Going into the regular season, some key players from the preseason have advice for anyone worried about the chopping block.
Cutting the roster from 90 to 53 players is a daunting task, but someone has to do it, and George Paton isn’t shy. Seventeen players have been waived or released so far, including safety Jamar Johnson and punter Sam Martin. Check out every roster cut via Scotty’s tracker.
Coming off of a 13-23 victory over the Minnesota Vikings, Denver is riding high right now, and the athletes are excited but also understandably stressed. The preseason has been an audition for many of these players, and they’re fully aware that roster cuts are just a necessarily evil in this business.
Speaking of the roster cuts, some veterans like RB Mike Boone, and QBs Josh Johnson and Brett Rypien, have advice for other players (and for themselves) on how to handle these waives and releases.
QB Brett Rypien, coming from an introspective point of view, shared what it feels like to be in the head of someone going through that fear. When asked whether he felt at peace with doing all he could do to stay a Bronco, he said that he does.
“I think I worked my butt off. Tonight, for me it was about controlling what I could control,” Rypien said, “I thought I did a really good job of just staying present, one play at a time, and ultimately I think I executed very, very well.”
QB Josh Johnson, who has been in a QB #2 competition with Rypien this preseason, hopes the wide receiver room doesn’t get too psyched out over the upcoming roster changes.
“They did what they were supposed to do…I’m pretty sure all of these guys are going to be on a team,” he said with confidence, “These guys have put a lot of great plays on film— a lot of guys with no experience were out there getting challenged by Russ, by me, by Ryp every day. They are always rising to the occasion.”
And finally, RB Mike Boone advised players to always, always be ready.
“You know that’s just a part of the business,” Mike Boone said in the post-game press conference, “I just try to tell those guys—everybody really—what we put on film is for 31 other teams, not just here.”
Boone went on to recommend that players hold on to who they are and what their focus is. “Stay true to yourself, keep working, and no matter how the dice are rolled, just whenever you get a call—if you ever do get a call—try to execute.”