ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos know they have talent.
They know they have potential.
And they know, in the wake of a Week 1 loss, it's on them to translate those two things into tangible success in Week 2 and beyond.
"The guys and I, we talk," wide receiver Courtland Sutton said. "We know that we're a really good team. We know that we have a lot of talent on this team. We know that there is promise that's in that locker room. But it's on us to be able to go out there and do it. No one's going to hand it to us. No one's going to say, 'Well they were a really good team, and they could've done this last year.' All of that's wiped clean. It's a new slate. It's upon us to be able to come to work every single day and prove to ourselves that we deserve to be where we want to be at. No one's going to give us anything. If anything, they're trying to come get it from us, because of what we have done.
"… We know this in our locker room, but like I said, no one's going to hand it to us, no one's going to lay down. If anything, people want what we have. It's upon us to be able to improve from last week and maximize these days — on the field, off the field — so we can have the success we want to have."
Finding that success begins with learning from Week 1, and Head Coach Sean Payton said his message to the team on Thursday revolved around each person finding ways to improve ahead of Sunday's home opener against the Jaguars.
"That game didn't go for any of us as we would've hoped," Payton said. "I said in the meeting this morning, there was dirt on a ton of people's hands, starting with me. We've got to learn from that. It's a quick turnaround."
Payton, who said Thursday that "you can't get to the next game quick enough," delivered a message that has resonated. Following the Broncos' initial practice of the week, Sutton said he's seen "an attitude of accountability [and] an attitude of wanting to get better and improving" from his teammates.
Quarterback Bo Nix shared that attitude of improvement, noting that the Broncos needed to avoid negative plays and play at a higher level. Nix, though, said the tape also indicated a number of chances for the Broncos against Kansas City.
"I learned a long time ago, you never played as bad as you think, and you never played as good as you think," Nix said. "For us, it was the case that we didn't play as bad as what we thought, just there at the end of the game, we didn't get many third-down conversions. We felt like it was 7-7, 14-7 and 21-7 for a long time in the game. It was reachable and we were in it for a while, we just didn't help ourselves by any means. You watch the film and there's a couple good things, and then we're all of a sudden back because of a penalty or something. And you just can't win in this league like that.
"Overall, we're not going to press the panic button and we're not freaking out. We're not starting from scratch or anything. We feel like we're still in a good spot, we just didn't play great by any means, and we've got to play better."
All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain II echoed that sentiment, especially as it related to the need for Denver's defense to be "intentional" in its tackling efforts.
"Obviously, there's things that need to be addressed [moving] forward," Surtain said. "Defensively, we started off pretty fast. In the end, I just felt like we weren't very fundamental as far as, obviously, the tackling, and stuff like that. I just think we let them sort of get ahead of us, in a way. A lot of it was costly mistakes, at the same time. It's easy things we can correct, and the good thing about it is it's still early. And we've got a lot of weeks ahead to improve."
Surtain also acknowledged the challenge of playing in the NFL, and he said that results like Monday's can happen if a team doesn't execute at a high level.
"If you don't show up each and every week, you're going to get humbled quick," Surtain said. "Every week is a new challenge, we all know that as a team. We've just got to focus on getting better day by day and homing in on the small details. I think that's what's going to separate us. It's still early in the year. Going into our second game, we know what we need to correct."
As the Broncos make those corrections, cornerback Riley Moss said he knows this team is designed to respond the right way.
"It's just our DNA," Moss said. "Our DNA is gritty and tough guys who can weather the storm. When bad things happen, are you going to be able to come back? That's how we've built our team. We're all built for it, and I know we're going to bounce back."
