In defeat, he was darn near heroic.
He flew over blockers in a single bound.
He was ferocious in his tackles.
He leaped here, there and way up there to cause the quarterback to adjust his passes.
He led the Broncos, by a substantial margin, in tackles.
How old is Brian Dawkins again?
“I have no idea,” he said.
For the record, Dawkins, the Broncos’ starting strong safety, is 37, going on 27.
“On film, he was all over the place,” said Von Miller, the Broncos’ rookie linebacker. “And sticking people, too.”
Dawkins was easily the Broncos’ best player in the season opener. He made a team-high nine tackles and at least two of them were whiplash back-breakers. He did his Wolverine pose thing. If only the rest of the team played as inspired.
So much for concerns about age causing Dawkins to lose a step.
“There’s something to be said about having fresh legs,” Dawkins said.
Meaning?
“I’m talking about training camp,” he said. “How it is now and what it was like the last couple years.”
Thanks to the arrival of a new collective bargaining agreement and departure of coach Josh McDaniels, Broncos training camp was less punishing this year.
When Dawkins did not have one of his typical Pro Bowl-caliber seasons in 2010, the assumption was Father Football Time finally had won. Broncos management asked him to take a considerable pay cut before bringing him back for his 16th NFL season, third with the team.
What people didn’t realize is Dawkins played through injuries to both knees last year. It wasn’t years that slowed Dawkins. It was partial tears in ligaments and cartilage.
“My knees are good,” he said. “I’ve been able to do the things I know I’m capable of doing.”
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
