The final episode of this season of Behind the Broncos dropped on Thursday evening, and there were a handful of memorable moments from conversations with Pat Surtain II, Justin Simmons, Russell Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett.
Check out some of our favorite snippets below — and then make sure to catch the full episode of Behind the Broncos.
RIDING IN WITH SURTAIN
The episode begins with Surtain, a burgeoning star cornerback, headed into UCHealth Training Center for a day at the office. During the course of the episode, we see some clips of Surtain practicing and get a peek into the defensive backs' meeting room. Surtain's ceiling is high in 2022, and he has a sense that his teammates have high expectations for themselves, as well.
"This team is shaping up well," Surtain said. "It's a lot of guys that are ready to play at that high level. A lot of guys are going into the season with a chip on their shoulder from last year. I just think the sky's the limit for us. … This team is ultra-focused on what's at stake and what's in front of us, which is getting to the big game and getting to that level we're capable of."
A PAIR OF LEADERS
Wilson and Simmons are two of the unquestioned leaders of this Broncos team, and we get a chance to see them have a one-on-one conversation with each other during this episode. There's several intriguing moments during the conversation, including Wilson talking about the need for "unrelenting belief" in order to win and Simmons discussing where he thinks Wilson stands in the game's history. The first part of their conversation, though, focuses on Wilson's arrival in Denver.
"It's a new opportunity to start fresh, it's a new opportunity to [be challenged] differently," Wilson said. "It's a new opportunity, but I think it's still the same mission. I think the same mission [is] doing the process. So many people get lost in the sense of they don't want to do the process anymore or they've done it successfully — especially as good as [Simmons has] been or as decent as I've been — it becomes one of those things [where] you forget about the process. What I love coming here and just seeing the guys and being around them, is guys are addicted to the process. That makes it exciting for me. At the end of the day, nothing else matters. All the talk, all the stuff outside, that's good. That's good, and it's exciting. But the only thing is we've got to determine that every day here."
BUILDING A BOND
The Broncos put in work on the field during the offseason program, and Hackett noted the importance of learning the system to build a solid foundation ahead of training camp. But he also noted that the team has begun to construct a sense of team camaraderie, which may be just as important down the stretch of the season.
"I look back at when I was younger and thinking of all the teams and all the things that we've done off the field," Hackett said. "The best teams that I've been on are the ones that are the closest in the locker room. That has to happen. If you get that, you're always going to have a chance. There's 17 games in a regular season. It's a long season. We're all together for a long time. There's going to be good days and there's going to be bad days and it's about us as a group working things out, getting better, fixing things, continuing to get better and better so we're rolling in December. I think that's what we're always hunting for, but if we're not a close team, the guys don't know each other, if they don't feel great about the guy next to them, then that's not good. For me, it's about those guys bonding. … When you get that tight-knit group, you can get through anything."
