ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — If the Denver Broncos planned to approach the New England Patriots by stealth, they failed.
Defensive end Antonio Smith guaranteed that when he said that the notion that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is a crybaby “is an accurate statement.”
“I’ve never seen any quarterback look to the referee right after he gets sacked more than Brady,” Smith said. “Every time he gets sacked he looks at the ref like, ‘You see him sack me? Was that supposed to happen? He did it a little hard. Please throw a 15-yard penalty on him. Get him fined.’”
Linebacker Brandon Marshall concurred, telling Mile High Sports Radio in Denver that Brady lobbied officials time and again for calls during the teams’ Week 12 meeting.
“From what I heard how he talked to the refs in our first game, that’s exactly what I think he was doing,” Marshall said. “He was crying.”
Add in cornerback Chris Harris Jr.’s comments about having to hit Rob Gronkowski low to stop him, and the Broncos have already filled the Patriots’ bulletin board with quotes — even before they began practicing.
“That’s fine,” Marshall said.
And the chatter doesn’t have much of an impact.
“It doesn’t change the game at all. Everyone’s talking,” Davis said. “You can say this, you can say that. But at the end of the day, actions speak louder than words. For us, it’s just about going out there, taking it one play at a time and trying to win a game.”
–Few teams have more postseason experience than the Broncos, having advanced to the divisional round or further for five consecutive seasons. But for some players, getting to this point is something new, even though they have been around the league for a while.
For eight-year veteran tackle Ryan Harris and 11-year outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware, Sunday’s game will mark their first exposure to a conference championship. Ware had never advanced beyond the divisional round until this week. In 2007, 2009 and 2014, his teams’ playoff runs stopped in the divisional round — twice as favorites at home.
“They look at you and say, ‘DeMarcus Ware, you’ve played for 11 years.’ I look back at them and I tell them, ‘When I was 13-3, I lost in the playoffs. When I was 9-7, I lost in the playoffs. When I was 12-4, I lost in the playoffs,’” Ware said.
“I say, ‘Guess what? I lost in the playoffs last year also. I’ve been in this thing 11 years, and you’ve only been in (the conference championship game) for one year and you have the opportunity to do something great.’”
Young players might need that reminder, but Harris doesn’t.
Denver’s starting left tackle spent the 2007-10 seasons with the Broncos — a time when they never posted a winning season and struggled to a 27-37 record. He returned for the 2011 playoffs and the 2012 offseason and training camp, but he was released and never saw any snaps in games outside of the preseason during that stint.
His start last week was his first in the postseason, and now at age 30, he sits just one game away from the culmination of his dreams.
“This is everything I’ve been working for,” Harris said. “You start looking at it, getting a chance to play in the Super Bowl is something you’ve dreamed of ever since you were a little kid. Especially this season, this opportunity, it’s all I can ask for and it’s all I can work towards.”
–Cornerback Chris Harris Jr. practiced Wednesday despite a shoulder injury that hindered him last week. Harris is expected to play Sunday, although the extent of his availability remains unclear. He could be limited to sub packages, as was the case last week.
–Wide receiver Jordan Norwood has seen his playing time increase in recent weeks as the Broncos have re-emphasized three-wide receiver sets. He will be busier as he adds punt returning to his workload. Norwood filled in for Omar Bolden on Sunday after Bolden a partially tore his PCL.
–Kicker Brandon McManus tied a league postseason single-game record last week by kicking five field goals in the win over the Steelers.
–Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas’ mother saw him play in person for the first time last Sunday. His mother, Katina Smith, was in prison but had her sentence commuted by President Obama last summer. She spent the months that followed in a halfway house before being allowed to travel.
–Cornerback Taurean Nixon was promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, and he might find himself in uniform Sunday if the Broncos decide they need extra depth in the secondary. Nixon filled the spot vacated by Omar Bolden, who was placed on injured reserve because of a partially torn posterior cruciate ligament.