ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Jay Cutler was one of the four team captains elected by the Denver Broncos on Friday.
The second-year quarterback and veteran center Tom Nalen were chosen as offensive captains. Free safety John Lynch and cornerback Champ Bailey were selected as defensive captains.
While Cutler will be making only his sixth career start in the season opener at Buffalo Sunday, his selection came as little surprise coach Mike Shanahan.
“It gives you an idea what the team thinks of him,” Shanahan said. “They see Cutler as a leader.”
“This is totally a team selection,” Shanahan said. “The coaches have nothing to do with it and it is strictly between the players.”
Nalen, long considered one of the better centers in the league, is one of the team’s most soft-spoken individuals.
“I’m not really sure how he will deal with it,” Shanahan said. “He will work through it.”
The same can be said about Bailey.
“I think he’s the greatest kind of leader because he doesn’t talk a whole lot about it,” Lynch said. “He just does it.”
The Broncos voted kicker Jason Elam as their special teams captain for Sunday’s game with the Buffalo Bills. Special teams captains are selected on a weekly basis.
“It is a big honor, especially being a kicker,” Elam said. “I’ve always felt like I was part of the team and one of the guys and being here for 15 years helped me a lot.”
———
LYNCH ON LYNCH@: Denver free safety John Lynch had some tongue-in-cheek remarks about Bills running back Marshawn Lynch ahead of Sunday’s game in Buffalo.
“My cousin and I didn’t talk this week,” John Lynch said. “And we won’t have lunch together before the game.”
Marshawn Lynch isn’t even a distant cousin. He is Buffalo’s No. 1 draft choice this year out of California, where he ran for 3,230 yards and had at least 100 years in 17 games, a school record.
“He was a first-round pick for a reason,” John Lynch said. “He is a good player and we have a lot of respect for (him). I’m sure we will see a lot of him.”
———
RETURN TO BUFFALO@: Bill Travis Henry, who used to play for the Bills, welcomes his return to Buffalo, but tight end Daniel Graham has a contrasting view.
“It is a tough place to play,” Graham said. “We have to keep ourselves up and into the game just as we would for all road games.”
Henry played four seasons in Buffalo. Graham made five annual trips there as a member of the rival New England Patriots.
“It is not the toughest place to play,” Graham said. “I’ve played in tougher.”
He reminded writers he played at the University of Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium while attending the University of Colorado.
