On last week's 23 penalties for 200 yards
QB Derek Carr: "I don't know about the whole league, but for us, we watched the film and corrected what we needed to correct, which were simple things. For the league, I have no clue. I only keep up with our team."
HC Jack Del Rio: "Penalties are up throughout the league. I think at some point it will settle down as they put viewers to sleep."
On OLB Khalil Mack, who had five sacks in last season's second matchup against Denver
Del Rio: "He's a good player. He just keeps giving great effort and as our coverage tightens up, the rush and the coverage going hand-in-hand, complementing each other and then you play really good pass defense. There's no better example of that than in Denver. They play good coverage and get a good rush and hand-in-hand they've got the best pass defense in the league. That's the key, rush and coverage working hand-in-hand."
On how going for fourth-down attempts and 2-point conversions shows trust in players
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Carr:** "It shows that [Del Rio] believes in us. It shows us where we're at and where we're going. We have a long way to go to be where we want to be as a team. We have a lot of things to correct. When we're able to convert and we're able to show him that his trust is in a good place, it just shows our team that we're continuing to grow and doing the right thing."
Del Rio: "I think we've changed the mentality here in this building and I think that's part of it. last year we learned how to compete and this year we're learning how to close plays, how to make the plays that need to be made to win. Obviously those guys are very key, [QB] Derek [Carr] our quarterback and being on the same page with all of our receivers, really, not just 'Crab' [WR Michael Crabtree], but 'Coop' [WR Amare Cooper] as well and [WR] Seth [Roberts]. The time that they've spent and being on the same page and being able to execute in critical moments like that often separate winning from losing. I've shown confidence in them a couple of times and they've rewarded with great execution and that obviously helps our football team build the belief that we can and that we will."
On the importance of a Sunday Night Football matchup with the Broncos
Del Rio: "For us it's just about recognizing that you get these opportunities as you earn them. We earned these. We're in a couple prime time games by playing well last year and people thinking that we might have a chance to be decent this year. As we become the good football team we are becoming then we're going to get more and more of these opportunities."
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Carr:** "There may be [excitement] outside the building, but to us [Head] Coach [Jack] Del Rio has done such a good job teaching us how to take each game the same way. If you treat another game a different way, then you're probably not doing enough in the first place. He's done such a great job of teaching us what it takes and we try to make sure our process is always the same."
On the Broncos secondary
Carr: "It's just watching them on film and playing against them so many times. They're great cover guys. They're very smart and they know where their help is. You can see it. You can see them talking on film. They know where their help is. If a ball gets completed, they're looking at each other correcting it themselves as players. That's credit to them. Being able to play in the same system for a couple of years, being around each other and growing together. It's things like that that we look forward to as an organization, playing together for a long time and being on that same kind of level. You just respect them and look forward to playing against them."
On Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib
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Carr:** "Of cornerback tandems, they have to be the best. There two of the best corners in the game and to have them on the same team, it's ridiculous. They know I have the most respect for them after talking to them after games. I think the world of them. When you study them, they're very tight cover guys that are very smart. You can tell that they study. You can definitely tell that they know where their help is. They know how to communicate in the secondary, so I think they're some of the best, not only in this league, but that we've ever seen together."
Del Rio: "I think Chris is the most competitive guy that I've been around. He's and outstanding competitor and Aqib, they both played together in college, there's great competition between them and they're gifted players that work really hard at their craft. They gear up for challenges and they look forward to them. I have a lot of respect for them. they're good football players, good people."
On building a new culture
Carr: "We definitely are still learning, that's for sure. It's only a year and a half that we've been in it with Coach Del Rio and his staff. We're obviously still learning. We have a way to go. Where we're at? I'm not sure, but we're in a good spot. We've been able to win some more football games at this point in the year than we did last year. We're heading the right way, but we still have a way to go as a football team."
