The Broncos continue to deal with the aftermath of a special season that went awry during a divisional-round double-overtime playoff loss to the Ravens, fueled by a 70-yard touchdown pass allowed by the Denver defense in the final minute of regulation.
Defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio was sorry for what happened. But then he got sick of being sorry.
“I got tired of apologizing to our fans that I would see out in the community,” Del Rio told reporters on Tuesday, via quotes distributed by the team. “I finally said, ‘Hey, you know, it’s time to move on.’ That’s kind of how I look at it. I was apologizing. I was like, ‘Golly, I’m really sorry that we let you down. I know how you were there with us.’ It was a tough one. Anywhere, wherever you see fans and we have interactions. I really felt like we let them down. Obviously we let ourselves down first.”
But Del Rio is done with feeling sorry for himself, or to anyone else.
“That’s way in the past now,” Del Rio said. “At this point, it’s in our rear-view mirror. You learn what you can about anything that you experience in life and go forward. That’s where we are. We’re going forward.”
As the Broncos go forward, they’ll continue to be regarded as an elite team with a real chance of going to Super Bowl XLVIII. Still, they’ll have to emerge from the valley of 0-0 to get there.
After seeing last season’s regular-season success evaporate so quickly, that could be hard to do.