DENVER



DENVER BRONCOS QUOTES (8/3/21)OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR PAT SHURMUROn QB Teddy Bridgewater’s progress through Week 1 of camp“I think he’s done a good job. I think he’s built on all the good work he did in the spring. I’ve got great familiarity with [QB] Teddy [Bridgewater] from our time together at the [Minnesota] Vikings, and I think he’s getting better each day. Obviously [QB] Drew [Lock] had an advantage to some degree as far as knowing how we focus and how we function, and Teddy has caught up. He’s doing a good job.”On if he’s seen any separation between QB Teddy Bridgewater and QB Drew Lock “I’ve seen both guys getting better. This is the best version of Drew that I’ve seen. I think he’s done a really good job. I expected Teddy to come in—Teddy has got experience, he’s got experience in multiple offenses and so, what we call apple, somebody else called orange. So, he said, ‘Ah OK, it’s orange.’ So we roll. I think Teddy has done a good job, and I think the unintended consequence of this is sadly teams typically need two quarterbacks to play throughout the year. So all the good work that they’re getting will help both of them as we play this season out.”On what has made QB Drew Lock the best version of himself this season“He’s just improved, and I think we’re making corrections with Drew that you would make with a quarterback in the second year of a system. There are little decision-making things or get the ball here a little quicker. You’ve got to be a little bit careful when you’re doing the math on who played well and who didn’t. We may have a period with five plays where it’s three runs, play action and a screen. We did a drill today where we were actually trying to throw incompletions to stop the clock. So you might say, ‘Holy smokes. That was a crappy throw.’ When no, that’s what we were designed to do, so sadly for you guys, you don’t have the scripts and you don’t know the intention of our drills, but some of that happens.”On using the preseason for player evaluation“I think preseason games are very important, and I think as you go along players need to get what they need to get ready to play the first game of the season, and I think the preseason games are valuable for all players.”On RB Javonte Williams translating what he learned during OTAs to training camp“Yeah, he’s been terrific. His running ability is very obvious, but the things that we see are his instincts as a football player. Some people just get it, and then we’ve all been around people that just don’t quite get it. They wake up every morning and start over. He gets it, and it shows up in his pass protection, it shows up in being able to get lined up, his awareness. He’s got a really bright future.”On RB Mike Boone’s success so far through Day 5 of camp“He’s an explosive guy, and again I really wasn’t around him in Minnesota. We were like two ships, so I’m getting to know him, but very explosive [and] again very instinctive. He will earn some playing time in there. He’s done a really good job.”On if each quarterback needs different approaches and philosophies to succeed “No, I think the way we function offensively and I think the new age offenses, they both can go in and execute what we do. It won’t be obvious to the untrained eye, but there will be a handful of things that [QB] Teddy [Bridgewater] does better than [QB] Drew [Lock], and vice versa. Those are the things we’ll lean on because it always comes down to the plays that you run have to feature and focus on the players that you have, and by working together and practicing, we get a good feel for that.”On his expectations WR Courtland Sutton this season “Well, I’m glad he’s out there and he’s grinding through it. I think he’s made steady progress each day. He kind of was out there the first couple of days, and then he’s getting more and more reps. Now you’re seeing him making plays, and so I think it’s just a progression for him. His progression is going to be different than say [WR] Jerry Jeudy, but the whole idea [is] that we’re going to get them all ready to play when we open up against the [New York] Giants.”On being able to use OTAs and training camp this year to experiment with the offense“Now that there’s been a lot of water run under the bridge, and it is a heroic task to get an offense ready to go without an offseason. I don’t wish that on somebody, especially a new one. You see the teams that were able to take off early last year—they were established teams. They had a memory bank of reps that they’d run for a couple of years. Our guys fought through it, they learned from the experience, but having a spring where you can change and tweak things—I really kind of think training camp you always go back to the basics, it’s a rhythm and a progression, you build-up to a first padded day and then so on and so forth. Because everything is condensed, it’s sort of a continuation of spring. So that being said, if you don’t have spring, you’re missing a lot, and I think that’s fair to say.”On deciding on the right time to name the starting quarterback“Well, I don’t know. I’ll let [Head] Coach [Vic Fangio] answer that. We obviously discuss the quarterback play every day, at all levels of the organization. So it’s obviously sooner than later but like I said, the unintended consequence. You see the rotation of the skill players in there. When you’re managing reps for some of the first team guys, they’re all in there playing and they’re all getting reps. I think that’s a thing so that when they do get in and play, it takes the full group to play and succeed throughout the season. I think the group’s benefitting from that.”?On the advantages of having joint practices during training camp“I like it. I’m familiar with ‘Zim’ (Minnesota Viking Head Coach Mike Zimmer) I was his offensive coordinator so; we’ve already had a lot of conversations about how we’re going to script practices and whatnot. For us defensively, they’re a little different style of defense. So, during the season we play in the five-on-the-line-type defenses [as] we face in practice. ‘Zim’ is more of a four-man front, so that gives us good work against that. I think the big thing about these types [of] practices is the coordination and the common respect of all the coaches so that we get the players in the right situations to get good work. I think it can be a good thing. We get in there, and we just start fighting and doing silly things then the advantages go away.”On his evaluation of the right tackle competition“Yeah I think it’s been good. Again, same thing. You’ve got [T] Bobby [Massie], you’ve got [T] Calvin [Anderson], [T] Cam [Fleming]. Those three guys have done a good job, and for the guy that doesn’t start he has to swing, and those guys are doing it. I feel really good about what we have in place to play right tackle, and I’ve been pleased with the effort and the execution and the production of all three of those guys,”On his thoughts on the quarterbacks each getting a day to practice exclusively with the first team “Yeah that’s fine. It’d be a fun thing to do. I think the other guy is still going to get reps anyway. When you put one guy in with the ones, and for whatever reason [WR] Courtland [Sutton] is not in there, and [WR] Tim [Patrick] is not in there, he’s actually with the twos. So, that’s why I don’t make too much out of it. Right now, we’re trying to get the whole group ready to play, and we’re trying to maximize the reps of every player so that they’re getting what they need to be ready to go.”On his conversations with QB Brett Rypien and his role in the offense “Yeah to some degree. I wouldn’t say I wrote that discussion down on my calendar as I did it on this day. I mean, it’s obvious. ‘Ryp’ (QB Brett Rypien) gets it, and he’s out there getting reps and making the best of it. The key for guys that are backups is to be able to go in and function with very few reps, so that’s kind of the challenge. You get your development other ways, individual routes or whatever, and then you make the best of the reps you get. Last year he was in there, and he helped us win against the [New York] Jets. With not nearly as [many] reps.”On his advice to young and rookie players trying to make the team “I think the advice you give to young players is the same as others: Just keep practicing. Get as many reps as possible, the legs are fresh. A compliment to a young player is that as he practices more and gets better, and so just keep competing. Guys get nicked up, the lines get shorter, [inaudible], and just make the best out of each individual rep. Don’t worry about anything else, and if a coach can come to that player and say, ‘You know what? You got a lot of reps today,’ but when you’re getting a lot of reps you’re getting better. Well, that player [has] got a chance. That’s sort of the approach.” ................
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