Q: Will you approach this game any differently as far as giving some players more time on the field?

TODD HALEY: “No. I think we’ll do the things that we think we’ll give us the best chance to win. We’ve been forced to by circumstances. A lot of these guys have had their play-time accelerated because of the situation. There are some negatives surrounding that because we’ve lost some guys but the positives are there are guys getting a lot of quality practice time and playing time in a lot of cases. But again, we’ll play the guys that give us the best chance to win.”

Q: You’ve said that you wanted to make sure that everybody who’s been here has a record on tape or a chance to play. It would seem that you’ve achieved that for the most part.

HALEY: “Yeah, some of it again by necessity and some of it by them forcing us to get ‘em up and active and playing. We now have 15 and a half weeks under our belts and the guys know what is expected and what they need to do to have a chance.”

Q: When did you realize you had something in Ryan Succop?
 
HALEY: “We had something in that we chose to use a draft pick, number one. But pretty quickly when you saw his demeanor and the way he kicked it. Coach (Steve) Hoffman thought pretty early that there were a bunch of little things he could do to help him and he showed that he could take to coaching that way and has responded. I think the demeanor and it was pretty clear that this Mr. Irrelevant stuff he wasn’t affected by. He was here to try to win a job and show that he could be a quality kicker in the league or better.”

Q: Coaches fear that “deer in the headlights” look from their kicker. Have you seen that at all?

HALEY: “No, again I think the guy is a cool customer, unflappable it appears in a bunch of different ways. Every Thursday when we have our field goal period everybody razzes him pretty good and he goes about his business pretty good. He prepares himself to succeed. It’s shown up a bunch this year. Now, there are a lot of areas he needs to get better. Number one, he needs to be a better tackler on kickoff coverage. But there are a lot of areas to improve but he’s been very encouraging.”

Q: The kicker position has changed. Today’s kicker is more of an athlete. He seems an example of that.

HALEY: “I agree. There are still all kinds of kickers in all different shapes and sizes. But here kicking in Arrowhead in the second half of the year with wind and conditions you need a big strong kicker and he kind of fits the bill. Now, he needs to utilize that strength and size and athletic ability in some other areas because he could be a real asset to us. But his number one job is kicking and to this point he’s shown pretty good ability to do that.”

Q: Are you interested in getting a guy 1,000 yards?

HALEY: “The 1,000-yard milestone is one that has been around for a long time. Obviously, as the season expanded and got longer I don’t think it’s quite where it was. But it’s still a milestone that has kind of stood the test of time. At least the teams that I’ve been around, that if you can rush as a team for a certain amount of yards you generally have a chance to be pretty competitive. But this is about winning number one and any of those milestones or individual standards that are set are more about feeling good when the season’s over.”

Q: History would say to beat Denver you have to stop the run. Would you agree?

HALEY: “100%.”

Q: How does Denver do that despite coaching changes?

HALEY: “It’s a testament to building your program and knowing the types of players you want and the kind of system you want to run. Denver exemplifies that. It’s what we want to accomplish. You have got to know exactly what you want to do and how you want to play and then you have to acquire the players necessary to fit the things you’re doing. That’s your plan.

“Now, when you’re in those transition periods like we are and Denver is, you’ve got a bunch of players here and there that were really brought in for different reasons sometimes. I think in the transition period you’ve got to do the things necessary to try to succeed but, at the same time, teach exactly what you’re going to be teaching for years to come. Denver has a bunch of guys who can zone block and some runners that it appears are very good at zone running. What they do from here is for them to decide.”

Q: As you stand here today do you have a very clear picture in your head of what you want from your offense and defense?

HALEY: “Very clear. Crystal clear.”

Q: How close?

HALEY: “We’ve got a ways to go, but I think we have a year under our belt and once we get through this game which, hopefully, is a division win on the road, then we’ll be back to work.”