The Lead
Just days before traveling to Kansas City to face the Chiefs, Interim Head Coach Jerry Rosburg has taken over the reins of the team — and the enormous responsibility has not fazed him in the slightest.
In Rosburg's previous role overseeing game management, players had limited interactions with him. But on his first day as the head coach, he held a meeting with the entire team to lay out his expectations for the players and his goals for the final two weeks of the season.
"We obviously kind of know his background a little bit, he shared it with us, but thus far, I think he's been doing a good job," safety Kareem Jackson said. "Just kind of relaying the messages of what he expects from everybody."
While players are still adjusting to the team's decision to part to ways with head coach Nathaniel Hackett, many of them have embraced Rosburg and look forward to his leadership in the coming weeks.
"I'm a big fan of Jerry," guard Dalton Risner said. "I don't even know the word [used to describe] Jerry. He's very on it. He's very on top of all that. You have to respect him for that. When he came in and he was helping with situations, I was a big fan of Jerry. Just seeing how well he's stepped into this role and how he's taken it upon him to get the most out of us and get this thing rolling, I respect him a ton. I've really enjoyed it. There [have] been some changes, and we're excited to see where that leads. We're really trying to just buy into what Jerry is doing."
Rosburg, who previously worked as an NFL special teams coordinator for almost two decades, also said he is committed to taking an active role with the Broncos' special teams unit. He has participated in special teams meetings this week, and inside linebacker Alex Singleton noted that Rosburg is already making an impact.
"[His message was that] we're going to get better, and we're going to use these next two weeks to become a better team," Singleton said. "We're going to start with fundamentals, we're going to do the little things right. Obviously he's been [coaching] special teams for most of his career, so he was in those meetings today, implemented what he thinks is going to make us better, was in drills today doing that."
Below the Fold
Quarterback Russell Wilson threw three interceptions in the Broncos' loss to the Rams in Week 16, and he said Wednesday that he holds himself to a much higher standard. Though this season has not met anyone's expectations, Wilson noted that he wholeheartedly believes in his ability to turn things around.
"I know I can play exceptionally well," Wilson said. "I know what I have in me, and I know what I can do. At the end of the day, each moment that you get out there, you want to play your best. I haven't been able to do that this year so far. We have two games to go. I want to be able to go compete at the highest level and try to get us two wins and get a win against the Kansas City Chiefs. I know how much this game means to us just because of the rivalry and the history of it all. It's another opportunity to play the game that we love with the teammates that we love. In terms of my confidence level, my resilience in myself, knowing who I am, and how much work I put into it every day — the mentality, the work ethic. You have dark days sometimes. It's been up and down. It's been a tough year in a lot of ways physically and just trying to score more touchdowns. [I'm] used to scoring a lot of touchdowns and winning a lot of games, and that hasn't happened. It's the first time it's been like this. What I do know is that I believe in our guys that we have around us. ... I believe in myself at the highest level."
