ENGLEWOOD – The numbers for Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay are 17 touches for 102 yards in week 1 and 15 touches for 111 yards in week 2.
If Lindsay, the undrafted rookie from South High and the University of Colorado, is going to become the Broncos’ top running back, then there is another set of numbers worth examining.
5-7 ¼, 184. Those were his measurements at the CU Pro Day. It begs the question: Can Lindsay hold up to produce 100 yards from scrimmage in week 10, 12 and 15?
Terrell Davis, who looked bigger in the Broncos’ No. 30 jersey in the late-1990s than Lindsay does now, thinks he can.
“What I like about him is he runs bigger than his size,’’ Davis said. “He can run around you and you see sometimes where he’s actually trying to run through you. Yeah, he can hold up because he’s not getting 25 carries. He’s getting 15, 16 touches. Catching some passes.
“And that speaks to how far he’s come, too. Undrafted, no combine. And his first two games he’s averaging 16 touches, and nobody thought he’d be doing that. That’s pretty cool. I’m pretty excited to follow his journey and see how this all turns out.
“He was maybe a surprise initially but after a while he won’t be a surprise. Hopefully, he gets more and more comfortable every week and we see this young man blossom.’’
Coach Joseph is older, wiser
Vance Joseph turned 46 years old Thursday. For the second consecutive season, he is 2-0 on his birthday.
It can be safely assumed his wish is to beat a Super Bowl-winning head coach for a third consecutive week. His Broncos beat Seattle’s Pete Carroll, the SB 48 winner, in week 1. He beat Oakland’s Jon Gruden, the SB 37 winner with Tampa Bay, in week 2.
And now Joseph will match wits Sunday with Baltimore’s John Harbaugh, the SB 47 winner, in week 3.
“When you play this team, it’s going to be a fundamental, sound, tough football team,’’ Joseph said. “They’ve always been a tough team. They’re a big team. You said it about the special teams. Coach (Harbaugh) was a coordinator on teams 10-plus years in this league, so he takes a lot of pride in his teams. They’ve made plays to beat us in the past on special teams. I’ve been in games with those guys and lost 12-6, and it’s a punt return and two field goals, and you lose the game.
“He has great culture there. His team shows up every week. They’re sound in all aspects of the game. They’re a tough team and he’s been a winner. It’s going to be a tough out.’’
Harbaugh says Broncos throw quick
We all know what the Broncos’ offense looks like. The opposing coach this week verified what we’ve been seeing all along.
“They don’t want to get sacked,’’ Harbaugh said when asked to compare the Broncos to the Cincinnati offense that beat up the Ravens’ defense last Thursday and the Vikings’ offense that Broncos quarterback Case Keenum operated last year. “They get the ball out quickly. That’s a carry over to what they do in Cincinnati, what they did in Minnesota last year.
“(Broncos offensive coordinator) Bill Musgrave has always been like that. You track back to Oakland, I think would be the other comparison, where coach Musgrave was at before with Derek Carr. They want to get the ball out quick, on time, on rhythm and to completable passes. That’s kind of what they do.’’
Broncos saving on hotel bills
For East Coast road games last season at Buffalo, Philadelphia and Miami, the Broncos flew out Friday morning and stayed two nights in a hotel for early Sunday games.
The Broncos went 0-3 in those games, losing by an average of 21.3 points. (The Broncos had two other Eastern time zone games last year, but did not go out two days early for a Thursday night game at Indianapolis, or Christmas Eve in Washington D.C.).
And so this year, the Broncos are flying out the day before they’re East Coast games. Even though the game Sunday at Baltimore kicks off at 11 a.m. Colorado time, the Broncos are scheduled to arrive at their hotel late-Saturday afternoon.
“We just want to go out and play the game,’’ Joseph said. “It’s all about mindset. We’re not going to worry about how far we’re traveling, what time the game starts—we don’t care. It’s going to probably rain on Sunday. We don’t care. I think pushing it back and just going on Saturday is all about our mindset and not worrying about going east, who we’re playing or where we’re playing.
“It’s worrying about the Broncos playing the best we can play. Our attitude this year is, ‘We don’t care about where we go or who we play or when we travel or where we travel.’ We’re just going to go play.”
