ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As the NFL trade deadline approaches, the outside noise gets louder.
Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas isn't going to pretend he hasn't heard some of it.
"It's football, man," Thomas said Monday in response to trade rumors. "It's a business. And that's what happens. It's happened before. I never thought it would happen to me, but I'm just like everybody else. I'm an athlete, and that happens once you get older."
Thomas, though, has maintained his productivity in his ninth season in Denver. Through seven games, he's tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns and ranks second in receptions and receiving yards.
He was also on the receiving end of a game-winning touchdown pass to open the Broncos' season.
And that gives Thomas hope even as he approaches his 31st birthday.
"If somebody's interested in me, I still can play ball," Thomas said. "I've still got a chance if I get traded. … Been hearing it the whole season, so I feel like some of it is true. My time is coming up."
Thomas did make it clear, though, that he hopes to remain a Bronco for the duration of his career.
"I'd love to be here," Thomas said. "But I'm going to do what I got to do to make sure I'm ready to play every week in and out. If I'm here or with any other team. I'd love to be here. I've been here for my whole career for nine years now. But it is what it is. Like I said before, it's the league. It's football, and this is what happens."
Head Coach Vance Joseph knows the rumors are part of the game, but that doesn't mean he'll waste any of the team's time addressing reports that don't affect the Broncos' preparations for Kansas City.
"[It] doesn't matter to our football team," Josephs said. "Our only concern is the Chiefs, and that's on Sunday. … I watched the games on Sunday, obviously, [and] there's a lot of rumors out there, a lot of gossip. A lot of content for different shows. Until those things happen, we can't address them or worry about them."
Tuning out distractions has become a normal practice for the Broncos over the last several weeks. Prior to Thursday's win over the Cardinals, the team faced increasing scrutiny as their losing streak grew to four games.
"Our entire month has been full of noise and gossip and rumors," Joseph said. "That's part of it. That's part of this job. Players get it. But again, it's gossip and it's rumors."
Nothing quiets the noise like a win, as the Broncos found out on "Thursday Night Football."
On Sunday in Kansas City, Thomas should get another chance to create a little more silence.
