Broncos
Broncos HC Sean Payton said he was drawn to the team because of the leadership of CEO Greg Penner and GM George Paton.
“Everyone has a job to do and they all tried to jump inside what I was looking for,” Payton said, via The Gazette. “Ownership was important to me…That triangle to me was most important in this process…The second-most important thing to me was passion — is football important here? It obviously is.”
Penner said it was an easy decision for the team as Payton has fielded a consistently winning football team.
“He put a winning football team on the field just about every year for 15 seasons,” Penner said. “And you don’t do that without incredible passion and intensity.”
Payton plans to completely revamp the Broncos’ culture.
“I think it’s realistic for our fanbase to expect a completely different type of culture. And I think it’s realistic for them to expect us to win,” Payton said. “I know this — the work has started.”
Chiefs
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes made it clear he is willing to play through any injuries the trainers will allow him to in order to make it through the Super Bowl, including a high-ankle sprain.
“I’m just gonna make it real quick,” Mahomes said, via NFL.com. “I’ll play through all injuries that the trainers will let me play through. That’s the list. As long as the trainers are OK for me to get out there, I’m going to play through it.”
“You won’t know until you get out there in the game,” Mahomes added. “I’m gonna push it. I’ll try to leave it all on the line. I think you all saw that in the last game that I played. But it’s about relying on your teammates — and I got a lot of great teammates around me — and not trying to do too much. But I’ll definitely be in a better spot than I was last game.”
“It’s about playing for your teammates,” Mahomes continued. “Just trying to do whatever you can to win the game for your teammates beside you. At that moment, God gave me the strength to run and get that first down and get us into field goal range. All I’ve done since then is try to get my ankle better and better, and hopefully, I’ll be able to run whenever I need to in this game. You’re in the biggest game of your life and you want to go out there and make memories with your teammates. I think the biggest motivating factor is to step on that field and try to be the best. And we know we got a great challenge with the Philadelphia Eagles, so it will be a great game.”
- According to Field Yates, Chiefs WR JuJu Smith-Schuster can earn $1 million with a win in the Super Bowl and 50 percent playing time, while Chiefs DL Brandon Williams can earn $50,000 by being active and getting the win.
- Per Matt Verderame, Chiefs HC Andy Reid said that RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire would practice with the team this week.
- Reid on Mahomes: “I wouldn’t tell you he’s 100 percent.” (Nate Taylor)
- Mahomes said during his interviews that he would love to become an NFL GM or owner and would enjoy evaluating incoming rookies. (Verderame)
Raiders
Raiders DE Maxx Crosby is good friends with soon-to-be-former QB Derek Carr. The two got the chance to be on the same team a little while longer at the Pro Bowl this weekend and Crosby said the coming breakup is bittersweet.
“Honestly, it’s just bittersweet. He’s always been a great friend of mine ever since I got in the league,” Crosby said via NFL Media’s Christian Gonzalez. “I got a ton of love for him. But right now, for both sides — for the organization, for D.C. — everybody’s going in different directions. That’s the tough part of this business. There’s a lot of emotions to it when you got friends, and real family friends, things like that, going other places. But D.C.’s going to be just fine. He’s going to do well wherever he goes. And we’re going to continue growing as a team, as well. So, we’re fired up for the future.”
Crosby added the front office hasn’t clued him in on which way they’re leaning at quarterback but he’s confident in the team’s direction.
“It’s gonna be interesting. I really don’t know what’s going to happen. I trust in the front office and all those guys,” he said. “For me, I just want to be on a team that’s competing for championships. I put too much work into not to show up and play in the biggest games. That’s all I want to do. I know that’s what the other guys want, as well. We just need to get more guys that are on the same page, that have the same mindset, that want to be great. If we get guys like that in the building, we’re gonna be just fine.”
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