AFC West Notes: Von Miller, Broncos, Raiders

Von Miller

Broncos OLB Von Miller said at the Pro Bowl this week that he’s hoping to be “a Bronco for life.”

“It’s like being in a relationship or being married and saying, ‘Do you ever see yourself with somebody else?’” Miller said, via the Denver Post. “I’m fully committed with the Denver Broncos and the marriage I have with them.

“I want to be a Bronco for life. Forever.”

Broncos

Broncos CB Chris Harris Jr. believes the team will focus on building a younger roster after missing the playoffs for three straight seasons.

“When you don’t go to the playoffs here, they’re not going to sit around and just stay the same,” said Harris, via Jeff Legwold of ESPN. “We haven’t been to the playoffs in three years, I think they might think they gave this group a chance. They’re going to go young, that’s what I think. They’re going to go young. … I’ve said it before, everybody who won the Super Bowl is on a non-guaranteed contract, we’ll probably have two or three vets on this team and that’s it.”

• Broncos DT Domata Peko mentioned that he’d like to be back in Denver: “You never know. Of course I want to be back, I love it here, love these guys, you don’t know what they’re going to decide. But I feel good, like I can play.”
• The same goes for LB Brandon Marshall: “You know there’s going to be a lot of change because we didn’t make the playoffs the last three years. Yeah, we won a Super Bowl, but it just hasn’t been right the last couple years. For me I say it’s up the in the air, you don’t know what the new coaches want, what they’re going to do upstairs. I would love to finish my career here, but it’s up the air. Not just for me, but probably a lot of guys here.”

Raiders

New Raiders GM Mike Mayock explained that he’s trying to build communication between the team’s coaching staff and scouting departments to make them closer together. 

“The best thing that we have going for us right now is that the head coach and general manager are truly on the same page as far as what we’re looking for from football players,” Mayock said, via NBC Bay Area. “The point I want to make, which I think is really important, is that we’re a completely open and transparent building right now, as far as the coaches and the scouts.”

Mayock wouldn’t get into any specifics about the prior regime, but stressed the importance of having a cohesive organization.

“I don’t know what was going on before, and I am not going to comment about anything else — all I am going to tell you is that the common denominator of dysfunctional football buildings is when the coaches and the scouts don’t have a true relationship that goes both ways.

“And my goal walking into the building Day 1 was to use my relationship with the coaching staff — and there is a bunch of them — to make that,” Mayock said. “I told Coach Gruden and the entire staff that we’re going to give you everything we have.”