With two touchdowns in the first three games, how do you feel about the hot start?

"Sometimes you just end up in the right spot at the right time. It's definitely a blessing to score touchdowns in this league, I know that much. I've been around for a few years and you never know when those opportunities are going to come so I just try to stay ready for whatever my role is every week. Every once in a while you end up in the right spot and I've felt good about being able to make big plays and I've been able to make a couple so far."

How dangerous is the passing offense in the two tight end sets with you and Julius Thomas?

"I think it gives us some different flexibility, being able to go more of a spread look or more of a two tight traditional run look and being able to do different things out of both looks. I think it's definitely fun for me when we get a chance to do that, and we have a lot of different personnel groups and different combinations of people in the game that we can succeed with. Again, it's just about on any given drive what we find ourselves in and executing whatever my role is."

Catching's a bit more intuitive than blocking, which is also a big part of playing tight end. How difficult was it to learn that facet of the position?

"Well I came from a wide receiver background and in college when I switched over to tight end and started putting my hand down, you kind of got to go through that progression. I've never been the biggest tight end; I'm going to get outweighed by every single person that I block on the defensive line every time. But, for me, I've been able to learn how much technique influences the way you win on blocks and all the little things you can do to get in the right position and use pad level to your advantage and just using techniques to win. You can't succeed at tight end blocking if you don't want to. If you're afraid to put your face in there and you don't like contact then you're not going to make it as a tight end because you're not going to be able to block, but if you're willing to do that then you get around somebody like [tight ends] Coach Barone, who can help you find the little things to do to beat those guys even when you're outsized."

How do feel about the relationships between you and your teammates?

"I love this locker room. I love being around these guys. It's a big part of what I really appreciate about this place is the guys that we have here. Talking specifically about offense, we've got a lot of guys that can make plays and we have a lot of unselfish guys that just try to do their part and not worry about catches and all this stuff. I think it makes it a good atmosphere to be around and makes it fun to play with these guys."

Playing with Peyton for much of your career, what has he instilled in you?

"I think the first thing is preparation. He prepares as hard or harder than anybody else in the league and being around that helps everybody raise their level of play and the work that you put in throughout the week, being able to just translate it into execution on Sunday."

What impact do you want to have on your teammates?

"I hope guys just respect the way that I work and the way that I carry myself and, if anything, just would be able to say that I was a good teammate to them, and they enjoyed playing ball with me. For me at the end of the day, a big part of this is about relationships and earning that respect of your teammates and being able to go out there on the field, knowing that the guys around you are going to be giving everything that you're giving to get this job accomplished. Football's not going to last forever, so at the end of the day, a lot of it is about the people you're around and hopefully they say they were glad to be around me."

If you didn't play football, what would you do instead?

"I don't know, we'll find out here sometime in the next five years or so. I've always had an interest in business. I got a master's in business, so I've always been interested in the business world and economics. I own some farmland. I don't know, we'll see."

What were your career aspirations as a kid?

"I know when I was in third grade I wrote down on a sheet of paper my career goal was to work at Dairy Queen and play in the NFL. I guess I just really liked Blizzards when I was little. There's still opportunity for that."