AFC West Notes: Mike Shanahan, Broncos, Raiders

Mike Shanahan

Former Broncos and Redskins HC Mike Shanahan said he was “close” to returning to coaching after speaking with John Elway following the 2017 season.

However, Shanahan explained that he had to be “on the same page” with everyone on their staff.

“I was close, I was close,’‘ Shanahan said, via ESPN.com. “One thing that has to happen is you all have to be on the same page. One thing you’ve got to make sure of when you are a head football coach that the owner, the GM, the quarterback are all on the same page. And if it doesn’t happen the chances of you winning the Super Bowl aren’t very good. … I had a great conversation with John as everybody knows, it didn’t work out, sometimes it works out for the right reasons.”

“You always miss coaching, but it’s been five years,” Shanahan added. “I made the decision a long time ago, right when I got fired (by the Redskins), I said if I didn’t get the right job right away, where you had a chance to win a Super Bowl, that I was probably going to do what I’m doing, being a dad, kind of following your son, the organization, being a part of it.”

Broncos

Regarding the Broncos playing poorly in their scrimmage this week against the 49ers, RB Phillip Lindsay said their offense entered with the wrong mentality. 

“I think we went into it as this was going to be a practice,” said Lindsay, via Mike Klis. “They came into it as a game. And they shocked us a little bit. We didn’t get knocked down but we got stung. We regrouped and you see us out there today?”

Broncos GM John Elway pointed out that the team is a “bit thin” on their offensive line’s depth. 

“I think we’re better there. Obviously, we have to continue to work and we’re a little bit thin there,” said Elway, via Ryan O’Halloran. 

• Broncos HC Vic Fangio said LB Von Miller is experiencing “minor knee soreness,” but could still play in Monday night’s preseason game against the 49ers (Mike Klis)
• Fangio added that Broncos CB Horace Richardson is dealing with a lingering back issue. (Nicki Jhabvala)
• Broncos CB Dymonte Thomas was fined $28,075 for unnecessary roughness in their preseason game against the Seahawks. (Tom Pelissero)

Raiders

Raiders QB Derek Carr said Antonio Brown has had “no mental errors” during walkthroughs despite missing the majority of training camp so far. 

“He has great recall. He had no mental errors. You can tell he’s been studying,” said Carr, via Vic Tafur of The Athletic. 

Raiders HC Jon Gruden added that Brown showed “great retention” during his walkthroughs and expects him to return to practice in the near future.  

“He took all the reps today in our walkthrough. He showed great retention and we’ll see what happens here with this afternoon; we’re going to have a walkthrough today as well…so we’ll pick it up tomorrow,” said Gruden, via Paul Gutierrez.