Chris Harris Jr. can sense the mood of Broncos Country with his eyes closed and ears plugged. Not that there's been reason to plug the ears in recent years.
There was nothing but division titles, playoff berths and the occasional Super Bowl appearance in Harris’ first five seasons with the Broncos.
It’s been a lot of disappointment for going on his past four seasons as the Broncos bring an 0-3 record into their week 4 game today against the 1-2 Jacksonville Jaguars at Empower Field at Mile High.
Harris knows that as the Broncos try to pick up their first win, he and his teammates will need some help.
"We want to get the fans involved," Harris said in a sit-down interview with 9News this week. "Get them back jumping and get them excited about wanting to come to a game. Get that excitement back here in Denver and not keep it like how it is now. It’s been kind of quiet."
Honest Harris needs a big game. The Broncos don’t have as many great players as they did four years ago, when they won Super Bowl 50 primarily on the strength of their defense. Harris was a starting cornerback on that team then, and he is again on a completely different version of the Broncos now.
"We’re definitely a young team," he said. "We’ve got a lot of new guys. We haven’t played together a lot. At all. It’s hard to win games when you see these teams around the league, they’ve been playing together, they’ve got that chemistry and they’ve been jelling for a while. We’re a whole new team and that’s what it looks like so far."
Just because the Broncos desperately need a win doesn’t mean the Jaguars will gift it. They have played surprisingly well since rookie Gardner Minshew II took over for the injured Nick Folles early in their season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.
"Man, he’s looked great on film," Harris said. "He can make all the throws. He’s tough in the pocket, he understands their offense pretty well. Him and (D.J.) Chark have a great connection out there so we can’t sleep on them at all. He’s playing better than – I think he’s a sixth-round pick – he’s definitely playing way better than that.
"He’s solid. I gained respect for how he played versus the Titans. Those are solid DBs out there and he was completing it, throwing the ball all over the field and they beat them so we definitely can’t take them lightly."
Harris has played well in defeat. With the Broncos’ other slated starting cornerback Bryce Callahan unable to play because of a foot injury, much damage had been inflicted on his fill-in, Isaac Yiadom, who was benched last week and replaced by De’Vante Bausby.
For the game Sunday, slot corner Kareem Jackson may not play because of a hamstring injury. It’s imperative that Harris come up big.
"It’s hard to make a lot of plays when you’re not getting targeted as much," Harris said. "But I’ve been able to eliminate the No. 1 guy so far. It’s going to be challenging. I’ve got better receivers I have to face and hopefully the action starts coming."
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