ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — They try to make football complicated, coaches do.
Meetings, meetings, meetings. Film study, film study, film study.
Think guys like Dick Butkus, Lawrence Taylor, Jack Lambert and Ray Lewis got to the Hall of Fame because of film study? Sure, preparation helped, but once the ball was snapped, those guys were better than anyone else at see ball, get ball.
Broncos inside linebacker Jonas Griffith displayed an element of wild-dog style in the final four games last season.
“I think a lot of it is watching film,’’ Griffith said. “And once you watch film you have instincts. I mean every guy is good with instincts at this level. But a lot of it is film watching and seeing what your coaches are thinking, but when you’re on the field it’s just playing ball. See ball. Get ball.”
There you go.
A slew of injuries at the inside linebacker position last year left the Broncos with little choice but to start Griffith in the final four games. He responded with 40 tackles – a team-best 10 a game – with four tackles for loss and two quarterback hits.
He’s still lined up with the Denver No. 1 defense this offseason.
“You definitely saw a couple of steps in the last couple games of last year of where he’s excelled,’’ said Josey Jewell, the Broncos’ guaranteed starter at one of the two inside linebacker positions. “Whether it be the quickness of the recognition of the plays, the guy is always fast, so you always see that on the field and just the physicalness that started to creep up and come into the last couple of games.’’
Home schooled until his senior year in high school while growing up in Louisville, Ky., Griffith has made a habit of sneaking up on football evaluators. He played well enough as a senior to get a scholarship to Indiana State. After a dynamic four playing seasons for the Sycamores – 382 tackles, 14.0 sacks, three interceptions and six All American honors -- Griffith went undrafted in 2020. He spent his rookie year on practice squads with the 49ers and Colts.
The following preseason with the 49ers, Broncos general manager George Paton spotted, from film study, the speed and physicality Griffith displayed on special teams and essentially gave up a sixth-round draft pick to acquire him from the 49ers just before the start of the regular season.
Griffith, 25, was a core special teamer for the Broncos until he became a defensive starter late in the season. He made an impact.
“You kind of have an illusion of like, ‘I can do this,’’’ Griffith said. “But when you actually do it, that’s a little bit different. But I would say that was a big thing for me, going out there and doing it and proving it to myself that I could do it. I feel like that was huge for me and big confidence booster going into the offseason.”
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