DenverBroncos Conference Call
HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN(on whether the Colts defense is better this year than it was last year going into the wild card game) 1/5/04
"I think the longer people are in a system, the more comfortable they are. They have personnel each year to fit the system. It has produced a lot of turnovers for them. I see everybody more comfortable with the system this year. You can see more familiarity with the system."
HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN(on whether he is surprised Peyton Manning was named AP offensive player of the year) 1/5/04
"No. If for some reason he wasn't, it would have been the biggest injustice I have ever seen. He had an unbelievable year. To accomplish what he has accomplished is kind of hard to imagine. To have that type of pass efficiency, touchdown to interception ratio, yards per attempt, completion percentage. I mean everything is just a big compliment not only to him but to his teammates and the coaching staff. It is a year that I have never seen come around."
HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN(on RB-Edgerrin James and if he is overlooked) 1/5/04
"He may be overlooked in Indy, but that is not the case in the National Football League. He has over 1,500 yards and what he averages per carry...he is so valuable. He keeps the defense honest. If you can't run the football it is very hard to have a successful passing game. So many of their big plays come off play action passes. "
HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN(on Edgerrin being a three-down back and whether he reminds him of any other back) 1/5/04
"He is a great one. He is right up there at the top. He can do it all. He has excellent hands. We know what he can do running the football, but people sometimes forget what he can do catching the ball. Any time a guy has over 50 catches and right around 500 yards and over 2,000 yards total offense, that doesn't happen very often."
HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN(on Indianapolisoffensive coordinator Tom Moore's philosophy) 1/5/04
"I have known Tom a long time. It goes back to when he was at Pittsburgh. He has done a lot of different things offensively. He has a system right now that everybody understands and that everybody relates very well to. If I had to pick an assistant coach of the year, he would be the guy. In Pittsburgh's heyday, they had all those great teams and he came out here every year for about a week or two and some people thought the world of him. It is unique what they have been able to do with their offensive system. No huddle, call plays at the line of scrimmage, Peyton having such a great grasp of defenses, checking off. It hasn't been done. Tom has been in the game a long time. He deserves a lot of accolades. He has done things with this offense that have not been done before. He has been able to adapt to different situations. "
QB-JAKE PLUMMER(on the Colts' pass rush and DE-Dwight Freeney) 1/5/05
"It's a front four you definitely have to contend with. They're fast and quick up front. Freeney is amazing, watching some of the games, just to see how quick he gets off the ball. He's not just beating normal guys. I've seen him pretty much dominate a guy like Jonathan Ogden. Very rarely as a quarterback do you go into a game and think about a (defensive lineman), because it's not my job to think about him. I have guys up front that are supposed to protect. But a guy like Freeney, he's in the back of your head a little bit, because you've seen him make many, many plays. You have to know where he is and feel him, and hopefully you feel him at the right time and can get out of there if he gets a good move on your tackle."
QB-JAKE PLUMMER(on if last year's playoff loss is a motivating factor) 1/5/05
"You have to learn from it. Obviously, it wasn't a good way to end the season. We didn't like the way it happened, the way it came out, but you learn what you have to do to try to eliminate doing that again. It's not going to be what we're hanging our hat on as motivation to go beat these guys. What we have to do is prepare the same, get ready to go down there and avoid getting beat like we did. We don't want to have that happen again. You think about it a little bit. There is some motivation there, but we have to move on and get ready for this one. It's a whole different season."
QB-JAKE PLUMMER(on what jumps out to him about the Colts' defense) 1/5/05
"What they've done is create a lot of turnovers. I think that has a lot to do with their game plan, their front four getting after it, making the quarterback make quick decisions, and they have guys outside that are playing in zones, playing in positions to make plays. If they get a QB rushed into making a quick decision or a bad decision, they've been good at creating turnovers. For us, we have to avoid that. When we've been able to take care of that side of the ball as far as not turning it over, we've had success and done pretty well."
QB-JAKE PLUMMER(on a lot of tipped balls turning into interceptions this year) 1/5/05
"It's one of those deals where you don't look back at them, really. I think there have been years where I'll throw a ball and it gets tipped up by a D-lineman, and it hangs in the air for what seems like 10 seconds, and it hits the ground and no one is around it. But there are other times where the ball is tipped up and it happens to go right to a guy on the other side of the ball that's in the position. I think every quarterback can tell you that those things come and go. It's just the way the ball bounces sometimes."
QB-JAKE PLUMMER(on if he was able to get a true sense of what the Colts' defense was like last weekend) 1/5/05
"Whatever they're going to do, we have to adjust to it. I don't know if they're going to play us like they did down here last week. It would be kind of going against what they've done all year, but obviously, we have to be ready for anything. It's a defense that has played at a high level. They've played fast and we're going to have to meet them, stay balanced and stay close and be physical."
QB-JAKE PLUMMER(on if he is asked much about the Broncos' playoff record since John Elway retired) 1/5/05
"Last year, it came up for me because it was my first year here, and we went to the playoffs and lost. We know there hasn't been much happening in the post season since he left. That gets back to learning from the past, knowing what happened and not really letting it affect you. I can't worry about what happened then. All I can worry about is going forward and what's going to happen this Sunday. Obviously, we want to get a win really bad. Everyone from top to bottom here in the Broncos' organization wants to get a win, so that's what our energy is focused on."
QB-JAKE PLUMMER(on how things have gone this season in a nutshell) 1/5/05
"We're in the playoffs. We have a second chance. A new season is starting. So, we're excited about that. What's happened the last 17 weeks and preseason, we learned from, move on, get ready to go start our second season in the
