Pat Bowlen wasn’t thrilled when the NFL schedule was released and he saw the Broncos’ early bye.
In recent seasons, the Broncos’ bye week came in the middle of the season. This season, however, the Broncos’ bye is this week, the fourth week of the season. It’s the Broncos’ earliest bye since 1993.
Now, Bowlen is more than pleased the Broncos are heading into their break coming off a 17-7 victory at New England on Sunday night. The victory, a complete offensive and defensive effort, soared Denver into the bye at 2-1.
“I don’t mind it at all now,” Bowlen said.
Bowlen hopes the Broncos, who resume their season Oct. 9 against Baltimore at Invesco Field at Mile High in a Monday night game, will come out of the bye on a high. In a season-opening, 18-10 loss at St. Louis and a 9-6 overtime victory over Kansas City in the home opener, Denver’s offense was lackluster. But the Broncos dominated the Patriots.
“I was really proud of our guys the way they went into Foxborough and won that brawl,” Bowlen said of the New England game.
“We got their best shot. They had no injuries; they had their full team. We knew they’d be up for that game since we knocked them out of the playoffs last season. They had that game circled on their calendars. … I really like the way we handled ourselves.”
Bowlen also was pleased with the way veteran quarterback Jake Plummer performed at New England after two poor games had some fans calling for rookie backup Jay Cutler, selected 11th in the April draft.
“Jake has been an outstanding quarterback and he should be again,” Bowlen said. “Jay Cutler will be an outstanding quarterback, but Jake is our quarterback now. I don’t care about radio talk-show nonsense. Jake showed again that he is an outstanding quarterback.”
Bill Williamson can be reached at 303-954-1262 or bwilliamson@denverpost.com.
