SAN DIEGO -- Here's what some of the Broncos' players and coaches had to say after the Broncos beat division-rival San Diego 28-20.
Interim Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio
On Manning's injury at the end"Not sure. I think he took a little bit of a shot. He made a great thrown, and DT – great timing on that play. We were playing aggressively to win the game right there and he made a throw and DT made a catch and that was the ball game. He got back up, didn't want to come off there, proud guy, and closed out the game for us."
On the Charger's trying to keep Manning off of the field"Well it does make sense to try and keep a great player on the sideline if you can. So you can't fault him for trying. I thought Mike did a good job having his team prepared. They played hard and we'll see them again in December. I thought it was a good win for us today."
On Head Coaching responsibilities being like riding a bike"It's funny that you used that analogy. I had a text from a good friend that said, 'it's just like riding a bike and you have a really nice bike,' (laughter). I appreciated that. And we do – it's a nice ride. But I appreciate it. It's a good opportunity – a good gutty win for us."
Quarterback Peyton Manning
On staying in after the hit"Well, I figure after we got that first down that we were going to be able to keep it on the ground and handoff. I didn't think we were going to be running many sprintouts or naked bootlegs at that point so I felt OK to stay in and finish it out. Just with getting the snaps from Manny and the ballhandling, you don't want to risk anything in that situation. I hated the fact that it made us burn a timeout. That was kind of a new one on me. I didn't know that after they called timeout they didn't have to use it."
On Chargers' time of possession to keep him on sideline"I've been in those types of games before. Never know exactly what a team's plans are going to be on offense or defense, but you knew early – one possession in the first quarter, and you can barely call it a possession. I think it was three plays and Julius was flying down the sideline. You knew it wasn't going to be many possessions and we had to be efficient when we had the ball. We were disappointed when we had a sack on a third down and a drop on another third down. We felt like we had to be efficient when we had the ball because it wasn't going to be very often. Critical series there at the end of the half. Great use of timeouts by Jack – I guess they missed the field goal – using the timeouts and going down and scoring a touchdown. Then we got the ball – and that's a big reason why we defer, Coach Fox has always deferred – and so we hit that first possession of the second half. That's a 14-point swing and that's probably the difference in the ballgame."
On Owner and CEO Pat Bowlen's 300th win"I think a lot of the players felt honored to be a part of it. There are a lot of great players that have been a part of 300 wins – the entire time Mr. Bowlen has owned the team in 30 years. I think once former Broncos realize the statistic was accomplished today, a lot of players will take a lot of pride in it as they should."
