Broncos
With Broncos WR Tim Patrick suffering a torn ACL, HC Nathaniel Hackett said players like WR Courtland Sutton, TE Albert Okwuegbunam, and TE Greg Dulcich must step up going forward.
“[They’re] going to have to be,” said Hackett, via Aric DiLalla of the team’s official site. “Flipping it, obviously very upset [Patrick’s] not here, but now here’s an opportunity for somebody to step up. Especially in the red zone, to have the opportunity to make some touchdowns, utilize some different people, that’s what we’re going to have to do. And in that area, you always want everybody to have to cover the whole field … and all the skill guys. It’ll be exciting to see who is going to step up. Somebody’s going to have to.”
Hackett added that all of their tight ends have an ability to stretch the field with their speed, including Eric Saubert, Andrew Becks, Okwuegbunam, and Dulcich.
“There’s a lot of guys, and not only are they big bodies, but those dudes can run,” Hackett said. “You saw it a couple times already watching all those guys — … getting Dulcich back, [him] being slowly worked back in, watching Albert run, [Eric] Saubert run, [Andrew] Beck’s run well. Whenever you have that kind of a fluid player that can be on the line and block to take advantage of matchups there and at the same time stretch the field vertically, you’re really excited.”
Okwuegbunam mentioned that Hackett’s offense enables tight ends to line up against linebackers and defensive backs.
“I think one of the beauties of this offense, especially at the tight end position, is just the ability to put us anywhere,” Okwuegbunam said. “When you put me against a linebacker, I’m going to be faster than him. When you put me against a DB, I’m going to be bigger than him. I think that’s where it directly creates that mismatch.”
Chiefs
Chiefs DL Carlos Dunlap chose to sign with Kansas City based on how he viewed himself as a fit within their defense.
“Yes, there were a couple of other teams (interested),” Dunlap said, via Chiefs Wire. “Ever since camp started, things heated up. But I liked what I heard from the Chiefs, which is why I came out here to meet with them in person to see how I fit, see how they’d use me, see how I’d contribute and if it was a fit.”
Dunlap said that the Chiefs offer him a realistic chance at accomplishing his career goals.
“I wanted to make sure that I made an educated decision and went with a team where there was mutual interest,” Dunlap said. “My ability to play and how I’ll be used and the opportunity to win. Because at this point, I’ve done a lot of football, but (three) of the things I haven’t done is I haven’t gotten over 100 (career) sacks, I haven’t won a playoff game and I haven’t won a Super Bowl.”
Dunlap said that he’s hoping to pursue a deep playoff run and the Chiefs provide him with a great opportunity to do so.
“Those are things that I would like to do at this point in my career,” Dunlap continued. “I’m in hot pursuit and I feel like this team gives me a great opportunity — the best opportunity — to do it.”
Raiders
Regarding Raiders RB Josh Jacobs getting a lot of playing time in Thursday’s preseason game, HC Josh McDaniels responded that he wanted his running backs to see the field.
“I always think it’s good for backs to carry the ball in the preseason,” McDaniels said, via NFL.com. “There’s a lot of things that happen when you’re getting tackled and hit that you can’t simulate in practice. I think all our guys had the ball tonight. I think all our guys either caught it or were handed the ball and had to get tackled. We can’t really simulate that or rep that in practice.”
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