On Wednesday, All-Pro cornerback Aqib Talib was named by his teammates a defensive captain along with Von Miller.
With the departure of DeMarcus Ware, Talib is now one of only two Broncos defensive players with at least a decade of NFL service. The other – Domata Peko – is in his first year in Denver.
Yet despite his longevity and stellar play on the field, this is his first time being voted a captain in the NFL. Still, he says the new title won’t change how he goes about his business – and his business this week is preparing to beat the Los Angeles Chargers.
Looking strong as ever on the field and carrying new responsibilities off it, Talib spoke with the Denver media on Thursday. Here’s what he had to day, quotes courtesy of Broncos Media Relations.
On S Justin Simmons, S Will Parks and S Jamaal Carter
“They all bring something on their own. They’re young guys and they’re smart guys. J (Simmons) brings the ball skills, Philly (Parks) brings that energy and J (Carter) brings that energy. They all bring their own thing to the table, but those guys are ready to go.”
On being voted captain
“It’s an honor. It’s my first time being voted a captain in the NFL and it means a lot to me. Your teammates are voting for you so it’s good to see that they look at me as a leader. It’ s good to see that I’ve been doing my job during OTAs and training camp. I’m honored.”
On if his responsibilities will change now
“I got voted captain for a reason so I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
On if he’s done anything differently this year to try and become a captain
“I don’t think so. I feel like I always have been a vocal leader, I always come to practice and I always give my all on game day. I guess it came to fruition.”
On having his teammates’ backs on the field
“I don’t know, that’s me and that’s my personality. These are my guys and these are my brothers so it’s us versus everybody. That’s just how I play the game.”
On if he feels he’s always been captain material
“Yes, I think maybe my off-the-field stuff kind of prevented me from being a captain a lot of the times. I think I’ve always been captain material; I’ve always been a good guy at practice, I’ve always been a great teammate and I’ve always been a leader.”
On the Los Angeles Chargers’ offense
“They’ve always been a pretty good team. They’re healthy now and they’ve got all of their guys and all of their guns are on deck. They have Philip Rivers as their quarterback, so you have a future Hall of Fame quarterback you’re probably going to be pretty good on offense.”
On the Chargers
“I saw this guy on NFL Network say Philip is going to be MVP this year, so I heard good thing about him. I see guys predicting their schedule pretty well, so we’ll see. They’re a good team to us and we always had good games against those guys.”
On what people are saying about the Broncos
“We don’t really worry about it. We only can control what we can control. They base a lot of how they rank you and what they think about you on what you did last year. This is a whole new team and a whole new attitude this year. We’ll see.”
On Chargers WR Keenan Allen
“He’s great on the line, he’s a big body and he’s a big target for Philip. He’s a super competitor. Any time you at the level that he competes you’re going to be a pretty good player.”
On Chargers Tight Ends Antonio Gates and Hunter Harvey
“You don’t know if they’re going to run it or if they’re going to pass it. They can run a ball real good out of 12 and they can split those two guys out. You can do a lot of things with those two guys.”
On QB Brock Osweiler
“I was excited. In the NFL every backup is one play away from being a starter so we need a backup who we can really depend on and we know we can really depend on Brock. He’s been in this system before and he started games before so we know we can really depend on him.
On being inducted into the Kansas University Athletic Hall of Fame
“It was an honor. They definitely made it a lot more than what I thought it would be. It’s an honor seeing my name up there with guys like [former Kansas RB John] Riggins, [former Kansas QB John] Hadl and [former Kansas RB Gale] Sayers—there’s only like eight of us up there so it’s definitely an honor.”
On not practicing today
“If it’s up to me I’m going to practice. [Director of Sports Medicine Steve Antonopulos] ‘Greek’ and [Head Coach Vance Joseph] Coach they have great plans for guys so I guess it was one of those days for me to just get some rest.”
On how he enjoys practice more than most
“That’s part of leading the guys. You just have to bring the energy and when we’re practicing we’re preparing for something. I’m trying to be the best that I can be on Sunday and it starts in practice.”
On CB Brendan Langley
“Langley, he’s ready. He’s ironing out those wrinkles that he had in the scheme and athletically he’s been ready to go. Mentally, he’s getting there. He’s staying extra with coach and he’s doing a lot of stuff to make sure he’s ready.”
On who he admired growing up
“I’ve always taken my hints and notes from my dad. He passed in ‘13 but always growing up he was always vocal. He always did things the right way and he has four kids and he took care of us the right way no other dad could do. I kind of learned from him growing up how to handle your business as a man.”
On if his dad always let him know where he stood
“Definitely. Every time.”
On what he’s done differently this season to prevent another back injury
“Ever since I did tweak my back a little bit I just never stopped my rehab on it. I kept that same regimen and kept my core real strong so I feel great now. I don’t even feel it.”
On the feeling of opening night
“It’s the same. You’re nervous and you’re excited. I can’t wait for it, there’s going to be a great buzz in the air Monday night. It never changes game to game, opener to opener. It never changes.”
