Friday, January 11, 2008

Bowlen's thoughts

Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen talked for the first time about the 2007 season, and here are some of the highlights of Friday's conversation:

-- On the disappointment of the 2007 season, his 24th as Broncos owner: “This year, at this particular point in time, feels as bad or worse as any of the bad years.”

-- On Broncos coach Mike Shanahan: “He’s frustrated with the season, I’m frustrated with the season, but I have no problems with Mike.”

-- On Broncos coach Mike Shanahan taking the blame for the 7-9 season: “Mike took the blame, but if I had to spread it out, I think Mike was let down by some of his coaches, and he was let down obviously by some of his players. I don’t know, but I think he saw that at some point in the season. But there was very little he could do to right the ship.”

-- On assistant head coach/defense Jim Bates: “I don’t want to point fingers at Jim. He came in with a different defensive style. It didn’t work. He’s been a proven defensive guy for a long time, but it didn’t work here.”

-- On players not having a sense of urgency after some tough losses: “I can understand if you lose to the Green Bay Packers in overtime, but that should impact you. You should say ‘We’re not going to let that happen again.’”

-- On the lack of urgency he saw on the team: “I don’t think it’s a lot of guys. And I’m not trying to make that a big issue, other than it sort of is. We’re all professionals, we’re all getting paid, but there’s a higher goal than that, at least in my mind. It’s your reputation, it’s your career, it’s all these things. I think that some of that was missing.”

-- On the prospects for the team in the future: “I’m not anxiety ridden at all. But I know we have a lot of work to do.”