DENVER — Broncos players are bracing for a change, but many feel head coach Vance Joseph has done a good job in his two years at the helm.
They acknowledge the 11-21 record doesn’t get it done in the NFL, but not everyone is laying the blame strictly on the head coach.
When asked if the coaching staff deserves another season, safety Justin Simmons didn’t hesitate with an answer.
“I do. You can always see the proof in the pudding, depending on how your team plays,” he said after Denver’s 23-9 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. “We approached every week like there was no quit. We love VJ, we love the coaching staff here. We were playing hard to get that last win here. I think that was proven in our play.”
Joseph has had some missteps, such as his uses of the coach’s challenge and his timeouts, but he has earned the respect of the locker room.
“He’s a hard worker, he’s a really good guy,” linebacker Brandon Marshall said. “When we huddle up, we’d say we love you coach. He’s a great coach. I don’t think this is entirely his fault and I hope everybody else could actually see that.”
In 2017, Joseph’s first season with Denver, the team lost eight straight after a 3-1 start and finished 5-11. This season was shaping up the same way but the Broncos won three straight to reach 6-6 and a realistic shot at the playoffs.
Then in the practice week leading up to a game in San Francisco, Emmanuel Sanders, the team’s leading receiver, tore his Achilles tendon. Denver didn’t win again.
Cornerback Bradley Roby said that was the turning point of the season.
“We were balling, we had three big wins in a row against good teams, and when he got hurt it deflated us on the offensive side of the ball,” Roby said. “That’s kind of where it hurt us.”
Roby wasn’t as emphatic as others about Joseph’s job with Denver but he did praise his coach.
“I like Vance a lot as a person but that’s not my call. I don’t make any decisions on that so I can’t comment on that. I like him as a person. He’s a great guy,” Roby said. “I like him as a coach, also.”
Maybe the biggest endorsement came from cornerback Will Parks.
“For the people that don’t know, yeah, maybe the past two years haven’t been what people would expect as far as the fans go. But they don’t know that that dude is one of the best head coaches I have ever been around, period,” Parks said. “As far as making sure everyone is working hard and dialed in at practice, all the way until game day to be ready for game day. He had us ready each and every week. Obviously, the score boards and record didn’t show that but that is one of the most courageous and humblest guys I have ever met. I am proud of VJ for coming into a tough situation like this and being able to stick through for two years.”
FREE AGENTS: Joseph’s future isn’t the only thing to be decided in the offseason. Denver has 11 free agents and several veterans whose contracts could be considered too costly. It means a lot of turnover not only on the staff but in the locker room, too.
Those changes are expected when a team has two straight losing seasons and an aging roster.
“It just depends on what the front office thinks of different players,” Marshall said. “You’ve got to keep a lion’s share of the players, you have to but I expect there to be some changes. Especially with the vets. We haven’t gotten done the last three years so they’re going to start over, go young.”
Marshall, who was plagued with a knee injury this season, said he wants to return. He just finished his seventh season, sixth in Denver, and sounded as if he expects to be gone.
“When I first got here it was amazing, seeing Peyton (Manning) put up all those numbers; we went to a Super Bowl my first year,” he said. “Lately we just haven’t been getting it done. I expect changes but it was a good run here.”
MILLER TIME: Linebacker Von Miller ended a disappointing team season with a personal flourish. Miller had a sack, forced fumble and a fumble recovery on the same play. He had another sack wiped away by a defensive penalty.
He finished the season with 15.5 sacks, which is second only to his 18.5 sacks in 2012, his second year in the league.
