The Denver Broncos escaped a Monday night matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers with a 24-21 win. Some small hiccups kept the team from putting away the game in the final quarter, which brought up questions about how the defense will perform this season.
Will Parks joined Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro on Mile High Sports AM1340 | FM 104.7 to put the issues to rest and discuss how the defense will perform moving forward.
“We weren’t focused,” Parks said. “It was minor issues. A lot of guys were probably trying to get off the field. But we as a defense, we’ve definitely got to go out there with the same swagger, same attitude that we have all the time to get it done.”
The Broncos entered the game with a few changes on defense. Justin Simmons started at strong safety in place of T.J. Ward, who was released following the preseason. A fourth-quarter groin injury to free safety Darian Stewart saw Parks receiving a decent chunk of playing time as well, resulting in a younger, less experienced backfield. Parks doesn’t see that as an issue, though.
“It didn’t feel young. Me and Justin [Simmons] being in defense last year, it was essential to keep the communication up to par, if not better than when Stewart’s out there for J.C. [Jamal Carter],” Simmons explained to Goodman and Shapiro. “We kept it up, made sure he was in the right position, and on this defense, as long as you do your job, you’ll do fine. Don’t try to do too much.”
The Broncos held the Chargers to 145 yards of offense in the first half, 156 yards in the second half and one touchdown until the fourth quarter. However, with a little over 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Chargers took advantage of two key turnovers and brought the score within three points.
“We just got over our head a little bit,” Parks said. “We went out there with not the same attitude that we had, but we fixed that with the block. It was a whole mindset thing we never, ever do — and it won’t happen ever again. We definitely took our foot off the gas, but that’s not us. We can’t ever let that happen again.”
Moving forward, with a matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, Parks knows where the defense needs to focus its attention to be successful.
“Zeke [Ezekiel Elliot], with his running ability, is definitely one guy we’ve got to contain,” Parks told Goodman and Shapiro. “Everybody’s got to run to the ball, but that’s our defense. That’s not just with Zeke, that’s with everybody we play against. With Dak [Prescott], just a pretty solid quarterback. He reads his keys, he makes the right throws on time. They’ve got a pretty good offense.”
The Broncos meet the Dallas Cowboys at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Sept. 17 at 2:25 p.m.
Listen to the Sorry – this audio content is no longer available. with Will Parks, including how the Broncos defense will handle playing against Dez Bryant, in the podcast below.
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