ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Andy Reid is the hunted.
And it’s John Elway, Vic Fangio and the Broncos who are doing the hunting.
On the day after the 2019 season ended, Elway, the Denver Broncos’ general manager, and Fangio, the Broncos’ head coach, told 9NEWS in a sit down interview that reconstructing an offense that could keep up with Reid’s high-flying Kansas City Chiefs on the scoreboard was Denver’s top priority in the offseason.
And that was before Reid’s Chiefs came from behind for three postseason victories while averaging 39.0 points.
A month after Reid and his sensational quarterback Patrick Mahomes II guided the Chiefs to their second Super Bowl trophy and first in 50 years, Elway added running back Melvin Gordon and right guard Graham Glasgow through free agency, then used four of the Broncos’ top six draft picks on receivers Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler, center Lloyd Cushenberry III and tight end Albert Okwuegbunam.
The Broncos lost their best receiver, Courtland Sutton, to a season-ending ACL injury, but his absence made room for Tim Patrick to emerge from No. 4-type receiver to back-to-back 100-yard games.
Reid’s thoughts on being the hunted and what he’s seen from the Broncos’ revised offense?
“They’ve got a good young quarterback,’’ Reid said. “He’s a local kid. I coached his dad, so I’ve known about Drew for a while.’’
Yes, Reid was the University of Missouri’s and Andy Lock’s offensive line coach back in the 5th Down days. Andy Lock and his wife raised Drew in the Kansas City suburb of Lee’s Summit, Mo. while co-owning and running several restaurants in the area.
About that Broncos’ offense, coach Reid.
“They’re growing. With the offense,’’ he said in a conference call with the Denver media Wednesday. The Broncos host the Chiefs this Sunday afternoon at Empower Field at Mile High. “They’re blessed to have good skill people and they’ve got a good quarterback and offensive line.
“Both John and Vic — they’re football lifers. So they know what it takes to put together a football team. And offensively they have one of my favorites there in Pat Shurmur. I can see his influence on things.”
Shurmur is a veteran NFL coach in his first season as the Broncos’ offensive coordinator. Shurmur was an assistant to Andy Reid for 10 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999-2008.
Reid’s impression of Lock, who is going into his 9th NFL start this Sunday?
“Certain guys just play big,’’ Reid said. “He is big but he plays big in the pocket. He’s not flinchy at all. He’s got a nice touch. Seems like he has a very nice feel for what they’re asking him to do. And the beautiful thing is he’s getting better with time.’’
Reid may be the second Hall of Fame coach whom Fangio has gone up against in as many weeks. Fangio and the Broncos got the better of Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots last week.
“They play hard, No. 1,’’ Reid said about Fangio’s defense. “Their sound. He’s going to cover every base. And I think they love playing for him. That’s what it looks like to me. They fly around. Just look at the second half of the New England game. Those guys were flying around and making plays everywhere. A lot of emotion.”
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