Erich Schubert, Media Relations Coordinator ( / 303-264-5503)

Patrick Smyth, Executive Director of Media Relations ([email protected] / 303-264-5536) Rebecca Villanueva, Media Services Manager ([email protected] / 303-264-5598) Erich Schubert, Media Relations Coordinator ([email protected] / 303-264-5503)

DENVER BRONCOS QUOTES (12/19/12)

QUARTERBACK PEYTON MANNING

On looking at Denver’s roster when deciding to play for the Broncos “Every NFL team has good players. Like I said, you try to find, you try to narrow it down to some teams that you think you can feel comfortable with and you make a decision. You can’t know everything about a team when you’re making a decision like that. The first time I’ve had to do anything like that so I can’t—I think I’d be lying if I said that I went through every single player on the roster. I had some questions. I met with [Head Coach] John [Fox] and met with [Offensive Coordinator] Mike [McCoy] and met with [Defensive Coordinator Jack] Del Rio, met with all of them during my visit here and had some questions for them and got those answers and felt comfortable about those types of things.”

On how the questions he had have worked out “It’s hard to say—it seems like it’s been a long time ago—what those questions were. We’ve had some new players; we’ve had some guys step up. [Executive Vice President of Football Operations] John [Elway]—the front office has added some new players through free agency, through the draft, guys that have come in and helped us and I think some of the players that were here last year have stepped up. Guys have improved and so that’s what you want. That’s what you hope happens when you’re putting a team together and hopefully we can keep that going.”

On the Cleveland Browns “I’ll tell you on defense, they’re young, they’re active, they’re flying around. I don’t know a whole lot what’s going on with their offense but defensively, they’re a physical group. They’re stout against the run. They can blitz you but they can get all their pressure with four if they have to with the front D-Linemen so that’s impressive and they’re playing real hard as well.”

On if he sees Del Rio’s influence on the defense compared to how Del Rio coached Jacksonville “No. This is his defense here. He wasn’t the defensive coordinator there so I’d say it looks a lot different than what it did in Jacksonville. Mike Smith was the coordinator and they had different guys there so I think what Jack’s doing here with the defense is kind of unique. I think he’s kind of implied some of—it’s kind of his stuff, I think. It doesn’t look like Jacksonville’s, I’ll say that.”

On if rookie quarterbacks are more prepared now than they used to be “It’s hard to compare but I think it’s certainly an impressive class. Like you said, I have gotten to know these guys at our camp and they’re all guys with good heads on their shoulders. They get it. I think they study the cerebral part of the game. Obviously they all have talent; otherwise they wouldn’t be drafted where they are. I think it probably depends on the program, where they played, what kind of offense they ran. I think that helps guys make a quicker transition. I think you ought to give a lot of credit to the player, the individual player. These rookies that are coming in playing, they’re talented, they work hard and I think playing early—I’ve always believed in playing as a rookie. It’s the best way to learn. There’s just a different speed when you’re out there on the field than there is on the sidelines.”

On how it is to have Elway right down the hall “John’s making a lot of the decisions here and he’s, for a quarterback, I think I said this earlier in the year, he’s a good resource for quarterbacks. He and I still talk a lot about playing in the NFL, different teams, different stadiums, we talk about playing at home, sometimes little things, the sun sets at certain times at a home game, there’s certain times you want to throw certain routes depending on where the sun sets. Those are little things you can kind of get. Then, I think from a repetition standpoint, playing quarterback at my age, John played, he shared some things that worked for him, so he’s been a great resource for me as a quarterback and obviously he’s doing a great job leading the organization.”

On if his relationship with Elway has been what he expected “I think I’ve said this before, I really didn’t know what to expect. It’s been a complete whirlwind year for me but John’s been very supportive of me and he’s been a great resource.”

On what it would mean to get the No. 2 seed “The only thing that’s going to mean something to me is if we play well and get better this week and try to beat Cleveland. That’s really all we’re focused on. That’s been the best thing we’ve done all year is approach every opponent the same, regardless of who the team was and where we were playing and what the situation was and what their record was. That’s the thing I’ve always believed in, in the month of December, ‘Are you getting better? Are you making some strides every week?’ We still have some things that we want to get better at, we feel like we need to get better at, and that’s what we’re trying to do this week. Usually if you get better, hopefully a lot of times some good things will follow. That’s our goal is to get better this week and to try to beat a good Cleveland team.”

On if there is a lot to improve on “What’s the difference between getting better and getting a lot better? It’s just improvement. You want to improve and you want to try to keep winning at the same time.”

On there always being certain things to improve on “ Right, and there’s others. I don’t feel like it’s worth sharing to the opponent but I think you’re constantly—coaches are constantly challenging us and I think the offensive line coach was proud of that last drive, but he’s challenging the offensive line, ‘Hey, there’s another level we can take it to,’ so that’s what you want. You either get better or you get worse. You don’t stay the same.”

On his relationship with Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam “Jimmy Haslam and really his entire family have been great supporters of me. His dad was a player on their (Tennessee’s) 1951 National Championship team and they’ve been great supporters of the university so I’m happy for Jimmy and his family, becoming an NFL owner. He’s the kind of guy that is going to be a great NFL owner. He gets it and he loves football and obviously he and I have a lot in common that we both love University of Tennessee football but I’ve always appreciated his friendship and support of me and I’m real happy for him getting this opportunity, and Cleveland’s real lucky, I can tell you that.”

On what McCoy has done to make him a better quarterback “Mike and I spend a lot of time together. [Quartebracks Coach] Adam Gase and I spend a lot of time together. We do a lot of the same drills each week in practice and we’re constantly trying to perfect the plays that we’re running in the offense or if we’re adding plays, whatever it may be. Just trying to do whatever we can to move the ball or try to get touchdowns in the red zone, convert third downs, whatever it may be. It’s been a team effort and I really appreciate the help that Mike and Adam have given me going all the way back to when I first got here. I’m grateful for their help and support.”

©2012 Denver Broncos Football Club. All rights reserved. The individual quotes cited in this document may be used for the purpose of news reporting and other fair uses as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Duplication or posting of this quote sheet, in its entirety, or any other use of this material which is not a fair use as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of the Denver Broncos Football Club. On RB Knowshon Moreno earning AFC Offensive Player of the Week “It’s awesome. Coach Fox announced that today. The team was fired up. Knowshon, I know he was grateful. He said a few words to the team and how much he appreciated it. I’ve said it before, it’s a great lesson about being a professional, a guy that’s played the first two games, inactive for however many, and comes off the inactive list and is just improved every week. I thought he ran hard against Baltimore. I thought he did a great job protecting the ball. I’d turn around and look and in Baltimore, all those guys are trying to strip the ball and pull it away and he does a great job protecting it and everything was just downhill all day, which it’s a tough team to run against. Great individual effort by him and, like I said, just a great credit to him for being ready kind of when his number was called at this point in the season.”