On facing the Chiefs this week: "They have played here in Oakland very well. We have played there very well and they have played here very well. It kind of been the trend for it seems the past 10 years. Just knowing that, knowing they are getting off the plane and they have consistently played well here, we know we have to play our best game of football to beat these guys."
On the Chiefs defense: "Very solid on defense. They have really cut down on giving up big plays. It is a very solid and stout group, tough to run the ball against. We went back and forth with them last time and then at the end of the game we hit some big runs and finished in four-minute mode taking a knee and that's what we want to do this time. "
On the effects a tragedy has on a team in the locker room: "When it happened with Chris [Henry] back in 2009, I remember coming out of meetings and we had been told and we just got together as a team and prayed, prayed for his kids, his fiancé and his mom. When something like that happens it just doesn't hit you. It takes a while to really realize because you are so busy with so much else. Football is just football when something like that happens. In order for it to really sink in, and didn't really sink in until after I got back from his funeral, a handful of days later, you start thinking about their family and their children and all of the people effected forever. It is so hard to grasp when something that tragic happens. It's so hard to grasp right away. You still have got a game and you got practice and this and that. You don't really have a chance to sit back and reflect and realize all of the people affected. Obviously it's an awful situation. I know we, as a team, have been thinking of them as an organization, as a team and all you can do is pray for them."
On Romeo Crennel saying "the practice field is like therapy": "It's hard to take your mind off of it. You can be busy and stay busy in practice and have meetings and film and games, but when you lose somebody close that's a teammate you always think about them years later. Any time you lose anybody I's tough to find anything that does take your mind off of it."
On if the Rolando McClain situation has been a distraction in the locker room: "It's not going to distract us. It hasn't distracted us for the past two or three weeks, whatever it's been. This team is completely focused on beating the Kansas City Chiefs, and that's all we're going to worry about."
On if it's hard to maintain a focus like that: "No, not for me. If anybody has a problem with it, I'll help guys through it. But it's no issue for us. We're focused on Kansas City, and that's it."
On coaching staff maintaining high standards: "Football is football. You've got to show up and work. This is a job; this is a profession. The coach is going to handle that situation however he feels is the best fit for the team. Whether you're playing for the playoffs or not playing for the playoffs, we're still trying to win. We're still trying to get better, still trying to perfect the little things on offense and defense. Whatever repercussions happen to guys that aren't giving it their all, those are the repercussions that you have to deal with. This team believes in Coach Allen and Coach Allen will handle any distractions or anything that's not going the way he expects it to go. The rest of us are going to continue to grind and work."
On if players are more likely to seek emotional help now than they used to: "That's a good question, I have no idea. Whether instances like this happen a lot, or they don't happen at all, I don't know if a guy is more driven to go ask a coach or go ask somebody in the personnel department or a representative for the club. I don't know. All you can do as a player, and as a captain, and as a leader of the team is to check in on guys, and say, 'How are you doing today?' You can ask them about a family member, or if they are going through something, just ask them questions. I don't know if guys are more inclined to seek help or not after what's happened. The guys on each team need to keep a barometer on the mental focus of a team. It's obviously tragic what's happened, and if guys aren't going to go somebody upstairs in the building, then you hope that they'll go to somebody on the team."
On the mentality going into Sunday's game: "The focus is everybody's job. The focus is on your individual job and finding a way to win. Win your individual battles up front, and win your battles on the outside, and don't think about past games, don't think about records, just think about what your job is on each play and executing your job."
On if Denver did anything to take away Brandon Myers: "That's just the game. Some guys get a hot hand one week and a lot of plays get called their way because of certain matchups or certain schemes, and some weeks you're called on to block, or called on for the run game. It's not anything that we lost any confidence in Brandon at all, it has nothing to do with that. It's just some games your number is called more often than others and it was just one of those weeks where he was blocking a little bit more. They had shown some things that they weren't going to let him catch 14 balls, so we kind of countered that with some different stuff."
On if Rod Streater has the hot hand: "He's on the field a lot more. He had missed a number of snaps in a handful of games, and it seems like he has been getting plugged in a little bit more, especially in the last couple of weeks, I know last week, and the week before. Plays aren't necessarily called for individual players. They're called and you have to execute them versus a certain coverage. Sometimes, like in his instance, with what scheme we were seeing defensively, he was the guy you were supposed to throw the ball to. I think, more than anything, he's been on the field more often."
On Streater's play: "Rod is doing great. I love what he brings to the team. He's a rookie but you'd never know it. He's athletically gifted, he's fast, he catches the ball really well, and does not think the game like a rookie. He thinks the game like a veteran. He's doing phenomenal."
