ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- It is likely a testament to the kind of season the Denver Broncos have had, but playoff seedings and things to clean up to make a run to the Super Bowl were not among the hottest topics of conversation in and around Denver on Tuesday.
An item that was making the rounds in the post-Christmas drive time was quarterback Brock Osweiler's sideline rant, caught by CBS' cameras during Sunday's 27-11 loss to the Washington, that was mostly ignored by his teammates. Osweiler is seen exhorting his teammates, with few making eye contact with him.
Immediately following the game, Osweiler said of the emotional outburst: "There's no finger pointing. The words that I used were not directed at anyone specifically. I was trying to ignite the offense. I felt like we were leaving too much out there ... That's not high-level, National Football League-level football and I'm a very passionate player. I love this organization and I love playing this game of football and I just express that."
Coach Vance Joseph was asked Tuesday about Osweiler's show of emotion and the lack of visible reaction to it from the other players.
"I heard about it," Joseph said. "I haven't seen it, but I've heard about it. That's Brock. One thing about Brock is he provides a leadership quality that we haven't had on offense from that position in my opinion. If Brock's doing that it's for the good of our football team, so I'm not surprised it happened and I'm encouraged by it because we need more of that. We need more players pushing players, we need more players helping young guys become pros.
"I'm not opposed to that at all," Joseph added. "... Now, who was listening? I'm not sure, I didn't see it, we need guys pushing other players and that's the quarterback's role. I'm not opposed to Brock doing that ... I didn't see it, so I don't know who was engaged and who wasn't engaged."
