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centertop00DENVER BRONCOS vs. SEATTLE SEAHAWKSBroncos Stadium at Mile High ● Sept. 9, 2018?2018 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.Postgame Quotes Summary (click links for easy navigation):Broncos Quotes: Head Coach Vance Joseph (press conference); QB Case Keenum (press conference); OLB Von Miller (press conference); OLB Bradley Chubb; ILB Todd Davis; RB Royce Freeman; CB Chris Harris Jr.; CB Adam Jones; RB Phillip Lindsay; S Will Parks; WR Emmanuel Sanders; S Justin Simmons; WR Courtland Sutton; WR Demaryius Thomas Seahawks Quotes: Head Coach Pete Carroll (press conference); WR Brandon Marshall (press conference); QB Russell Wilson (press conference); C Justin Britt; DE Frank Clark; TE Will Dissly; LB Shaquem Griffin; WR Tyler Lockett; S Bradley McDougald; S Earl ThomasBRONCOS HEAD COACH VANCE JOSEPHOn injuries“Injury-wise, we’re clean. Very lucky, again, to come out of the game with no injuries.”On QB Case Keenum’s performance “He had three interceptions, that’s not good, but he also had three touchdowns and he stayed aggressive for us. We pulled a win out, but obviously we can all play better. I was pleased with our team in all three phases—how we kept playing and how we finished the game, so a win’s a win. It’s a hard league to win in, so I’m pleased with our guys.”On if that’s as good as he’s seen OLB Von Miller play“Since I’ve been here, yes. I mean, what, three sacks, two forced fumbles, a recovery. He’s in the top 50 of the league as far as history of sacks. He’s a special player, but if you’re not playing with a lead, he can’t be special. Last season, we played with I think two leads, so hopefully we can get more leads and he can be special each week for us.”On RB Phillip Lindsay and the performance of the rookie class “He played well. He’s a mature player. He had 104 yards I think from line of scrimmage today, along with [RB Royce] Freeman, 180 total from two rookies. Those two guys are mature players, they’re special players and they’re NFL backs so that’s what we expect from those guys. [OLB Bradley] Chubb played well today, [WR] Courtland [Sutton] played well today. We had four or five rookies that played a bunch of snaps for us today. I’m very pleased with those guys.”On Freeman’s improvement late in the game“He fought well. He had some big runs late in the game. We got back to running the football after the turnovers. We got back to running the football and really took the game back on the ground and it made their pass defense soft. I was proud of Royce for how he ran downhill. It’s a single-high, it’s a loaded-box defense every play, so it wasn’t going to be easy running the football against these guys. But, we stayed with it and it worked out for us.”On struggling to cover Seahawks TE Will Dissly“It wasn’t scheme, it wasn’t guys not being covered, it was really missed tackles. He had two plays of 105 yards. At halftime, they had 129 passing and he had 105, so it wasn’t a matchup problem, it wasn’t a scheme problem, it was simply missed tackles.”On WR Demaryius Thomas’ key catches after struggling early “He played well. [WR] Emmanuel [Sanders] also played well, he had 10 [catches] for 135 [yards]. Those guys are veteran players and to watch those two guys with Case every day work how they’ve worked, I’m not surprised they played well. Case has given life to those two guys and I’m expecting big years from both players.”On if he expected RB Phillip Lindsay to play as big a role as he did“Each game is different. You said it: he was hot. He ran downhill, he made guys miss, so we stayed with the hot hand. But, we have three capable backs that dress for the game, along with our fullback. Whoever’s hot gets the carries, and he was hot today so he carried the load.”On if he expects 10 catches from Sanders every week“I’m not sure about that, but he’s working that way with Case, and obviously he’s a veteran receiver. When you’re playing with a quarterback like Case Keenum, it gives you energy. It gives you life and hope each week. If they keep working, we’ll have some big games from those guys.”On playing with a lead and having a loud crowd“The crowd was great today. It was deafening out there those last two third downs. Again, if we can get a lead with this crowd at home, it’s going to be hard to beat us, especially with our four pass rushers. Our defense is built on playing with the lead. If we do that, it’s going to be tough to beat us.”On if CB Adam Jones moved into the nickel cornerback role right away“They both played today (Jones and CB Tramaine Brock). Adam, he played for me in Cincinnati, he played for [Rams Defensive Coordinator] Coach Wade [Phillips], so it’s very similar systems. He had no problem learning what we’re doing. Obviously, a concern was his physical shape. He’s been for us a week and a half. So, that was concerning, but he’s a man. He plays through injuries, he plays through being tired and he is a real competitive guy. It’s good to have him on our team.”On if the feeling after today’s win is more excitement or relief“I think it’s a little bit of both, but we can play better. We obviously outgained this football team, but we gave them too many chances to stay in the game. I’m pleased that we won the football game, but we can get better. We can’t give away three balls each game, which led to 14 points. So, very pleased that we won, but anxious to get back to work to fix these issues.”On the team’s resilience“We talked about this last night and we talked about when adversity showed it’s head, we just play right through it. Last year, we had some chances where adversity showed and we didn’t play through it. Hopefully our team this year can play through adversity because every game is going to be tough. It’s a hard league, so you’re going to have some ups and downs in games, but you want your team to be resilient and play right through adversity. The good teams do that.”On if he held his breath when Sanders somersaults into the end zone“I don’t. Just score. That’s Emmanuel, he is so flexible. He’s a tough guy. He’s a little guy, but he’s very tough. So, as long as he scores, I’m fine.”BRONCOS QUARTERBACK CASE KEENUMOn keeping focused when trailing or throwing an interception “It’s playing the next play. The game is still in our hands. We’re up, then they went and scored the touchdown. We’ve got to go make a play. You’ve got to forget about everything that you’ve done and play the next play. It was a big-time drive—one we needed at the most. I was really proud of my guys, they made some great plays. [Offensive Coordinator] Bill [Musgrave] had some great calls at the right time. Obviously, not exactly how you draw it up, but it doesn’t matter how. It matters how many, and that was our first one. I’m really excited about how good this football team can be. We take care of the ball—I take care of the ball, those are all on me—we’re going to be really hard to beat. I think defensively, getting the ball back three times was great. The big stop when we needed it at the end, another stop that led to points. I think they did a great job today, they saved my butt. I appreciate those guys. Offensive line was incredible today. It was awesome to watch those guys. There were some plays where I had so much time in the pocket. I’m going to be so excited to watch the film and see those guys play. Outside, there were some guys making some great plays. Almost everyone touched the ball today. It was a great team win.”On WR Demaryius Thomas having a rough start and before making plays late in the game “Demaryius is just like all of us, he’s human. I know he’s going to make the play when he needs to. I have no doubt in him. I’m going to keep slinging the ball. I’m going to keep giving those guys a chance. We’re all working on our own game. First game out, everybody wants it so bad. We’ve been working so hard. This group of guys has worked so hard, it’s been so much fun to watch and to be a part of. We all want it so bad. We can’t press, we can’t try to do too much. Just be yourself because we’ve got some great guys on that squad and I don’t have to be anyone but myself. I’ve got a great supporting cast that I can lean on when I need to. I don’t have to make the big play and throw it down the field every time. I can shake it down and play the next play.”On rookie running backs Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay“They did a great job today. Offensively, you can throw [WR] Courtland [Sutton] and [WR] DaeSean [Hamilton] in there too, they made some great plays. But to have a little one-two punch with those rookie running backs, and then ‘Book’ (RB Devontae Booker) doing a great job on third down when we need him to. We’ve got a lot of weapons, and that’s what I’m saying, I’ve got to make sure I stay within myself and allow those guys to make plays when we have the right time for it.”On how he responded after throwing the interceptions and what he saw on those plays“A couple of bad reads. Just trying to make the big play when we don’t have to. I think two of them were first downs, another one we’re in another two-minute drive, moved the ball down the field and we’ve got three points in our back pocket. That takes three points off of the board, then the other two they scored on. That’s 17 points that I’m responsible for. I know that, I realize that, it’s something that I’m going to fix and that I’m going to be better at. But I’m excited because we’re going to be a really good football team. We are a really good football team.”On Offensive Coordinator Bill Musgrave’s play calling “I loved the way Bill called the game today. I think, being our first real time, I think it was awesome to see. We kept them on their toes. [Executive Vice President of Public and Community Relations] Patrick [Smyth] said I don’t think we had any three and outs. Even when we were backed up a few times, we got the ball out and we were able to flip the field with our special teams. [P] Marquette [King] pinned them back, flipping the field. Those were huge, those are huge momentum swings. Especially for our defense, especially at home. Those guys out there today were incredible. The fans, this is a tough place to come play and I’m excited to come play at home again.”On why he felt he overthrew his receivers on? some plays “I don’t know. I’ll have to go back and look at plays from today. There’s one or two that sailed on me, but it’s a combination. Each instant is kind of its own unique deal. Every one of them has a story, and I’m going to go back and study it and work on it, and make sure I get better at it.”On if the first interception was a miscommunication with WR Demaryius Thomas“No, that was just a poor decision on my part. Very poor. [S] Earl [Thomas] read my eyes and made a play. He makes a big difference, he’s a great player. Not taking anything away from him because he is one of the best that does it. That was a poor decision on my part. It was a bad throw.”On OLB Von Miller and the defense“I’m more so trying to stay focused on looking at the pictures, getting ready for my next series, but it’s hard not to notice when the crowd is going crazy and Von is out there crawling or whatever his sack dance is (laughs). That’s impressive to watch. I’m glad I’m on the sidelines when he’s on the field, that’s for sure.”On his touchdown pass to Thomas“Yeah, it was a little play that was designed for Demaryius to sell the fade and then come back. He ran a great route and ‘30’ (Seahawks S Bradley McDougald) kind of buzzed underneath it. I tried to look him off, but he was settling there. I just threw it as hard as I could and I honestly didn’t see Demaryius catch it. Not that it should surprise me that he caught it, because he’s got great hands, but I threw it as hard as I could, and I think he made a great play. It was awesome.”On what was going on inside the huddle of the last scoring drive“I think we all had confidence. That’s what I love about this team. I think we’ve got a bunch of fighters in there, too. We’re really talented, a lot of talented guys but every one of them is a fighter. Nothing in my life has come easy. It’s just one of those things that, ‘Man, I’m a fighter until the very end.’ That’s just what you’re going to get out of me—that competitive nature—but yeah, some huge plays. I have to go back and look, but I remember the third down really sticks out in my mind. Obviously, there were a couple of penalties but [TE] Jake Butt had a great route on third down, when we needed it the most. Third-and-long, that allowed us to get the very next play which was the touchdown. That’s what it comes down to in this league. No matter what happens, it’s about making the right play at the right time and my guys did that.”BRONCOS OUTSIDE LINEBACKER VON MILLEROn playing against Seahawks QB Russell Wilson“I still don’t like playing against Russell. Running around out there, 20 yards, getting everybody tired, luckily we were able to get him before he could get it started. That was in our scheme. We wanted to keep him in the pocket. We wanted to let him beat us with his arm, which he is capable of doing. But we really picked that position, and that strategy worked for us. He got out of the pocket a couple of times. That’s Russ. He’s a great player. He’s an elite player. He’s going to get out of the pocket. But we kept some of the greater plays to a minimum.”On if today felt like he was returning to an elite level of play“No, I just took it one day at a time. You know me, I never move faster than I have to. I never move slower than I need to and just stay in the moment. We’ve got a great team. We got a great win today. We played great defense. This is how you want to start a season off.”On being among the top 50 on the NFL’s all-time sacks list“It’s great. To be 29 [years old] and to be in the top 50, the league has been around for [close to] 100 years now. It’s great, man. It’s a true blessing. It just shows you the type of teammates that I’ve had, from [Broncos DE] Derek Wolfe to [former Broncos DE] Elvis Dumervil to [former Broncos OLB] Shaun Phillips to [former Broncos OLB] DeMarcus [Ware], and of course, to [OLB] Bradley Chubb and [OLB] Shane Ray and [OLB] Shaq [Barrett]. It just shows you the type of support system that I have. My teammates, I make it hard on those guys every single day and they make it easy for me, so it’s great to have teammates like I’ve had. It’s great to be on this journey.”On the scoreboard showing him taking oxygen on the sidelines and if he should be sharing oxygen with the Seahawks“No. I mean, no, that’s just not how it works. I’m always under oxygen when I come over to the sideline. What the other team, what they do with their free time ... When I get to the sideline, I’m going to get on the oxygen no matter what, even if I [don’t] need it or not. It’s just tradition. I wasn’t trying to get the crowd [excited]. I wasn’t even paying attention, and I look up and (Broncos QB) Case (Keenum) is telling everybody to be quiet. I felt kind of kind of bad for a second. But it was a great moment to share with the fans and share with Broncos Country.”On taking oxygen on the sidelines regularly“That’s not my first time. This is my eighth year in the league. Every single time I’ve come to the sideline, I’m always on the tank, home or away. It’s just weird that they just now caught it now. It’s crazy.”On if he felt like Seattle was focused on stopping him“I really didn’t pay attention to it. I had a lot of traffic over there, from the tight end chips to the receiver and running back chips to the guard and tackle slot. I think when you put so much thought into it, it really takes away from the rush. I know we’ve got really great rushers all across the field. All I’ve got to do is rush. If the time is ticking and [Wilson] is holding the ball [for] four or five seconds, somebody else is coming. So having Bradley and Shaq and Shane and Wolfe and all those guys, it definitely eases the mind.”On recording a strip fumble against Seahawks RB Chris Carson“I had olé’ed outside, and technically that’s not a good move (laughing). You want to be stout, shock and scare. But I olé’ed outside, so I knew I needed to get back down to be able to make the tackle, and the running back, he was running and I just saw the ball and I just grabbed it. I’ve made similar plays before, but I was able to stay up and run with the ball. [Defensive Coordinator Joe] Woods and Coach Beake (Assistant Defensive Line Coach Chris Beake) and all the defensive guys, they’ve been preaching ‘Run to the ball, run to the ball, run to the ball,’ and this whole offseason, I’ve been like ‘Why? Why? Why?’ Now I see it. Now I see it. So I appreciate you, Coach.”On his message to the defense“You want to keep this team in the moment. Kind of like what I said earlier in this conversation, you don’t want to ever move too fast or too slow. You want to take advantage of the moment. It’s hard enough to win in this league. It doesn’t matter what team you’re playing. It’s hard to come in. You want to stay in this moment. You want to focus on the things that we did well and try to transfer that moment over to the second week, week to week. You just want to kind of stay in the moment, stay in the groove, stay in the rhythm.”BRONCOS OUTSIDE LINEBACKER BRADLEY CHUBBOn his first NFL regular-season game“It was about the same as the preseason, but it was a little bit faster. I just tried to go out there and not think as much, but some plays I was thinking too much. We’re just trying to get better week by week.”On OLB Von Miller’s performance “When he got the first [sack] I was like, ‘OKm he’s so special.’ When he got the second one, I was like, ‘OK he needs to slow down, I need to get one.’ Then he got the third one and I was like, ‘Alright, this is his game and nobody can take that from him.’ He’s just a great player and I’m happy to be on his sideline.”On his first play being a half-sack on Seahawks QB Russell Wilson “It was crazy because in college at the start of my senior season, I got a TFL on the first play. I feel like it was just reoccurring. It’s definitely exciting and something to look forward to.”On covering NFL tight ends“It’s a lot different than covering running backs coming out of the back field in college and stuff like that. Getting my first taste of that today was good. I feel like I did alright. There’s a lot of room for improvement, so I just have to keep getting better like I said.”On the performance of Broncos rookies“We’re just trying to keep getting better week by week. We try not to think about what we did this week, even if it’s a good play or a bad play, just let it go and get ready for the next week.”BRONCOS INSIDE LINEBACKER TODD DAVISOn playing defense in a tight game“We love it. When the game is on our shoulders, I think we bow up. We play big. [OLB] Von [Miller] made some great plays tonight and we got the win.”On limiting Seahawks QB Russell Wilson’s running“We worked on it all practice. [QB] Chad [Kelly] was out there giving us a great look. Every time something was clogged up, he got out of the pocket. We really worked on scrambling and plastering the routes downfield. I think it really paid off for us during the game.”On how he studied for the game“I studied a lot. First-year coordinator over there (Brian Schottenheimer), came over from Indy, so I even went back and looked at some of the Indy film. I just really wanted to get a good knowledge of what they like to do against us. I think it paid off. I think we played well as a defense and we made some big plays.”On how the strong pass rush helped the linebackers“It’s huge. When that pass rush is really working, there’s not much they can do. Also, with us playing with the lead, teams can’t run the ball. You’re going to have to sit back and pass and when you get Von and [OLB Bradley] Chubb, [OLB] Shane [Ray] and [OLB] Shaq [Barrett] rushing off the edge, it’s going to be a long day for you.”On whether takeaways being a point of emphasis in the offseason paid off today“We worked on it all offseason. We even have a chart in the defensive room of who was making plays and who was making takeaways. Who was taking the ball away and it paid off huge. Von had a big play. [S] Justin Simmons, thank God for him being 6-3 with the bounce that he has, made a great interception and it’s really paying off for us.”On how special Von Miller is as a player“He’s really a freak and he does a lot of things that help other players make plays too. The way he really rushed off the edge and maintained that tackle and Chris [Harris Jr.] was able to come off the edge and make a play. People see Chris make the play but you don’t see what Von does again to make another sack happen. He’s a great player and I’m just excited to watch him play, even when I’m on the field with him.”BRONCOS RUNNING BACK ROYCE FREEMANOn gaining multiple first downs on the final offensive drive “I feel like I have that as part of my game. And like I said before, when your number is called, it’s just going out there and executing it. We were in a late game situation and my number was called.”On RB Phillip Lindsay’s performance today“It was amazing. Offense definitely needed that to start off on a good foot. He was going out there and making plays.”On how QB Case Keenum acted in the huddle when the team was down“About the same. We all know what you have to go out there and do. There was nothing new to any of us. We’ve been playing football for so long. Him in that leadership role, he didn’t bat an eye. So, we went out there and we executed like we needed too.”On being nervous about his first regular-season game“It was more of an excitement. I mean first game, you’re going to have a little bit of nerves. But they churn more to excitement and going out there and doing your best.”On comparing today to preseason games“The atmosphere was definitely cranked up. Especially when the defense was on the field. They got behind us and definitely made an impact.”On how much the offense wanted to finish the last drive of the game“You always want to. You always want to close at zero on another team. We have competitors on our team. I know they all want to be out there.”BRONCOS CORNERBACK CHRIS HARRIS JR.On containing Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson“That was the gameplan. Just trying to contain him. He’s a top-5 quarterback in the league and I can’t say anything negative about Russell Wilson. He’s a great quarterback.”On playing with CB Adam Jones“I had to talk a lot out there because he doesn’t really know all the defense yet. I got a lot of work out there. I’m just coordinating and trying to make sure everyone is in the right position playing the right defense in the right coverage. He did an excellent job to fill in and only be here for I think two weeks.”On how long it will take to get Jones fully on the same page“We’ve got to get it done this week.”On if hghte thou the key to the game was whether Russell Wilson or Von Miller played better“I didn’t think that. We just wanted to be the best defense on the field and we know that in primetime games that big time players need to make plays. (Von) made plays, [DE Derek] Wolfe made plays, I made plays, [CB Bradley] Roby made plays. We’ve got tons of guys who balled today and that’s what it’s going to take.”On what he thinks when they call a corner blitz“I’ve got to go make a play. They’ve called my number and it’s that time to go get it. I just knew Russell, he’s so elusive and I thought I can’t get shook by this guy right now. I’ve got to make sure I get him down, any way I can. The nickel blitz is always something [Defensive Coordinator] Joe Woods always wanted. He said I would get way more sacks this year. They usually block me so that was the first time they didn’t block me. If you don’t block me, I can go get those sacks.”On whether he likes sacks or interceptions more“Of course picks (laughing).”BRONCOS CORNERBACK ADAM JONESOn getting the game-clinching interception and winning the first game with his new team“It felt really good just to be out here. The atmosphere is unbelievable, my teammates are really good. We never buckled on the sideline. We stayed together. We made it a little bit harder than we should have today, but great teams get the ‘W.’”On the defense being able to force turnovers“As everybody knows, [Seahawks QB] Russell [Wilson] doesn’t turn the ball over too much—that’s his M.O. [OLB] Von [Miller] is a monster—he’s a man among boys out here. It’s just amazing to look at everybody that’s having fun and trying to compete. Everybody’s got one goal and that’s to win.”On having Miller as a teammate“It’s unbelievable. I had a chance to play with D-Ware (former OLB Demarcus Ware), too. D-Ware was one of the best I’ve ever played with. The Freak (former Titans DE Jevon Kearse) was one of the best. But, Von Miller is by far the best defensive end, linebacker, however you want to call it, that I’ve played with—period, point blank. The guy comes to practice every day, plays hard, practices hard, leads by example, and it shows on Sunday.”On if this win feels extra special“It feels really good. I give the credit to my teammates. I know I’m kind of new to [CB] Chris [Harris Jr.], [CB Bradley] Roby, the safeties. ‘Hey, what’s this? What leverage is this?’ But I’m just trying to do my part, and when my number’s called, be a help to the team.”BRONCOS RUNNING BACK PHILLIP LINDSAYOn what it was like to see Broncos RB Royce Freeman having success at the end of the game“At the end of the day, he’s taking care of business. He is making first downs. That is what we need. He closed the game out for us. I am excited for that. Everybody has a role. We star in our roles.”On Broncos QB Case Keenum’s attempt to stop Lindsay from talking to the Seahawks’ defensive linemen“That’s just who I am. I’m not backing down to anyone. I don’t care who they are.”On crossing the goal line and how it felt to have grown up in Denver and score a touchdown for the Broncos“Honestly, I just thought about how I have to go down and kick off [coverage unit]. That is my life. It is about winning and you learn fast. There are ups and downs.”On the importance of having a cohesive running backs unit“This is the NFL. For me, I don’t care about stats. It’s about winning. It’s about me doing my part, Royce doing his part, [RB Devontae] Booker doing his part. If we all stick together, we’re going to be fine.”On exchanging jerseys with Seahawks FS and former University of Colorado teammate Tedric Thompson“That’s my brother. I was excited to be able to do that. I haven’t got to see him in a long time. To be able to see him go out three, he actually made a couple tackles on me. It was exciting.”On hearing from University of Colorado football coach Mike McIntyre after the Buffalos’ win over Nebraska on Saturday“I was proud of them. Coach Mac texted me early in the morning, like 5 o’clock in the morning, and was just like, ‘We run through you and just keep doing what you’re doing.’ So I was excited for that. I was happy Coach Mac called.”BRONCOS SAFETY WILL PARKSOn slowing down Seahawks QB Russell Wilson“That was a whole defensive effort, rush and coverage coming together. Of course ‘58’ (Broncos OLB Von Miller) doing what he does. [S] Justin [Simmons] and [CB] Chris [Harris Jr.] coming up with a key sack and a pick. It was just a total effort. We emphasized [Wilson] all week, trying to get the ball in somebody else’s hands. Obviously, Russ was trying to do what he does. It was just total execution all over the board, starting with the calls all the way down to the players. It was a pretty good job.”On the performance of Broncos offense and QB Case Keenum ?“We were ecstatic for him to go out there and get some of the first game nerves out of the way. I was pretty excited for him. Obviously, the turnover was kind of bad, but as a defense that’s where we come in and get the ball back for him, so he can do his thing. I’m not too worried about him. It’s his first game, of course you’re going to have a couple things not go your way. We left a lot of plays out there on both sides of the ball and on special teams. We definitely played good, but we can play a whole lot better.”On difficulty containing Seahawks tight ends“They just got us in a couple of zone coverages. Like I said, with a mobile quarterback like [Seahawks QB Russell Wilson], you’ve got to be good with your eyes. At the end of the day, nine times out of 10 he’s going to roll out to throw the ball. Sometimes you can get caught trying to read your keys and the next thing you know, you have a man and he rolls out to the other side. That’s just the nature of the game and teams coming up with a plan. They’re pros too, just like we are. They’re going to have their gadget plays and trick plays. We need to do a better job at that at the end of the day.”BRONCOS WIDE RECEIVER EMMANUEL SANDERSOn his flip going into his touchdown during the second quarter“That felt good. That felt good because I got into the end zone and I decided to flip. At first I looked over and I saw the guy wearing clothes and I was like, ‘Hmm... What can I do?’ You have a split second to think about what you are going to do so this is not the first time doing a flip. I’ve been doing flips since college.”On his relationship with Broncos QB Case Keenum “Obviously, we came out hot. We have an explosive offense, but it is on us. We have to be able to take care of the football as well. [You have to be] optimistic about the direction you are going. It feels good to have a win, but at the end of the day, we cannot expect to have three turnovers and win all the ballgames. Seattle was a good team, but we made it a lot easier for them. We gave them about 17 points and we cannot do that.”On the offense having multiple big plays “We have playmakers. Me, D.T. (Broncos WR Demaryius Thomas)—[Broncos WR] Courtland [Sutton] has not even gotten started yet, [Broncos RB] Phillip [Lindsay], [Broncos RB] Royce Freeman. We have guys. [Broncos QB] Case [Keenum] knows that too. I feel like this might be the worst game Case will play all year. The good thing is, we walked away with a win so it feels good.”On coming out with a win, regardless of an imperfect game“It feels good. You can go back, rejuvenate and Monday learn from your mistakes. I made mistakes out there too. You just keep going. We have the [Oakland] Raiders next week. We have to keep improving. We have to get another win.”On winning the first regular season game,“We have a lot going forward with a positive. The energy—I remember prior to the season I said that in NFL football, you have to win the close games. The teams that win the close games are the teams that win the Super Bowls. In 2015, we won a lot of close games. [There were] a lot of games that came down to the wire. It just feels good to be able to overcome that adversity. Go down to the score from Demaryius—his touchdown—and you will be able to go up. Then in the four minute, Royce ran the ball so it felt good.”BRONCOS SAFETY JUSTIN SIMMONSOn Broncos OLB Von Miller’s performance “When you play with someone like that, it makes your job so much easier. [Seahawks QB] Russ [Wilson] is definitely one of the best, if not the best, mobile quarterbacks in the game, and so when you see him back there flustered a little bit it’s because of ‘58’ [Miller] and the rest of the guys up front. Like I said, when you have a dominant front seven like we do, it makes our job on the back end so much better. That’s what we’re encouraged about. We didn’t play the best that we can and we know that our front seven is amazing, so we’re going to get after it every week.”On where his interception ranked for him among the rest of his during his career“I’m not really sure. To me, it felt like I barely even jumped to grab it. I’m not sure. But that one at Oakland was probably my favorite. That last year one in Oakland. But an interception is an interception. Not a lot of guys get them from Russell Wilson, so that’s obviously an accomplishment. Besides that, I’m just happy that we got the win and a great team effort.”On the coverage that the Broncos were in on the interception play“We were just in one of our coverages that we’ve worked on for so long. Obviously showing blitz on the back side. When we were showing the blitz, [Wilson] thought he had [Seahawks WR] Brandon Marshall open for a hot [route], and obviously being a tall receiver, he just tried to float it up. I think he wasn’t thinking that I would drop out, so when I dropped out, just go high point the football and go make a play.”On the Broncos’ defense stepping up after offensive mistakes “I think the mental makeup is a lot better. I think we know the areas that we struggled in and we just need to improve. We did stop them the other two times, but that first time where that was that turnover in the red zone, we gave up a touchdown. We kind of just had to gut check ourselves right there and remind ourselves that our job when we get on the field is to stop them no matter what, no matter where they are on the field. Like I said, there were a lot of good things that happened. Obviously a lot of bad things – big plays and things like that defensively. We’ll go to the corrections tape tomorrow.”On if improved tackling is a priority for the Broncos’ defense“For sure, especially for me. One of the things I pride myself in is making open-field tackles and I know for myself that I missed two. Missed tackles are just missed opportunities for getting yourselves in better calls for whatever it is, second-and-short, second-and-long, whatever the call might be. You just can’t do that. Specifically talking about myself, that’s something that needs to get improved and something that will be fixed.”BRONCOS WIDE RECEIVER COURTLAND SUTTONOn how he felt in his first NFL regular season game“It was a fun experience. Like I tell everybody, it’s just the first of many for myself. The way I look at it, the first of a long career. It’s great to be able to end it with a dub (win). A great team win. Defense played amazing. Offense, I think we were clicking pretty much all the way around. Run game, pass game, receivers blocking for running backs, running backs blocking for us, O-line kicking butt and [Broncos QB] Case [Keenum] doing what he does best.”On the Broncos’ rookie class contributing today“I’m pretty sure for all of the group, it was really nice to be able to do that. We’ve been putting in the work all since rookie camp and showing everybody that we can come out and we can contribute for this team and we know why we were brought here. We weren’t brought here to sit on the sideline and not really help. We were brought in to come in and contribute because they saw something that we can help with and so that’s what we’re doing right now.”On his thoughts while watching the Seahawks’ final drive“I’m pretty sure as a group, as a collective on offense, we were really calm just because of how the defense had been playing all night. There was no sense of worry that they wouldn’t go out there and perform the way they had been performing the whole night. They had bene putting pressure on [Seahawks QB] Russell [Wilson] the whole night; covering, tackling in open space, making the plays that they needed to make, so I wasn’t worried at all. When the offense got the ball back, I knew that the defense was going to go out there and do what they were supposed to do.”On if he marveled at the atmosphere in Broncos Stadium at Mile High“Most definitely We’ve got the best fans out here.”BRONCOS WIDE RECEIVER DEMARYIUS THOMASOn shaking off sluggish start“It was like my first game again. I was so excited and happy to be back on the field. The first three plays were kind of tough, a couple of quick drops but we kind of got on track. At the end of the day, the main thing is to get the ‘W’ and we got it.”On his game-winning touchdown catch“I knew I was in, it was just the referee had to confirm it. I’ve got nice feet on the sideline. I was practicing that before the game. He (Broncos QB Case Keenum) put the ball in the right spot, I made a play on it and that was that. I was happy about that, I needed that one.”On play of Broncos WR Emmanuel Sanders “It was everything. Thunder and lighting. When I see him do well, I want to do the same. He’s been putting the work in. He deserves it. He made plays for our team and put us in good positions.”On play of Broncos rookie wide receivers“It was big. It kind of tells us on the offensive side of the ball where we’re at as a group. From me, Emmanuel [Sanders], Courtland [Sutton], DaeSean [Hamilton], those guys can come in the game and make plays for us and help our team. That’s big, especially for the rookies in their first time coming on a big stage like this. Being able to come out and do what they did today, that’s big for our team.”On rebounding from a tough start“I know how to forget about (a bad play). It happened. It’s over with. If you keep it in your head, something else tends to happen for some reason. I don’t know why, but it usually happens that way. Get over it and go to the next one because I’ve noticed that every time I get down, some of the guys around me get down.”On the throw from Keenum on his touchdown catch“I didn’t think it was going to get to me. I thought it was going to be broken up late by No. 30 (Seahawks S Bradley McDougald), but it got through. My concentration level is sky high. I made a play on it and it was big for our team.”SEAHAWKS HEAD COACH PETE CARROLLOpening statement“It’s unfortunate today that we didn’t find a way to get this win. It’s been really hard for people to beat these guys here over the years and I knew that going in. I saw us with a chance, way late in the game; we were in it with a chance to win it. Even despite the things that had occurred early, that kept us from being in better command of it. It’s frustrating to not get that from them and they did a good job to finish out the game. They finished the game moving the ball and running the clock and all of that and they did a nice job. For us, some similar things occurred in this game that you heard the themes before, third downs, we were lousy and it was because we were third-and-nine, six times or whatever it was, actually it was seven times plus and we didn’t run the ball as well as we wanted to and we wound up getting sacked a bunch of times, those are just similar issues and disappointing on the offensive side. Defensively, we played in spurts really well and we gave some easy plays to them. They threw a flat route for a 30-yard touchdown pass and they threw a crossing route for 40-yard touchdown pass. Those are really easy plays to not let happen and those were big plays in this game. There was a lot of really good stuff played at the line of scrimmage at times and then we gave up some running plays late. It’s not a very clean game for us, but after all of that, we felt like we could’ve won that game and we really had a great chance to do that. It’s really frustrating, I can see the newness of us and then we got in trouble on some stuff on defense, some easy mistakes and things that are really easily cleaned up, but they happened and they were problems for us. We’ve got a lot work to do, but we’ve got a lot of fight and we competed like crazy and we ended up making plays, got the turnovers that we wanted to see, and had a chance to tilt that thing in the other direction if we could’ve taken advantage of all of that. We scored pretty good in the turnover situations, did a nice job there, but it just wasn’t enough and they ended up getting a nice win to start this thing off.”On S Earl Thomas’s pitch count“That’s what we did, we told you we were going to do that, we rested him as much as we could and he still took a lot of plays. I don’t know his number yet, but he had to be out of there, we couldn’t play him the whole time.”On what happened when he threw the challenge flag late “They went fast, they were going fast and I had a couple of seconds to throw it and I’ve got to find an official. It kind of set me back for a moment and I just delayed and they were going so fast that they got it off. I threw it, but he said it was too late to call it, which I’m sure he was right about that. I just needed to respond a little bit faster. I didn’t hear the word from upstairs as quickly as I needed to get it executed before they hurried up. They did a nice job of getting on the ball. I never even saw the play, I just went on what my guys told me upstairs that the ball was loose and we just didn’t get it. We just missed it by a second and unfortunately, we didn’t get it done. There was enough time to do it, if I just threw it, but I had to do it kind of blindly because I didn’t get the words. That’s how the hurry up does help you, once in a while.”On WR Tyler Lockett’s touchdown catch“I don’t know if you can see a more beautiful play than that. It was gorgeous. I’m sitting here right now thinking that should’ve won the game for us and it was just so extraordinarily executed and perfectly handled by both guys and the guys upfront and all of that. That’s too bad that wasn’t the winning play in the game.”On WR Doug Baldwin’s knee injury ?“He has got a little MCL sprain in his other knee and so we have just got to see what that means. He went back in the game and played some, but, we just eventually kind of talked him out of playing because he wanted to keep going, you know, and we just want to make sure we take care of him.”On how the defense performed at the line of scrimmage“The line of scrimmage was really good for the most part but there were some spurts where it was not. I need to see what happened in the film to really nail down what the issues were there, but we were tough, and we were physical, and played hard and tough up there and you could see that. I thought the third quarter was really evident of what we are capable of playing like and we just could not finish it off like that.” On how important it was to have FS Earl Thomas back “It was great having him back. He is a terrific football player. He handled the return and the players handled the return perfectly. He worked really hard and they have embraced him coming back in. We knew we could not play him the whole game, but we wanted to give him a great chance to contribute and he did, immediately. He really just handled it as well as you could possibly handle it and so did our players. So, we are off and running and I look forward to next week.”On TE Will Dissly’s touchdown.“He was on fire. He was Ditka, he was like [Pro Football Hall of Famer] Mike Ditka out there. He just missed a couple other ones too, we just overthrew him a bit. He might have had two or three more catches. He was really in the right spot and he deployed well for the game plan and all that. And again, we have been talking about this, he is doing great for us and I am really happy to see him contribute like that. On LB Austin Calitro’s performance. “We did rotate him, he played first and second down and Griff [Seahawks LB Shaquem Griffin] played third downs. They were kind of in a rotation there. We will see what it looks like. Austin has done a really good job for us, he has been playing the other spot and we just switched him over when K.J. [Seahawks LB K.J. Wright] got banged up, but I think as we look forward that was a really positive move to get him in the game.” On whether or not SS Bradley McDougald was injured in the game.“Yeah, he had a problem; it was kind of flaring up in his patella tendon or something like that. He had some tendonitis or something like that.”On the night’s pitch count for FS Earl Thomas.“We were just trying to gauge it as we went and we were trying to not overload him and not get him too many plays at any one time. The guys just switched him in and out based on kind of what happened and it was not like numbers of plays as much as it was just how much he had to endure when he was on the field and how he was bouncing back. So, we just had to take care of him you know, I don’t know what the numbers came out at did you guys get that at all?” (Reporter responds: There were two series where he did not play, but he played all 10 plays in another series). “See that is a lot of plays for him and that is not what we would have liked. I look at it now and I say I would have liked to have played him less than that. So, what did we play like 60 plays or something like that all total? Yeah, so that was more than we wanted to but he did not want to come out, he wanted to play the whole game and he was awesome about it.”On P Michael Dickson’s performance.“Oh my Gosh, what a kicker man, what a kicker. I don’t know what his numbers wound up at but he is a fantastic part of our team and we are just getting warmed up with him, he is really something. I mean, the punts were gorgeous, but not just the distance of the punts, but the placement of the punts too, you know. The guys covered well too, we had the one return and there was a penalty on that one so we did really well covering for him as well. I was concerned in this game that he kicked the ball so far that we would just stretch out the coverage so much and here is “Packman” [Seahawks CB Adam “Packman” Jones] back there with all that room and I thought maybe it would be difficult, but, our guys did a really good job there.”On how CB Tre Flowers did in coverage.“I thought he played pretty good, the one fade route was really all they got on him, and he was right on it, so I don’t know, maybe I missed something else.”SEAHAWKS WIDE RECEIVER BRANDON MARSHALLOn the game“Sloppy. Sloppy across the board but the good thing about that is you can fix that, you can correct it. We played pretty sharp all through the preseason, all through camp, so it was tough to put that on tape and put that performance out there. At the same time, like I said, it’s correctable.”On his path to Seattle and returning to play Denver“It’s so many emotions. When you look at other guys and their paths and their journeys, the [Cardinals WR Larry] Fitzgerald’s, even Demaryius Thomas being able to be with one team for a long time, it’s kind of a dream. On the other hand, when you step back and look at the experiences that I’ve had and the people that I’ve met along the way, being in so many places and amazing organizations, it’s a blessing. I’ve got another blessing in front of me playing with the Seahawks trying to go out the right way and we’ll see what happens.”On having his touchdown called back for offensive pass interference “He could’ve let it go but it was the right call. I didn’t have to do that. “Pacman” (Broncos CB Adam Jones) gave me what I wanted. That really hurt our offense. We were able to get three out of it but coming into a hostile environment like this, every play counts and every drive is important. That was a setback for our offense.”On how many times he has been called for offensive pass interference“Probably four times. Not a lot. That was disappointing.”On being left in man-to-man coverage“The way our offense is set up, on any given play the ball can go anywhere. Our approach is to run every single route like it’s coming to you.”On taking a timeout resulting in missed red zone opportunity“Down in the red zone, when we get the right look it can definitely come to me. We didn’t like the look that we got so I guess that’s why I shot in. ‘3’ [Seahawks QB Russell Wilson] called the timeout. I’m always licking my chops when I’m down there that close”On first game with the Seahawks“I’m not looking forward to watching this film. There’s so much more growth. It’s definitely a blessing and I’m grateful for the opportunity to play some ball with this organization. When I look back at the offseason that I’ve had and where I’ve come from, I’m just so thankful and grateful. That was a tough start but at the same time, I’m just happy to be out here.”SEAHAWKS QUARTERBACK RUSSELL WILSONOpening thoughts“I thought we had a lot of really good plays and I thought we made some crucial plays when we needed to. We didn’t give up or anything like that. We kept fighting in a tough environment. I think that in the first half, we didn’t really give ourselves a chance. We had some big penalties and different stuff that wasn’t us. We hadn’t shown that all preseason. There was some really good stuff in there despite that. We played a really tough defense. This is one of the best defenses we will face all year. They have, obviously, [OLB] Von [Miller], who is a great player and made some key plays. I thought guys like [WR] Tyler Lockett fought his tail off. I thought [Seahawks WR] Brandon Marshall was exciting tonight. We almost had him for a touchdown with him on the end line. That would have been really cool. I thought as well that the [offensive] line kept fighting. They kept battling. Any time we have a chance at the end of the game, we think that we can win. It’s not going to happen every time, but we always believe it’s going to. We gave ourselves a chance. I thought the defense battled their way through and continued to try to make some plays. I thought it was a complete team effort in the sense of giving ourselves a chance to win against a really good football team.”On losing WR Doug Baldwin to injury“Obviously, Doug is a star receiver and can make all the plays in the world. Really, the biggest thing it does is you have four receivers after that. There’s guys like Tyler [Lockett] and Brandon [Marshall], J.B. (Jaron Brown) and David Moore, they’re running a lot more obviously. Doug is a true playmaker, he’s done it for years. I know he’s going to do everything he can to get back as soon as possible.”On not having much of a running game“The reality of the situation was in the first half, we didn’t have the ball that much. That’s really where the running game didn’t get many plays. I think that was it. It wasn’t intentional or anything like that. We didn’t get enough runs. You want to be able to run the ball really well and we have been all preseason. The reality is the first drive we were three-and-out. The second one, we scored a touchdown and then they had the ball again for a while. It’s just one of those games that they had probably 30 or 40 plays and we probably had 12 or 15 in the first half. I’m not 100-percent sure of that, but that’s what it felt like. We want to be able to hand it off to the big man (RB Chris Carson) and let him run the ball and do his thing. Hopefully we can do that next week.”On whether the strong start by the Broncos defense made him question if it was going to be a long day“No, they’ve got playmakers. They’re going to make plays. You can’t play out there scared or anything. You have to go for it and we did. We had a chance there. We scored 24 points and also had another touchdown with Brandon that unfortunately got called back. We were making plays, even not being at our best. That’s the most exciting thing. That’s the thing that you look forward to. You think about guys like [TE Will] Disley making plays. You think like guys like Chris Carson making a couple plays here and there when he needed to. Unfortunately, that screen got called back but that was pretty cool, him jumping over the guy on his run. There are so many things. It’s good to get [RB Rashaad] Penny out there for the first time for his first NFL experience. I mentioned Disley already, his first touchdown, that’s a big deal. That’s a really big deal. Even Brandon Marshall, he’s played so much football, he’s caught so many footballs in his career. To do it at the level he’s doing it, at the age and just the experience he does it with, and the leadership he does it with, it’s great to see that. To see him make plays when we needed to, that was exciting. There was a lot of exciting football. Tyler Lockett making that deep play down the field, that’s really cool. It’s a tough environment. It’s never easy coming to Denver in our first game of the year. That’s not an excuse but the reality is, they have some really good football players. We had a chance and hopefully we’ll win it next time.”On the play of Dissly“He’s been great all training camp. He has been great all OTAs. He’s been a rock star for us. I think he’s been rock solid. He has been able to step into the role of playing tight end and making plays. He is very fundamental. He’s very smart. He gets the game. He is one of our best athletes in general. He can do a little bit of everything. He played a great game. We’ll get everyone else involved too, as well. I think it’ll be an exciting year for us. The good thing is, it was game one. You either win it or lose it. At the end of the day, you get back out there, get your blood flowing again. Hopefully the next game, you get a big win. It is going to be challenging obviously going to Chicago. Playing in Chicago, I like Chicago. Hopefully we can go there and find a way to beat a really good football team and good defense. We are up for the challenge. This is never going to be easy. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. I think for us, we are looking forward to the challenge of getting better, continuing to improve, and continuing to do what we do best. We were able to score 24 without being at our best. How much more can we do? How much better can we be? That is what I look forward to. It was real cool seeing [FS] Earl [Thomas] make that play. As a friend, a guy I’ve been able to talk to and been able to admire throughout his career and play with him, he’s a play-maker. That was cool to see him and talk to him in the locker room. He’s excited. He loves the game of football.”On being sacked six times“I think a couple of those were on me. Granted, third down, I am trying to make a play. If it’s not there, I am not trying to just give up on the play. I would definitely say probably three of those are on me just trying to make a play and it’s not there. It’s a part of the game. I lot of great things have happened when I’ve scrambled. A lot of good things have happened like the touchdown to Brandon. It was third down. It wasn’t there. I moved a little bit then boom – touchdown. You just have to play the game. I thought our line did a really good job. They made a couple plays obviously. Obviously, the first play of the game, then also in the second quarter Von made a really nice one. I take the blame for some of those for sure. It is just playing ball, trying to go for it, trying to find something and make something happen.”On the impact of being sacked for long yardages “I think that when it’s third down and three or four, I’ve spun out and made a lot of plays. I would probably say most of the time, it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. With a guy like Von, sometimes it doesn’t. I can throw it away—that is always an option too. I think we have a really good punter though. The good thing is he can kick it all the way at the end of the field so I take my chances.” On the youth of the Seahawks“I think there is a lot of youth. For guys like Dissly and guys like [OLB] Shaquem [Girffin], players getting in for the first time, and even guys like Brandon who have come in here and are playing with us for the first time and has played as good as he did, that is exciting. Those are the things we look forward to. I look back to 2012, I remember my first game in the NFL playing the Arizona Cardinals on the road. We lost a nail-biter at the very end. We were able to win our second game. Fast forward, it was a challenging and tough season but we ended up 11-5. There is a lot more season left. I think the great thing is, these young guys are getting in there and playing. It is going to be a great thing for us down the road. I look forward to it.”On FS Earl Thomas“I think he is the ultimate pro in the sense that he knows how to prepare, he knows how to practice, he knows how to step in. He loves the game. I was around Earl a lot in the offseason. I was in L.A. and he was L.A. training and stuff. Me and him were around each other a bunch at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles). The kids got together and all that stuff. He has been ready. He has been preparing. He is probably the hardest worker in the room every time. He is a guy who loves football. His IQ is incredible. I just love seeing him and love seeing him make a great play tonight. Taking the business out of it, that is not for me to talk about. I do think being around Earl all offseason, training around him and with him some, I watched how he was mentally ready. Even seeing that in June and July, I already knew he was going to be great when he comes back. He is one of the best players to ever play the game in terms of safety. I am excited that he is on our team. I am excited to see one of my better friends come out on the field and make a great play. It is always exciting. He elevates our team. We still have great players. You think about the plays everybody else made, that was pretty cool too. We feed off of that. We feed off of each other. It is going to take all of us. We are looking forward to that.”SEAHAWKS CENTER JUSTIN BRITTOn the Seahawks’ offensive line’s performance today“We’re competitive. We’re grinders. We’re smart. We’re fast. We’re physical. We’ve just go to today true to us. You know, taking care of the ball and being physical and dominating the line of scrimmage and the perimeter. We’ve got to keep our defense off the field.”On the Seahawks’ running game today“I thought whenever we were running, I thought it was pretty good. Like I said, there are things that we’re going to need to clean up. We’ll be fine.”On if the atmosphere was hindering the Seahawks’ communication on offense“Communication was great throughout the day. There were no issues there. Even whenever it got to the loudest point of the stadium, I thought we communicated really well when we couldn’t hear each other. There were plenty of positives. We’ve just got to get to the film, see the film and see what we can do better and get ready for Chicago.”On how he and the Seahawks’ offensive line assesses Broncos’ six sacks“We’re not young. We’re not a young group. We’re veterans. We don’t want that to happen. We want to keep [Seahawks QB] Russ(el Wilson) from getting hit all day if we can. Some things are out of our control and some things are our technique. The things that we can change and fix, we will. We’ll grow. Like I said, next week is another opportunity to show who we are.”SEAHAWKS DEFENSIVE END FRANK CLARKOn what the Broncos did well offensively“Everything was quick. They challenged us in the middle of the field, and of course, you know we have younger guys at the linebacker core. They challenged our rush, which we have inexperience there. I think that’s what they did a good job of doing, in their protections, slowing us down that way. I think going into next week we need to do a better job in practice with preparing.”On the Broncos protection schemes“It was stuff we were expecting, but, at the end of the day, they have a great quarterback in Case Keenum, over there. He’s doing a great job with his drop backs and getting the ball off quick. You can’t hate on that, you need to congratulate a guy like that when he can get the job done.”On the new players and inexperience on defense“Yeah, we felt the inexperience. At the end of the day, I feel like when you have new guys that buy into the system its always going to take time to mesh. We’re still young, we have some inexperience at all positions. We have mistakes all over the board, especially for us on defense. We missed tackles, we let some big runs go up the middle, and stuff like that. We need to do a better job converting on our play action, so we can get to the quarterback. We got to give our offense a chance to make more plays. At the end of the day, we need to get the ball. We need to win the turnover battle. On expecting things to not go perfectly“It’s expected, but at the end of the day, it’s also not expected. We have a lot of guys who have been doing this since April, we have a lot of guys who have been in the league for a long time, and its expected for them, that they will be ready. It’s expected for them to come in and know their jobs, and know what it takes to be a part of that Seahawk defense. I feel like us, the guys who have been here, the veterans, I feel like it’s our job to bring those younger guys along.”On his overall performance“It really just comes down to execution. That can always be my job, better execution. At the end of the day, execution, that’s the number one priority. We need to execute on all phases. I also need to do a better job at running a little faster. I was a second or two off from making some plays, maybe I need to go run a few hills or something. At the end of the day, I need to do a better job at exploding.”On defending the run up until the last series“At the end of the game, I felt like we just dissipated. We had gaps in our defense, and at the end of the day, if you take one step in the wrong the direction, it can lead to a bad run or an extended run, which we don’t want. Each guy has a job, myself, I need to contain the ball better. We just need to execute so that our linebackers and safeties can flow in between.”On have Earl Thomas back and his adjustment to the young players“Even Earl, as one of the leaders of our defense and a guy who has been through the ups and down of this team, he’s just getting back and he’s just now learning about the new guys and the new team. At the end of the day, when you have a guy like Earl who is just getting back in the building, he’s going to do what he needs to do, that’s just Earl, he’s a legend. But, at the end of the day, you’ve got Earl coming in and having to learn about new players at new positions. He’s feeling out the energy. But, he comes back and does what Earl does, he makes plays. It felt good when he got that interception. We love having him around. Just him coming back over this last week, you can tell the energy has shifted in the building. Earl is quiet, but his art speaks volumes.”On how Earl Thomas has acted since being back with the team“He’s been quiet, very quiet and very observative. He is just doing what he does. He came into practice and made plays, he made plays during the game, and I’m sure he just really wanted to get that win and help us get back on the right track. We just need to get these wins, so we can get back on track.”SEAHAWKS TIGHT END WILL DISSLYOn his first NFL game“It was just a cool opportunity to go out there that first game, and to do some special things. [Seahawks QB] Russ [Russell Wilson] was awesome, putting the ball right where it needs to be. I just have to make some plays. Obviously, we have some work to do going forward, but it was a cool way to start for sure.”On what he saw on his 66-yard reception“You can’t slow down at all. When you see green grass, you are pushing pedal to the medal and are trying to go as fast as you can. It is kind of funny, you don’t really think, you just are reacting. I was fortunate to make some big plays.”On the gameplan going in and how it was executed“One thing that we can work on is starting fast. In the preseason, we came out and did some really good things. Moving forward, I think we can get back to that. I think we are going to find our niche, find our groove, and we are going to get better this next week and go forward from there.”On if the team had any fatigue“I am not going to make excuses at all. I think our offense is really cool and really dynamic. We have a lot of playmakers. We just have to clean some stuff up. It is Week 1 and it is a long season. We have a lot of work to do and we can get some wins out of it.”On what he learned after facing Broncos pass-rushers“They do some cool things. We had a cool game-plan for them with some chips off the edge, but they were still able to get to the quarterback. That is definitely one area we need to clean out. It was just another game. Everyone was playing football and everyone is working really hard. A lot of people did some cool things out there.”SEAHAWKS LINEBACKER SHAQUEM GRIFFINOn his performance“There are a lot of things we can work on, but it felt good to get out there and get my feet wet. The first game is in the books. It is time for us to go back and learn from our mistakes and get better next week.” On what is was like to play with his brother CB Shaquill Griffin“It is always a good feeling to have the opportunity to be with him. There is no better feeling. Obviously, we don’t not want to be with each other. To have the opportunity to be there with him, there is no better feeling.”On what it meant to have his family in attendance“To have them come up was a good feeling and for them to actually experience that and experience us being together on the field. Obviously, you want your parents to be there and support you in any kind of way so to have them right on the sideline and be there for us shows the support system that we have.”On the biggest difference from the preseason to the regular season “You have to know what the coaches are telling you. You have to be able to make keys and see what’s going on out there. Obviously, today you are going up against really good competition. Everyone is going to give everything they got so we have to be ready to fight back. Before we got here we knew it was going to be a dog fight. It wasn’t what we expected to come out of this, but we have to learn from this and be able to bounce back.” On the adjustment coming into the second half“Basically, just changing our alignment. We were more aware of what was going on. They were throwing things at us and they game-planned just as much as us. The second half was for us to get a better understanding of what was happening and for making more adjustments.”On what his brother is going to tell him“He knows that I don’t like losing. He is going to tell me that you can think about if for twenty-four hours, but then you have to throw it behind you after that. It’s a long season and you have to be able to get ready for the next week. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to say too much. He doesn’t want me to bother him too long.”SEAHAWKS WIDE RECEIVER TYLER LOCKETTOn what he saw on his touchdown“We kind of had an idea of what they were going to do. We talked about it with [Seahawks QB] Russell (Wilson) and Schotty (Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer). Russell made a good adjustment when we got up to the line and just like we expected, the safety over cheated on that side and I cut across the field. We saw that when we were on film. It was something that we kind of wanted to do. We didn’t keep ourselves on schedule to be able to set people up to put ourselves in that position. I think that is the thing that really hurt. They had a great pass-rush, and they did a great job of keeping us off our tempo that we wanted to be able to do. We did some good things, but a lot of the bad things that we did, hurt us. That is the thing that we can’t do, especially with the talent we have on this team.”On building rapport with the team as he transitions from preseason to regular season“Obviously, it is different. Who knows? Maybe it was first game jitters. There were a lot of mistakes and things that we didn’t do in practice. Some guys ended up going out and people got to come in. We have to make sure everyone is on the same time and the same everything. We have to continue to build that chemistry. There are a lot of things we need to work on and need to do things to help Russ (Wilson) out, whether that is making those catches, no matter how tough those catches are. We have to put ourselves in those positions so he can trust us and move the ball down the field.”On losing WR Doug Baldwin for the majority of the game“That is big. Doug is our number one receiver and our go-to receiver. We know that he provides a lot of attention when he is out there. With him being out, it hurt. We were happy that he tried to come back in and continue to fight and be able to help us out. It was one of those things that was just hard to overcome. We had to make do with what we had. A lot of guys were out there making great plays, we just didn’t make enough. Doug has been a great leader, helping people out and making sure people are ready because you never know when your name is going to be called.”SEAHAWKS SAFETY BRADLEY MCDOUGALDOn Earl Thomas rejoining the team“It’s important to have [Seahawks S Earl Thomas] back. Regardless of new players or old players, Earl is going to be Earl. He had some things he needed to work on today, but we all do. We just need to get better and become more consistent.”On having three turnovers despite the loss“It really just shows that we are still playing Seahawks football. [Seahawks Head Coach] Pete [Carroll] drives that motto home every day. We showed that we were capable of doing that today, which is huge because we didn’t have any turnovers during the preseason. To come out in our first game and do that really means something.”On the big plays that the Broncos had on them“It’s really on us. Guys just need to make better reads, make better schemes, or just communicate better. The Broncos did a good job of hurrying up the tempo, and guys just need to communicate better. We’re working hard, but guys just need to communicate better and get to where their supposed to be.”On the three interceptions the defense had“It felt good to give the offense the ball and another chance. I would have loved to score one or catch the first one I dropped, but I’m just glad to do anything to help the offense get the ball back and score.”SEAHAWKS SAFETY EARL THOMASOn playing in his first game since ending the holdout“Just glad to get through the first game and get that out the way. That’s it. It felt like we did pretty good upfront, but it was just sometimes throughout the game it was small little plays that we should’ve had, we didn’t communicate right and they had big plays.”On his interception“I’ve got to see it on film. I stayed with it, I read the QB, he stared the target down, I jumped in front of it, and I thought I had a pick-six. It felt good; I haven’t had one like that in a minute.”On how he felt playing on a pitch count“I think I had about 65 plays. I felt good. I felt like my training with my brother and my team back home has been great and has been right on it. The only thing right now is my big toe hurt and my feet hurt, but that’s about it.”On if it’s hard not to think about his contract“During the game, I’m not thinking about it. I’m out there having fun with B-Mac (Seahawks S Bradley McDougald) and the guys, so I’m not thinking about it. When I get asked about it constantly it definitely runs across my mind.”On how it was playing with new faces on the defense“They’ve been center-pieces in the defense for a long time, but now we’ve got new faces, but I had a great time out there. We haven’t had that many turnovers in a while, even when those guys were here.” ................
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