ENGLEWOOD, Colo. --Following Sunday's good news that the Broncos earned their 13th all-time AFC West title, the team received some bad news on Monday that linebacker Von Miller tore his ACL and will miss the rest of the season.
Head Coach John Fox was sent home by the team doctors with flu-like symptoms, so he conducted his Monday press availability via conference call.
On the call, Fox addressed Miller's season-ending injury, Champ Bailey's return to the lineup and the health of defensive end Derek Wolfe and wide receiver Wes Welker. See highlights from the call below:
On how he's feeling
"I'm good. I've just got a little bug…I think we've had the players go through our locker room. Anyway, I'm just kind of making sure I don't infect anybody moving forward as we get ready for Oakland."
On what it means knowing that linebacker Von Miller is out for the season
"Well, I mean, it's a blow. That's like losing a guy like [tackle] Ryan Clady earlier in the season. [Wide receiver Wes] Welker. Anytime you take any of those caliber of players, it's a blow. But 'next man up' kind of approach. Our guys will deal with it and we have to – [linebacker] Nate Irving stepped in fairly early in the game yesterday and did a very good job. We'll sort it out, figure out what we've got to do."
On whether he has any idea of the timetable for Miller's recovery
"I don't know that yet. I think typically—I'm not saying in this case—but typically if there's swelling, they let the swelling come down. I haven't seen Von since last night on the plane. They let the swelling go down. Then they go in and do the surgery. I can't give you a date and time at this point."
On DE Derek Wolfe and WR Wes Welker
"I'm expecting we'll know more [soon]. Whether he will be out there in a bigger capacity, I can't predict like some of the people in this business that predict. But Wes Welker has also not been cleared at this point. That is today, Monday. We form back up on Wednesday and so a lot of those things can change. But right now, I've got no new updates for you on either one of those two young men."
On CB Champ Bailey's performance on Sunday
"I thought it was a good outing. I think we've practiced him in that role all week. I think he felt confident in that role. I definitely think he brings something to our secondary as far as leadership and confidence. So I felt really good about it. We'll see if we can develop it a little more as we move forward or whatnot. But I haven't really had a chance to sit down with Champ. We'll get that opportunity on Wednesday. But I thought it went very well."
On whether he thought QB Peyton Manning was being modest or practical when he said he believed his single-season passing touchdown record would be broken
"Well, obviously that's something he could probably answer better than I can. You never know with records. Some last longer than you think, some don't. I don't know if I'm the best one to answer that. I think you'd have to ask Peyton."
