To clear up any misunderstanding, Broncos cornerback Karl Paymah had no problem with his team’s defensive strategy Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.
Brandon Marshall might still have issues, but not Paymah.
After the Broncos lost 26-17 to Miami, Marshall appeared irked he had only two catches for 27 yards while the Dolphins’ Greg Camarillo had 11 receptions for 111 yards.
“I don’t even know that receiver’s name who caught all those balls,” Marshall said at his postgame news conference. “Tighten up the coverage and just play ball. It’s real simple. They don’t need to be 10 yards off. Tighten it up.”
Marshall’s second-guessing of the Broncos’ defense seemed to be echoed by Camarillo, who said Paymah had stated similar concerns.
“After the game, (Paymah) came up to me and said, ‘Man, I don’t know why we didn’t switch defenses,’ ” Camarillo said. ” ‘We were just giving you the ball the whole time.’ ”
Paymah was not happy to learn Camarillo had, in his view, twisted his words.
“Schemes take away certain things; you can’t take away everything,” Paymah said. “Our game plan was to stop the run and then stop No. 19.”
The Broncos held the Dolphins to 75 yards on 29 carries, a 2.6-yard average. No. 19 is Ted Ginn Jr., who had a huge game the previous week against Buffalo but was held to three catches for 38 yards against the Broncos.
“That’s a great scheme in my book,” Paymah said. “We weren’t worried about 83 (Camarillo). He’s just an average Joe. Honestly, you could have had anybody out there, a high school guy or whatever. That was the weakness we chose to have in our defense. We were giving it to him. That’s what I was trying to say.”
Camera, lights, Brady Quinn!
For their game at Cleveland that begins the NFL Network’s Thursday night schedule, the Broncos will play the foil in the long-awaited starting debut of Browns quarterback Brady Quinn.
Browns fans have been clamoring for the former Notre Dame star since Quinn completed 7-of-11 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown against the Broncos in his NFL preseason debut last year at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Quinn, who was chosen No. 22 overall in the 2007 draft, played the past 1 1/2 seasons behind Derek Anderson, who was benched Monday.
“I have a lot of respect for him, even though he hasn’t played a lot,” Broncos linebacker Jamie Winborn said of Quinn. “I thought he should have been drafted a lot higher than he went. He’s got a lot of talent, and I think that team will definitely rally around him.
“The guys I know on that team, they like him. They’ve always liked him, and when he gets in there, I’m pretty sure he’ll be ready to do a good job. We’ll have to come with our ‘A’ game.”
Footnotes.
Marshall’s plea hearing in Atlanta on misdemeanor battery charges was granted a continuance Monday. . . . The Broncos added defensive tackle Matthias Askew to their practice squad. Askew had visited with team officials last Tuesday.
Mike Klis, The Denver Post
