Head Coach John Fox
On having protection issues
"I mean, that's a good front. Give them some credit. I thought we knew coming in that – on a fast track, plus a noisy environment – it's always a little bit more of an issue. I don't know the number of sacks at this point. It did create some pressure but I think with the second half we handled it a little bit better. But anytime you turn the ball over four times, especially on the road, it's going to be tough."
On the defense
"I thought defensively we settled down. We started playing smarter, tougher football, executed better in the second half. I think we've still got work to do. I thought our first half was a little shoddy in spots, but something I think we can learn and get better from."
On whether it was the toughest team the Broncos have faced so far
"Well, I mean, it's the first team that's beat us. I think if you look at that, you say yes. But all of these teams are tough. They're professionals and it's a tough place to play. (Colts Head Coach) Chuck (Pagano) and his staff did an outstanding job and they're an outstanding team."
Quarterback Peyton Manning
On lots of three-and-outs in a row in the middle of the game
"I thought they played excellent on defense. I think our execution was not as good as we'd like it to be. We started out – that second drive was good, had a couple of big plays, but had two third-and-1s and two first-down plays that were really good in those first two of those first three drives. Had two third-and-1s and got stopped, then hit a little rut there with some three-and-outs. Give their defense a lot of credit and then our execution just wasn't as sharp. We were kind of going first down, second down, third down and couldn't find much of a rhythm."
On emotions in the game "There's no question I was emotional during that tribute. I thought I came back pretty quickly and was ready to play for kickoff. I felt probably a little tired coming into this week. I'm kind of in some ways somewhat relieved this game is over. I feel like, hopefully, we'll have a chance to play these guys again. Because that would mean we'd made the playoffs. We have a long way to go before then, but you certainly see them being in the postseason, for sure. I think if there is a next time, it may be a little bit easier just because it was somewhat of an emotional week. It can be a little bit draining, I will say that."
On moving on quickly from the loss "This is a game that we need to learn from. We had four turnovers and still somehow had a chance to win that game. I'd like to have seen it go to a two-point game down there toward the end and seen what would have happened. Never quite got to that point, but you can go back to different parts of the game – we got behind and (there were) mistakes there but we still had a chance there at the end. We did fight and hung in there. We can learn from it. We certainly have to improve from this game because we weren't as sharp execution-wise as we'd like."
Tight End Jacob Tamme
On wanting to win for Manning
"It would have been nice for sure but we just didn't play well enough. We're still relatively early in the season. We're nearing the midway point here and we have some things to get better at. We've been saying that even though we've been winning games but now it's pretty clear we can get better at some things – some of you guys didn't believe us, but we can get a lot better and we have to find a way to do that."
On the game being emotional for him
"I think a little bit. When you spend time somewhere – it was definitely different and like I said, we fought hard. That's what's tough about it. When you fight hard like that and come up short. We just have to play better."
On what work needs to be done
"There are all sorts of little things we can work on, just like every team does. We have to find ways to get better, protect the ball better – speaking for what I do, on offense, we have to protect the ball better. On special teams, we have to find ways to make some more big plays because we're capable of that. Guys were playing hard and playing their tails off we just didn't quite make it."
Tight End Julius Thomas
On not using the middle of the field
"I don't know. They were able to do some good things defensively – mixing up coverages. I think they kind of kept us off balance a little bit and we weren't able to get into a rhythm for a while and I can't say why we didn't use the middle of the field or why we didn't use the outside. We just, like you said, we had six three and outs. That's not us, that's not our identity and we have to clean that up."
On if the Colts found something
"I think the Colts found what every other team has been able to find so far this year – we have too many turnovers. We talk about it all the time. We're middle of the pack in the league when it comes to turnover margin and that's not what a winning team – we can't have that. We've been able to continue to survive through turnovers and you play a good team and you can't get that."
On Manning's emotion
"I think he handled it expertly, the way he handles everything else. He came back and he didn't make this about him coming to Indianapolis, it was about us playing that Colts. That's the feeling we had all week and I think that's the feeling that we maintained throughout the game. He just kept on trying to get us into what we needed to get into and get us back on track. I think he handled the emotion of being back in the place he played for a while very well."
Wide Receiver Wes Welker
On the mistakes
"Yeah, we didn't play very smart and play the way we needed to play to win the game. We talk about protecting the ball and we have to go out there and do it. We have to take care of the football we have to play smart football and be on top of everything and it's a learning experience. We need guys to grow up and play the way we need to and I have no doubt we're going to do that."
On wanting to win for Manning
"Absolutely, it would have been great. We want to win every game. It's a tough league and you have to bring your best every single week and this definitely wasn't our best."
On whether a first loss can help confidence
"I think it does. I think it's a big learning experience for us and that's the way we have to look at and understand that there are a lot of things that we have to clean up and we have to get better at and we have to take a little more pride in."
Linebacker Von Miller
On how he felt getting back on the field
"I felt great. I felt physically and mentally ready to go. The Colts have a great offense, a great offensive line that blocked well. Andrew Luck is a great player and was able to shake out some situations and make plays for his team. They have a great team over there. We're going to keep battling out, trying to get better over here."
On where the game got away
"I can't really put my finger on it just yet. My teammates – the whole team fought it out to the end. We showed some grit. Certain situations happened and we were able to bounce back from it, so I'm proud of my teammates for that. We fought to the end. Like I said, some mistakes happened. I can't really pinpoint it but we'll get back in the lab and we'll figure it out."
On thinking they could win
"Yeah, there were a lot of moments in the game when I felt like that. I felt like we had a chance to win. Every game that I go into, no matter what the score is – I feel like we have a chance to win. And I felt like we had a chance to win all the way up until the end there. That's football. That's what great about the game of football – you never know what's going to happen. My teammates, we all fought hard. We'll get back in the lab and figure it out and start preparing for Washington."
