NFL coaches won’t often acknowledge their team or unit or position was overmatched in a game.
Vance Joseph did Wednesday, even if it was stating the obvious.
In the Broncos defensive coordinator’s first news conference since Denver gave up 70 points to Miami on Sunday, Joseph vowed to engineer a turnaround and took the brunt of the blame for an historically poor outing.
“The speed, the angles, it was obviously overwhelming for us.” Joseph said of the Dolphins’ 10-touchdown, 726-yard outing.
“Obviously, it wasn’t good. When your unit plays that way, my first thought is, ‘it’s me.’ I have to do better as a coach and getting guys ready for the challenge. It was a tough day from Play 1 to play whatever we played. As a coach and as an experienced coach who knows those days happen, it’s always on me first.
“I’ll fix it. Quickly. I have to.”
While Chicago’s offense is nowhere near as potent as Miami’s, part of the problem facing the Broncos’ defense is that you can’t solve all manner of problems in a week’s time. Denver’s been a bad tackling team this year, but the group is unlikely to miss in the neighborhood of 20, as they did Sunday. The Broncos would be hard-pressed to put less pressure on Justin Fields than they did on Tua Tagovailoa.
“It was a combination of a lot of things,” Joseph said. “Obviously, I didn’t get them ready for the speed and the angles and getting them in the right positions. I take it first and we got back and look at it. …
“It became a buzzsaw quickly. And it spiraled. It spiraled quickly.”
Now Denver has to figure out a way to not let one embarrassing outing become multiple losses or leave a lasting impact, even though the outside world will not soon forget the scene at Hard Rock Stadium. A 50-point loss is going to skew numbers, but through three weeks Denver is last in the NFL in points and yards allowed and No. 31 in first downs surrendered.
“It’s always player first and scheme second,” Joseph said. “If it doesn’t work for a player, you don’t do it. That’s very simple.”
Injury report. The Broncos’ injury report stayed relatively static Thursday.
Inside linebacker Josey Jewell (groin/hip), outside linebacker Frank Clark (hip) and defensive lineman Mike Purcell (ribs) did not participate and again did work on the side field.
Justin Simmons (hip/groin) and wide receiver Jerry Jeudy (knee) were limited for the second straight day.
Clark, who didn’t practice last week and hasn’t played since the opener against Las Vegas, told reporters Thursday he tore his adductor muscle near his hip on Sept. 13 and is hoping to return to action next week against the New York Jets.
Tight end Greg Dulcich (hamstring) has ramped up his activity quite a bit this week. He’s on injured reserve and isn’t eligible to return until Week 6.
Next week, though, will be interesting because defensive back P.J. Locke (ankle), nickel K’Waun Williams (ankle), outside linebacker Baron Browning (knee) and offensive lineman Alex Palczewski (hand) are all eligible to return from injured reserve. That’s not to say all four will return immediately, but Locke and Browning both feel like they’re close to being ready and are sorely missed on the Denver defense.
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