’t relax and we have to keep going strong because we can still keep getting a lot better.”

On playing well as the season progresses

“I think if you look across the league at teams that give themselves a chance late in the year, they generally are playing their best. That’s something that we’ve been able to do is play our best late in the season. Usually the teams that are doing that have a chance late in the postseason. We’re not there yet but we’re headed in the right direction. I think this year’s been different. I know the records showed 2-3 at one point, but I don’t think it was as slow of a start. I know you are what your record is, but we were doing a lot of really good things. You look up and we were 2-3 because some plays got away from us. I felt like we are already further ahead than were a few years ago, so I don’t feel like we are that far off. We just keep improving. I think the best thing we’ve done all year, and maybe any year since I’ve been here, is have the focus about us and about the preparation from week to week. This is an excited locker room and it should be, but no one’s really caught up in the hoopla. We’ve won five in a row but we’re very focused and very grounded in our approach, which has had a lot to do with the success we’ve had in the last few weeks.”

RB LADAINIAN TOMLINSON

On leading the division after starting the season 2-3

“We knew it was a long season and things happen. Anything is possible; who would have thought last year that we would get in the playoffs, but we did.”

On differences between the last time you played Denver

“Obviously we didn’t give up two special teams touchdowns today. We drove the ball today: ran the ball and threw the ball. Our D [defense] played incredible. To hold them to three points; they have an outstanding offense. Our defense has been incredible.”

On improving their pass protection

“We worked a little extra on better protection and better blitz schemes. We couldn’t go down the field as much as usual. We just went with quick passing to make sure [QB] Philip [Rivers] could stay standing.”

On Denver putting QB Kyle Orton into the game

“I was surprised Orton didn’t start the game. I saw him pregame and he looked good throwing the ball. He came in and they got moving. To their credit, they started moving, but we made more plays.”

WR MALCOM FLOYD

On the win

“We have been on a roll and starting off fast. We didn’t have any turnovers today. We were keeping our penalties to a minimum and most of the time we did have penalties, they were offset. We just made big plays.”

On the performance of the offense

“It’s great when you can keep your defense off the field and control time of possession. We did a great job at that today.”

On leading the division

“It feels great, but K.C. [Kansas City] just beat Pittsburgh, so we have got to get ready for them.”

OLB SHAWNE MERRIMAN

On being healthy

“I feel great now, getting over that groin injury. I feel better and better each week. Outside of that injury, being out of football for a year, it has been a progression just getting back to 100 percent.”

On beating Denver

“I’d love to say it’s just another game, but we were playing for first in the division. This game meant a lot to a lot of us.”

On leading the division

“It is huge for us to be hitting our stride at this time. We would have loved to have started off 3-0, but we didn’t do that. We’ve had to find a way to get it done the last few weeks, and we have.”

SS STEVE GREGORY

On second quarter fumble recovery in the endzone

“I didn’t know if he was down or not, the ball just popped out by my feet. They tried to twist my arm under there, but I just held onto it.”

On the performance of the defense

“We did a good job at mixing it up and getting pressure on their quarterback. We were flying around and playing together. We need to keep getting better, and things will keep falling into place.”

On the Broncos

“They are a good team. They’ve hit a rough patch here lately, but they came out and played hard, but we got the best of them today.”

ILB STEPHEN COOPER

On the improvement of the defense

“I think a big thing is getting familiar with the guys on the field. Earlier in the year, we had a lot of guys hurt. Now our young guys are stepping up and playing like pros.”

On their current winning streak

“We never panicked. Look up and down our roster and you will see all pro bowl caliber players. We are supposed to be winning and we weren’t doing it earlier in the season, but now we are.”

On Denver putting QB Kyle Orton into the game

“I think the biggest thing for them is that it was like Willis Reed coming back into the [Madison Square] Garden. They started playing fast and moving the ball around, but then that fumble in the endzone cost them the momentum.”