INDIANAPOLIS — As the NFL Scouting Combine moved through its second session of media interviews on Thursday, Denver Broncos general manager John Elway and Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett fielded questions about their respective situations at quarterback.
And they each had pretty much the same answer — wait and see.
The Broncos still do not know if Peyton Manning will retire and allow the Brock Osweiler era to begin. And Garrett was noncommittal on whether the Cowboys are actively seeking a young quarterback, the heir apparent for 35-year-old Tony Romo.
Here are notable quotes from them and other coaches and executives who met the media at Lucas Oil Stadium:
–John Elway, general manager, Denver Broncos.
On if quarterback Peyton Manning has indicated to him whether he wants to continue playing
“I met with Peyton a couple of nights ago. We had a good talk. As I said after the game, we’re going to give him as much time as he needs, and he still needs some more time. We’re going to afford him that time. He’s deserved that after 18 years in this league. To be able to afford him that time to figure out what he wants to do, we’ll continue to do that. That’s where we left it. We’ll stay in touch and in the next week or two we’ll get back together. It’s still in his court. We’re still going to give him that time. Let him enjoy the win. It’s only two and a half weeks since we won. We really want him to be able to enjoy that and give him that time. He’s deserved that. We’ll continue to respect that.”
Is Elway in a rush to make a decision on Manning because of quarterback Brock Osweiler’s status?
“We’re really not in a hurry. Everything is still real fluid. We know where Brock is. Brock knows what we have to offer. We still have a great deal of interest in Brock. We’d like to do something with Brock. We’ll start down those tracks and we’ll start talking to Brock about a new contract and see what we can do there. With that in mind, also affording Peyton the time that he deserves, we’re not in any rush. Like you said, there are 12 days. We don’t feel like we’re in a rush there.”
How are talks going with Von Miller?
“We’re in discussions with Von. We’ve exchanged some offers. We continue to be able to meet with his representatives. We feel good about it. Obviously, with the career that he’s had already and the way that he played this year, we’re very hopeful that we’ll be able to get something done.”
Is there a possibility of using the franchise tag on Miller?
“I don’t know. We’re always hopeful that if we can get together that we’d like to (come to a long-term agreement).”
Discuss Osweiler’s development from college and the difficulties a young quarterback faces.
“I think when Brock came out of college, he was a guy that was in shotgun a lot. He spent a little time underneath (center). I think what we’re seeing is we’re seeing quarterbacks coming out of college that in shotgun a lot more than we were in my day coming out and really even 10 years ago. Guys are not spending much time underneath the center. I think that’s the biggest adjustment for young guys coming out — those kids that have not been underneath the center. To be able to come out and go through the drops, the reads and progression, coming out from underneath the center is the development side that we need that the young kids have to have coming out now because you’re going to be underneath the center in the NFL. Not only the rhythm side of it, but also the vision side of it. As far as what you can see coming out from underneath the center is different from shotgun. You can see better in shotgun and you have to be used to be being able to have some of your vision not be as great coming out from underneath the center. Those are the type things that the young guys are working on coming out.”
What is the potential of Manning returning?
“Peyton is the same old Peyton that he was. He’s 18 years into it and again it’s going to come down to what Peyton wants to do. If he wants to go through that grind and wants to (do it) again — we’ll have those discussions. Peyton led us to a world championship and showed you the championship quarterback that he is.”
Discuss the offensive line.
“Obviously, that’s an area where we need to get better. That’s going to be a focal point for us this year as we go into free agency as well as the draft. (Tackle) Ty (Sambrailo) will come back and we think he’s going to come back and be healthy and he’ll be fine.”
Does Osweiler want to know what Manning’s plans are before signing a new contract?
“I haven’t talked to Brock yet. I would think that’s probably something Brock would want to know. At this point in time, we’ll talk to Brock, but I’m not going to be able to give him that answer.”
Will head coach Gary Kubiak continue to implement his offense?
“The key thing is we want to score more points this year. I think that’s always the goal. Gary and the staff, they have done a great job of adapting to the people we have. Our goal is to get better on that side, to get better on the offensive line and be able to put some more points on the board. We are always trying to improve on that. Gary has had the same philosophy for a long time.
Can you discuss Denver’s running backs.
” C.J. (Anderson) had a good year. Ronnie Hillman will be a free agent and so we’ll see what happens with Ronnie. Juwan Thompson had a good year and did a nice job for us on special teams. We’ll continue to try to get better there. We’ll look at that position group in free agency as well as the draft and see if we can get better in that area.”
–Jason Garrett, head coach, Dallas Cowboys.
If you must draft a quarterback, who are you scouting for your No. 4 overall pick?
“Yeah, again we don’t want to get too far ahead into the strategy of the draft — we’re trying to find out about the players. We did get a chance to see four quarterbacks down at the Senior Bowl, we thought that was a good thing for us in the evaluation process. It’ll continue here. … Again, we don’t want to talk about who we’re picking when — it’s way, way too early for that.”
Will this be the hardest you looked at quarterbacks in the draft?
“Oh, I don’t think that’s an accurate statement. You always evaluate the quarterbacks every year, just like you do at every position.”
What is the most important trait for quarterback evaluation?
“Oh, I think it’s hard to say there’s one thing that stands out more than anything else. There are so many different things at all the positions. I think the evaluation with every player starts with the guy himself — who is the guy, how important is football to him, does he have a passion for the game, can he function in a team environment, what’s his personal character, what’s his football character. All of those things. The makeup of the player is critical — particularly critical at that position.”
Is quarterback harder to evaluate than other positions?
“Oh, I think they’re all hard to evaluate. Any time you’re evaluating a player who’s playing in college football and seeing if he can make the translation to pro football — it’s a different level. There’s certainly some things that you look for in each of these players — some physical traits, some intangible qualities, some makeup characteristics. You try to put it all together and make your best judgments. There are some great models that we have at different positions that we use, but you have to evaluate players individually.
What is the next step in evaluating Carson Wentz? (Rated No. 2 quarterback; 10th overall; Round 1 by NFLDraftscout.com).
“Well, there’s a lot to like about him, and really the other quarterbacks we had a chance to spend some time with down there. Rarely do you get an opportunity to spend six days with these players. We saw them on the practice field, we saw them in the meetings before practice — after practice when you’re watching tape. We saw them in a game situation. It’s a really important piece of evaluation, and I really feel like we handled it the right way as a coaching staff and we took full advantage of it — not only with Carson but the other quarterbacks and with all the guys we had the opportunity to coach.”
Do you value large hands for quarterbacks?
“You value large hands for quarterbacks — there’s no question about that. They hold the ball on every play. It certainly helps your throwing ability, it helps your ability to handle the football as a play-action guy and in all the different things you do with the ball. We don’t have any hard-and-fast rule that says ‘If he doesn’t have a hand size that’s this big, he can’t play for us.’ Some teams do that. But we certainly value a larger hand rather than a smaller hand.”
Can you still expect Romo to start 16 games?
“Yeah, if Tony is our starting quarterback, we anticipate him being the starting quarterback for the whole year. He has had injuries, we have to be mindful of that — but you have to be mindful of that with any player on your team. You have to build your team the right way. One of the things we’ve talked about as an organization is we have to handle the adversity of the season better. That starts with how we build our football team, how we coach our football team and how our players respond to adversity over the course of 16 weeks. We’ll try to do that right here from the outset. That’s why the personnel evaluations are so critical.”
–Ted Thompson, general manager, Green Bay Packers
The last two seasons ended with overtime losses without getting the ball, would you like to see overtime rules change to make sure both sides get ball?
“That’s another question that’s probably a little higher than my pay grade. There are people here that can answer that question and give you reasons behind it. I’m talking about studies, 20-year studies and 30-year studies and things like that that I’m not privy to. I think you’d be better off getting an answer from them.
–Gus Bradley, head coach, Jacksonville Jaguars.
What’s it like to see someone from North Dakota State rise up the charts like Carson Wentz? (Bradley played and coached at North Dakota State).
“Senior Bowl, I had a chance to visit with him. I know just how much people respect his play on the field, but I think as you get a chance to meet him as a person it’ll even climb even higher. He’s just got a good perspective. Sometimes you see guys that come out maybe of a I-AA or Division II, it takes some time to adjust or you wonder is it too big. That’s not the case with him, in just my conversations, so I’m happy for North Dakota State and I’m happy for him.”
–Duke Tobin, director of player personnel, Cincinnati Bengals.
Why do rookie receivers often struggle to assimilate?
“There are positions that are harder to assimilate. There’s maybe more to learn. Formationally, these guys are often going from real basic stuff to where they are lining up on the right side on the outside all the time and going fast and don’t have to worry about the formations, the motions, the shifts, the check-with-me that NFL teams do. Lot of times it’s just learning the formations and knowing the multiple spots that he fits in each one of those formations. Certainly route running in the NFL is different. The level of talent in the defensive backfield is different for these guys. It’s a position that is hard to come in and take off right away. It can be done, but you normally need a guy that’s had a little bit more experience with more of a pro-style attack in college.”
–Mike Zimmer, head coach, Minnesota Vikings.
What kind of impact did Chad Greenway have?
“Chad’s a terrific, terrific guy. I love him. He’s been terrific for us. He probably played more than he anticipated this year and more than I probably did. I really wish I would have had a chance to coach him when he came out in the draft because I see the great intangibles that he has now and what maybe I could have helped him try to be if I had him when he was younger.”
How important is it to protect (quarterback) Teddy Bridgewater in his third season?
“Yeah, well, it’s extremely important. He got sacked 45 times last year and I think 44 times (the year before) and hit way too many times. We’ve got to do a better job in protecting him, and it’s not just the offensive line. It’s the running backs and the receivers making the right adjustments. It is extremely important. This guy has got a chance to be an extremely good player, but we have to do a good job with that.”
Why are long arms important to you when looking at defensive linemen?
“A good example would be, if I could reach you right now and tackle you, that would be a pretty good advantage, right? As opposed to trying to reach this far. No. 1 is reach, as far as getting off a block and getting to a guy. No. 2 is guys that are 10 feet high in the air with their hands, being able to get in the quarterback’s throwing lane, tipped balls and things like that. I think length gives you an advantage that can be important for your defensive football team.”
–Mike McCarthy, head coach, Green Bay Packers.
Aaron Rodgers has a knee (injury)?
“I would think so. Hell, the way he’s hitting the golf ball, I think he would be ready to go.”