The Denver Broncos have a bit of a funky practice schedule this week, given they play Thursday at Kansas City.

Rather than have a traditional Monday, today was a bit of a shakeup. The team isn’t practicing during the day, instead not until 6:30 p.m. tonight. That meant an earlier than usual open locker room session, something several players seemed surprised about. One even muttered, “why the f*** is the media in here?!”

Sorry.

We were there and some guys were much more willing to talk than others. Here are some highlights from Broncos open locker room on Monday.

  • Evan Mathis wasn’t pleased with his play Sunday

Mathis is a stand up dude and easy to talk with. He was probably unnecessarily harsh on himself, but better that than the other way around.

  • T.J. Ward did not like having to watch from home

Ward was terse with the media and pretty short. You could tell he was glad to be back but also ready to work. He’s also still mad he couldn’t play Sunday — and rightfully so.

  • Owen Daniels knows how big the 10:56 drive in the fourth quarter was

Daniels is a seasoned veteran who knows when to rip off cliches for the media. He did that on Monday, but was open about how key that drive was.

  • Brandon McManus was locked in even with a big break

McManus proved a lot of doubters wrong on Sunday, having a big day kicking field goals (4-4). His ability to hit early and late was impressive.

  • Louis Vasquez is one of the coolest dudes on the team

Vasquez was pumped he now has a big cover from his appearance on the front of Mile High Sports Magazine. He said it’s going on the wall in his office.

  • Mathis isn’t worried about not being on the MHSM cover yet

Mathis barely missed the cut for our photo shoot as he was still a free agent when the camera captured that shot. Keep No. 18 upright all year, Evan, and we can definitely make that happen.