ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — For all the struggles and demons he’s endured through in his nine-year NFL career, Denver Broncos’ outside linebacker Randy Gregory has always cared.
He wants to play well. Heck, he just wants to play on a regular basis. And it ticks him off that his career hasn’t gone as planned. Out of 130 possible regular-season games, he’s played in just 56. Played well enough to get a big contract with the Broncos, and well enough so that he is still wearing a No. 5 orange jersey in training camp.
But he knows to date there could have been so much more.
“It sucks because you go in with an idea of what the dream is going to be like,’’ Gregory said Thursday after the final day of fan-viewing Broncos training camp. “You have hiccups. I think the big thing for me is I’ve been able to pick myself up and keep going.’’
To Gregory’s credit, he is learning how to let go of disappointment and work towards better days ahead. For the first time since he’s been a Bronco, Gregory is healthy. He wasn’t even healthy when he signed his contract last year that guaranteed him $28 million over two years. The Broncos carried through on their contract agreement even though they discovered through his physical exam a shoulder injury that required surgery to repair and a knee that as it turned out wasn’t ready for the rigors of a 17-game season. Or even a 7-game season.
“My thing is fulfilling my end of the agreement,’’ Gregory said. “A big part of that is being available and healthy so a lot of that was offseason, rehabbing. I feel like going out there for 17 games-plus and do what I need to do.”
He was a dominant player through the Broncos’ first three games last season, one reason why the team got off to a 2-1 start despite miserable offensive play. Gregory suffered a knee injury in game 4 that required surgery to repair and that also partially explains why the Broncos’ lost all but three of their final 14 games.
He played in 10 defensive snaps in the first preseason game last Friday at Arizona and he may go a little longer this Saturday at San Francisco as Broncos head coach Sean Payton said his first teamers would play 20 to 24 snaps.
“I’m still in the process of getting my legs under me,’’ Gregory said. “Working on little nuances of the rush, my approach, my game plan, things like that so any time I get a chance to get out there and get a few snaps …”
He and Frank Clark will give the Broncos a potentially elite pass-rushing duo -- providing both can approach their prime years.
“I love Frank. Me and Frank came out same year, a lot of our pre-draft visits were with the same team,'' Gregory said. "So I’ve known him for a while now. He’s a guy who’s really going to help us in the room. He’s been to Super Bowls, he’s won them, 10-plus sack years, something like that so there’s a lot of stuff happening with him.”
Now 30, Gregory worked on all aspects of himself this offseason. He has previously gone public about his struggles with anxiety issues.
“Everyone wants to get tied up in the physical, but the big thing for me this offseason was getting the mental down,’’ he said. “Being able to fight those little mental battles. You’re going to have bad plays but put them behind and go on to the next one.’’
A second year in Denver should help. A defensive end in Dallas, it was an adjustment for Gregory to become an outside linebacker – where dropping into coverage is part of the job description – in Denver.
“It’s helped a lot,’’ Gregory said. “Anyone who knows me knows I’m big on comfortability and being in one state for that long was big for me, making the jump to a different team was big. That and coupled with the year we had, and injuries, it was tough but I’ve done a good job of staying on top of those things.
“I think the coaches and players have done a good job of really integrating the mental health aspect. I think a lot of people that aren’t progressive kind of put it to the side and I tend to do it sometimes, too. I’m sure you guys do it sometimes too. So it’s nice to have that in check and be able to focus on football.”
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