With just two games left in the regular season, Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway joined Broncos TV’s Chris Hall Tuesday for another edition of “Elway Live.” The former Broncos quarterback talked about current quarterback Tim Tebow’s progression this season, helping Broncos quarterbacks in the offseason, and the Broncos ability to put points on the board in the first quarter last week.
Just about the only thing Elway didn’t talk about was the one thing most Broncos fans can’t stop thinking about — the Broncos’ playoff chances.
“We don’t like to look that far ahead,” Elway said. “I’m a little bit superstitious when it comes to those type of things. We can hopefully talk about the playoffs next week or the following week. But until we get there, I don’t want to jinx us or any of those Broncos fans out there. We’ve got to get there first and then we’ll be glad to talk about it.”
One of the key players in the Broncos recent stretch that has jumped them into postseason discussions is Tebow. Elway said the second-year quarterback continued to make strides Sunday, despite the loss on the scoreboard.
One throw that Elway like in particular was a 39-yard pass to Demaryius Thomas on third-and-18 in the fourth quarter. New England was playing zone coverage and after a few second in the pocket, Tebow, showing his arm strength, hurled a pass to the right sideline which Thomas caught with ease
“He’s got a strong arm, that’s not a question whether Tim has enough arm or not,” Elway said. “He can make some spectacular throws like that one to Demaryius which was 39 yards against two-deep coverage and you have to get it there in a hurry. He made that throw.”
“When you look at the body of work when we talk about this year, when you look at each game that is played, we’re very encouraged that he keeps improving week-in and week-out,” Elway said.
Elway also discussed the possibility of providing tutelage to the Broncos quarterbacks in the offseason. With the unique nature of this past offseason, Elway wasn’t able to spend time with the quarterbacks in his first year as a Broncos Front Office employee. However, he says that when this offseason rolls around, there will be plenty of time for him to get with the position group he mastered as a player.
“Heck, I want to help all of the quarterbacks here,” Elway said. “That’s what I played and have a lot of experience in that area. There’s a lot of things I can help them with. Not only in the techniques of throwing the ball and footwork, but also understand the game, game management and looking at all those type things. I look forward to that…Once we get into the offseason I want to be able to help all the quarterbacks who are here.”
One thing that the current coaches have helped the Broncos with over the past few weeks has been starting off fast in each game. The Broncos were able to succeed in that department Sunday, scoring on their first three possessions, something the Broncos haven’t done all year.
“It was a mindset going in, everyone realized that we had to get started earlier,” Elway said. “That was part of the concentration last week and focus coming out of the locker room and playing well from play one – on. Hopefully we can do that again this week.”
To listen to the rest of the “Elway Live” podcast, as well as any previous shows, go to www.DenverBroncos.com/ElwayLive.
-Kenny Legan
Tags: Buffalo Bills, Elway Live, Tim Tebow, Week 16
Nice to see Elway giving more encouragement lately. It’ll be great to see what that tutelage will do for the QBs(Tebow) going forward next season.
Also, with that type of talk, it means the draft can be spent on focusing on getting quality youth on the D, at the DT, CB and as sad as it is to say the Safety position, again. Though I really hope Rahim can step up and do what we saw of him in preseason before he got fined for a solid hit.
@HardHitting, is your name bout steve atwater????
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@stehpen…… yes it is. one of my all time favorite Broncos!! Hoping he makes the cut for the HOF!!
Im glad it wasn’t just me JE that throw to the sideline on 3 and 18 was pheonomenal…I just had to stand up from my seat and exclaim”and who said my boy can’t pass?” I mean great zip, great velocity, accurate as hell … I mean it was a fantastic throw.
That was a great throw TRB, so was the throw to Tebow’s left that was just over the outstreched arms of the NE defender complete to I forget who near the sidelines. I thought that was a pick 6 but TT saw that defender and put just enough air under it.. Great throw!