ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — It’s a tougher world out there thanks to the blunt spontaneity of social media.
Internet reactions are like road rage — people are a lot braver to lash out against other people when protected by anonymity or four doors.
Alex Forsyth was the victim of harsh, mean-spirited criticism Sunday night into Monday for getting bull-rushed by Kansas City’s Leo Chenal, who went on to block Wil Lutz’s short field goal attempt that would have given the Broncos a 17-16 upset victory against the Kansas City Chiefs. But since the block was on the final play of the game, game over.
Chiefs beat the Broncos again.
The Broncos used up most of the media locker room access Wednesday with a players union meeting, but 9NEWS sports reporter Scotty Gange was able to ask starting right guard Quinn Meinerz about how he’s supported his fellow interior blocker Forsyth, who has received most of the blame for the game-losing blocked field goal Sunday at Kansas City.
“For one I think the blame is kind of ridiculous,’’ Meinerz told Gange. “The last couple of days I’ve been pretty upset by the overall coverage and how it’s been handled across all different platforms. He is preparing to play every single week — left guard, right guard and center. He came in and played his tail off at center for us (for four games while starter Luke Wattenberg was down with an ankle injury). He’s been asked to be on punt, he’s been doing that, and he’s doing the field goal thing as well. He’s been doing tons of jobs he’s working on every single day and I have a ton of respect for the way he works, the way he grinds, the way he asks questions. And he’s a great player. He’s part of the reason for some of the success that we’ve had on the offensive line.
“There’s a handful of reasons as to how that happened to him. I’ve been giving him as much support as I can because that is an unfortunate position. Playing that position on field goal (the tight end) is one of the hardest job in this sport and arguably across all sports.’’
OK, so it’s a bit much to say blocking on field goal is tougher than, say, playing quarterback. There’s a reason why quarterbacks get paid $55 million a year. And centers and field-goal tight ends don’t. Still, we get Meinerz’s point. It ain’t easy learning multiple tasks each week and being expected to master them all.
“And he’s been doing the best job he can and it was just an unfortunate circumstance. Our offense can’t stall in the third quarter. We’ve got to put points on the board so there’s not a situation like that.
“But we’re doing a good job keeping him uplifted and moving and turning the page because that’s what you have to do in this league because now we’re getting ready for Atlanta and whatever happened in that game happened. We’ve got our corrections, we’re going to move forward because that’s the best thing we can do to heal and move forward with him.”
Make no mistake, Meinerz is a player you want on your team.
Bo Nix, too. During Nix’s first season at Oregon, Forsyth was his center.
“I think it’s very unfortunate, very unfair that ultimately a play comes down to one moment and people can say it falls under one person,’’ said the Broncos’ rookie quarterback. “Nobody prepares likes Alex Forsyth prepares. Nobody goes through the moments throughout the week and gets every set and every look that he possibly can and go out there and put his team in the best possible spot.
“And I think it’s unfair that … unfortunately it’s the game we play and all of our mistakes are on national TV and everyone sees them. And there’s a lot of negative talk when somebody messes up but I think it should be known how valuable he is to our team, how much he is respected throughout our locker room.
“It ticks me off that people can say those things about him and not even see how he works or how he responds or how he plays. I have no doubt that Alex Forsyth is going to respond probably better than anybody in that situation. He cares more than anybody would in that situation.
“What happened to him sucks, it really does. It’s happened to many of us and you’ve got to unfortunately get over it and you’ve got to find ways to move past it and he’s mentally tough. He’s been through tougher life moments than probably any of us so he knows how to handle adversity and I’m excited to see him grow and respond through this.”
Nix was referring to how Forsyth lost his father 12 years ago when Steve Forsyth was killed in a mass mall shooting outside Portland, Oregon.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton said he “felt sick watching” the final-second blocked kick but he put the blame on the coaching staff.
“Hey that's on us,’’’ Payton said. “In other words, technique and then also, are we asking the right players to do the right things? (Offensive line coach) Zach Strief played forever in that position and he's someone after watching it.... Every one of us felt as coaches, we let the players down and we needed to see that, correct that.’’
Payton came up with a unique idea on how to inspire his players to get past the difficult way of losing in Kansas City and move on to this Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons. Payton showed a montage of tough losses he’s experienced in his career. Indiana State losing to Kansas State, 26-25 in 1991 on an end zone to end zone, 2-point interception return. A pick two, if you will.
The next clip, the Philadelphia Eagles and young quarterbacks coach Payton are trailing the Cowboys, 21-20 but Philly kicker Chris Boniol is lining up for an easy 22-yard field goal to win it. The holder fumbled the snap. Eagles lose.
“Then the next clip was Denver,’’ Payton said of the Broncos’ remarkable 25-23 win after Justin Simmons leaped over the line, blocked Wil Lutz’s extra point try, and Will Parks ran it all the way back for a 2-point conversion in the final minutes. Instead of Saints winning, 24-23 with the extra point, Broncos win.
Then it’s the Minneapolis Miracle where Case Keenum to Stephon Diggs led the Vikings past Payton’s Saints in a 2017 season playoff game. The next year is the non-pass-interference call on the Rams’ Nickell Robey-Coleman, which allowed the Rams to win in overtime.
“The point of the film—and I said to them, 'I don't have enough time here to show you all the good clips,’’’ Payton said. “Just like in life, we're going to have some — then we get up and we start fighting again. There was just a message behind that. Every one of us has. Every one of us has that film in some way, shape or form, whether it's personally, occupationally. So I think the response — and look the team we're playing is coming off a tough loss. When your career is done, your film is longer on the other end than that end.
“I think the response — we had a good practice today — real good.”
Reynolds returns
Broncos receiver Josh Reynolds, out since the Raiders game with a fractured finger and a shooting victim, returned to practice Wednesday. The Broncos don’t have to activate him from injured reserve for another 20 days if they so choose.
Bronco Bits
Outside linebacker Drew Sanders (Achilles) and safety Dellarin Turner-Yell (ACL) continue to practice with the team. Turner-Yell’s 21-day window expires prior to next Wednesday. Sanders is in his second week of practice. …
One of the bigger mismatches heading into the Broncos-Falcons game this Sunday is with the respective pass rushers. The Broncos rank No. 2 in the NFL with 35 sacks (one behind the first-place Giants) while Atlanta is 32nd with 9. …
As they have done many years, the Broncos in the name of safety replaced their grass playing surface at Empower Field at Mile High during the team's two-game road trip. The Broncos’ turf crew went to work on tearing out the old grass immediately after Denver’s home win Oct. 27 against Carolina. The new turf was installed two weeks ago.
The project occurred while the Broncos were on the road for two weeks — at Baltimore and at Kansas City. Usually, the turf has been replaced the first chance the crew gets after the Colorado High School state football championship games. This year, the high school finals will be played Dec. 7 at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins so the best time to replace it for safety reasons was during back-to-back road games.
