The Charger Linebacker Corps and Josh McDaniels Might Need Some Counseling
November 25, 2009 – 8:20 am by Zach KrantzThe Denver Broncos came out of the chute this year smoking. Denver (6-4) looked like one of the elite teams in the NFL during its 6-0 start under new coach Josh McDaniels. The Broncos had a 3 1/2-game lead on San Diego in the AFC West heading into their bye week Oct. 25. Everyone was happy in Denver, Brandon Marshall was a team guy and McDaniels looked like a genius. Fast forward to this week when they play the Giants on Turkey Day. They have been outscored 117-37 since that last win and fell one game behind the Chargers with a 32-3 home loss to San Diego on Sunday.
But wait, let’s go back to before the loss to San Diego on Sunday when apparently McDaniels walked up to Shaun Phillips, Shawne Merriman and Stephen Cooper and told them, “We own you guys”. I am all for trash talking and as a fan I kind of encourage it. I am just not that fond of coaches doing it to the players. Why didn’t McDaniels call out Norv Turner? Now that would be some news, regardless who was involved. San Diego beat Denver to give them the lead in the AFC West and now McDaniels isn’t looking like the genius he did a few weeks back, and better off his trash talking backfired….Oops! (Editor’s note: It’s shocking that a Belichick disciple would be so emotional and trash talk opponents.)
Shaun Phillips, Shawne Merriman and Stephen Cooperwere all asked about the incident after the Chargers defeated Denver 32-3 at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Shaun Phillips asked about the pregame trash talking:
“I am not surprised; he is a little cocky ass, so it’s all good. It’s all fun and games; we didn’t look much into it. As a coach I hope he has that mindset., but to say you own us, you beat us one time, I mean really how much has he done in this league? He had a team 6-0 and now he is looking up at us because they are in second place. When he gets on the field and makes a play we will worry about him. Again we got to take our hats off to them, we respect the Broncos, they have a good football team and they have some good players out there. It was just another ball game and it was just another team in our way and we had another hurdle to cross.”
Shawne Merriman asked about the pregame trash talking:
“It’s a little extra motivation and there’s nothing better than having a little extra motivation coming into the game. I think it was great; it was great for all of us. I didn’t retaliate or go onto the sideline and say anything back to him; I just thought it was kind of cute. It’s football, I am kind of an old school guy , trash is going to be talked , a little bit of dirty play is going to happen, and that’s just the way it is. They played us hard and we won.”
Stephen Cooper was asked about the McDaniels pregame trash talking:
“He walked by and said, “We Own You”, and we kind of took it to heart. Yeah I heard it and I seen it and I was there when it happened. He is a competitive coach, we understand he is a fiery guy, but at the same time I don’t think you want to give us any added ammunition to go out there and beat this team. It is surprising coming from a head coach period. No matter how old or how young he is, as a head coach you’re supposed to be out there with a lot of class and just go out there and play football. At the same time he is competitive, he wants to win this like we do. But hey ….we won.”
Tags: AFC West, Denver Broncos, Josh McDaniels, San Diego Chargers, Shaun Phillips, Shawne Merriman, Stephen Cooper
