While there is little to play for in the finale of this lost season for the Broncos, receiver Javon Walker will be focused Sunday against visiting Minnesota.
He has a chance to beat one of his closest friends — Minnesota safety Darren Sharper. The two played at Green Bay from 2002-04.
Walker said Sharper has long been a mentor and is someone he has relied upon on and off the field.
“We’re together all the time during the offseason,” Walker said. “He’s someone who has always been there for me, and we’re just very close. It’s going to be fun playing against him.”
Walker and Sharper have never faced each other, outside of practice in Green Bay. Walker admits it will be strange.
“But he’ll come after me,” Walker said. “And I’ll try to beat him.”
A new kind of low
The Broncos’ 23-3 defeat at San Diego on Monday night assured the team a losing record. Denver is 6-9 with one game left. The only other time Mike Shanahan had a losing season in Denver was in 1999, when the team went 6-10.
Left tackle Matt Lepsis, who joined the team in 1997 as an undrafted free agent, said this losing season is tougher than the one in 1999. The Broncos were coming off two Super Bowl wins, were ravaged by several injuries and were in the first year playing without quarterback John Elway.
Last season, Denver went 9-7, barely missing the playoffs, and reloaded with hopes of becoming a Super Bowl team.
“It’s worse,” Lepsis said. “We had a lot of high hopes this year.”
Bad road season
The Broncos finished their road schedule 2-6. They lost their final four road games, winning only at Buffalo on opening day and at Kansas City in November.
Footnotes
Quarterback Jay Cutler had his leg wrapped and was hobbling after the game. He expects to be fine for Sunday’s game. The team did not make any personnel moves Tuesday, which likely means punter Paul Ernster will get a chance to redeem himself against Minnesota after struggling mightily against the Chargers. The Broncos have had two running backs reach 700 yards rushing twice in team history. Travis Henry, who has been backing up undrafted rookie Selvin Young for the past four games, has 691 yards, and Young has 642 yards. Denver defensive end Elvis Dumervil had half a sack against San Diego and has a team-high 11.5 for the season. He’s ranked 10th in the NFL in sacks.
