Broncos QB Brandon Allen (11.3.19)
On his emotions coming into today’s game
“Nervous energy, I think, is the best way for me to describe it. I was excited and obviously a little bit nervous, but once you get playing, get in there and get hit one time, things really get going for you.”
On WR Courtland Sutton and TE Noah Fant helping him today
“Yeah, they helped me out a lot. I made some dicey throws that Courtland bailed me out a couple time on. Noah, what an incredible play by him just to catch that ball and take it the distance. It was incredible. You can’t do any of those things without the offensive line and the way they were blocking.”
On if he was able to sleep last night
“Yeah, I slept fine (laughs).”
On his emotions surrounding today’s game after waiting four years to see his first regular season game action
“I don’t know if it was an emotional thing, but I think I was just little bit amped to start the game. I missed a few easy throws that I know I can hit. I think just being able to calm down, and once I got going a little bit in the game, just to settle the emotions if anything, was beneficial for me.”
On if there was a turning point where he felt like he’d settled into the game and felt more comfortable
“Yeah, when Courtland caught that pass. It made me feel really good because I made a pretty terrible pass that he bailed me out and caught that touchdown. Anytime you make a throw you know you didn’t put in the right spot and they still make a play like that, it gives you a lot of confidence and it helps to lead you into the game.”
On how comfortable he felt with the offense and his receivers after just one week of practice with the starters
“Yeah, I felt pretty comfortable. I think that the biggest thing was finally getting to throw to the guys like Courtland, Noah and all those guys that I hadn’t been throwing to previously before that. I think, if anything, timing and seeing how they run their routes and all that, it was great to get that week of prep before the game. I think that helped me out a lot.”
On if he envisioned today going as well as it did
“I thought I would complete a few more passes that I missed. I was hoping not to, like I said, start the game with a few easy passes that I missed. I envisioned making those throws, but to get a win, and because of the struggles we had to start the year and losing such close games, I think it was great to pull one out that was close.”
On receiving the game ball and what he said to the team in the locker room
“Yeah, it was special, but I couldn’t have done anything without the guys on the team. I felt our defense was really what held us in the game. I think 1-of-5 in the red zone, so holding them to all those field goals gives the offense confidence that, ‘OK, we’ll get a touchdown here and they’re going to keep holding them.’ I think they played incredible, and like I said, guys like Courtland, the offensive line, [RB] Phil [Lindsay] running the ball the way he did and icing the game at the end, the game ball should’ve gone to the entire team.”
On how many friends and family he had at the game today and if he’s been able to see them yet
“I haven’t seen them yet, but I had about 15 family and friends in town. It was nice to win at least.”
On if anyone gave him words of encouragement throughout this week
“Yeah, I had a lot of texts from friends and family reaching out just saying, ‘We’re proud of you. Go do your best and do what you can do.’ You love feeling that support from everyone and it helps you feel ready to go out and play your best.”
On what was going through his head when his touchdown pass to Sutton was in the air
“I knew I left it inside and threw it a little short. I was kind of hoping the DB wouldn’t turn around, but the way that Courtland went up and made that play was really special.”
On Offensive Coordinator Rich Scangarello’s gameplan and if he was involved in the process of making it
“It was a great gameplan by Rich. I thought he did a lot of things that tailored to my strengths, called a lot of pass concepts that let me get through quickly and then if nothing’s there, the ability to use my legs and run. I thought he did an incredible job of calling the game, and especially there at the end, icing it with that play where we were kind of saving that for the whole game. It was nice to bust that out then.”
On his emotions after the game
“Yeah, it feels good. I hope to win a few more. This is the first hopefully of many.”
On how much pressure a successful running game takes off of him
“It’s incredible. When you get the run game going, any quarterback will tell you that it just relaxes everybody, it opens up the pass game and it makes your play-action passes so much better. Getting (Lindsay) going and the big runs that he busted out, you saw some of the play-actions in the second half as well so that really opened those things up for us.”
On how much he was involved in the process of creating the gameplan
“Rich had me very involved with the gameplan. He put together the plan himself and then he said, ‘Hey, if there’s anything you’re not comfortable with, anything you run in practice and you can’t see the way it looks, just let me know and I’m not gonna call it.’ I thought he did a great job of, like I said, tailoring it to my strengths, and he was calling plays that I was very comfortable running and I could see well on the field.”
On the wildcat snap to Lindsay on the final drive and if he personally was a decoy for the defense
“I don’t think they were too worried about me. We repped that play all week in practice and it’s looked great all week. When he called it, I was pretty confident it was going to hit big.”
On his journey through the NFL so far
“It’s tough, and there are a lot of guys that will tell you this league is tough. You get cut, traded, waived or whatever. It’s all about perseverance, and like I said, getting that opportunity to see what you can do. A lot of guys don’t even get that opportunity, so I feel blessed to receive this opportunity. Like I said, the way it happened, you never want to see a guy like [QB] Joe [Flacco] go down, the leader he was and everything he means to this team.”
On if he feels that he’s capable of competing for the starting quarterback position moving forward
“Yeah. My whole thing is I take, like he said earlier, getting cut, waived and all that stuff, I take everything one day at a time. Whatever happens, happens. Obviously, we’ve got a lot of great talent at quarterback on this team. Like I said, whatever opportunities I get, I’m going to try to take advantage of. If that’s one more game or 10 more games, I’m going to take advantage one day at a time and just take of advantage of what I can control.”
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