Taking the emotion out of it
Osweiler to ignore ‘outside noise’ so it doesn’t ‘take me out of my game’
Standing at a podium Thursday as if it were the line of scrimmage, Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler adeptly handled questions as if they were blitzing linebackers.
Although Osweiler’s high-profile defection from the defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos happened in March, his decision to join the Texans on a four-year, $72 million contract is still creating shock waves and has spawned some interesting comments from his former teammates.
“It seems like they miss me,” Osweiler said with a smile.
It was a wry response from the towering quarterback, a man well aware of how much history and raw emotions are surrounding him heading into his first game against his old team Monday night at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall made it abundantly clear about the extra motivation held in his locker room about
playing Osweiler after he surprised them by spurning an offer to remain with the AFC West franchise.
“Nobody has any ill will toward Brock, but it’s a competition and we want to shut him down,” Marshall said. “Just because it’s Brock, we know Brock. He came from here, and we want to kill him. That’s just what we want to do.”
Marshall was smiling and joking, but there’s still an undercurrent of seriousness involved in this matchup between a 25-year-old quarterback learning on the job after spending four years in Denver primarily working as an understudy to Peyton Manning.
Osweiler left the Broncos for several reasons, acknowledging he preferred Texans coach Bill O’Brien’s quarterback-friendly system. The Texans’ contract offer was roughly $8 million more than the Broncos and included $37 million guaranteed. Plus, there was a time when the Broncos simply weren’t negotiating with Osweiler, as they awaited clarity from Manning on his intentions to retire.
‘A little added sauce’
Osweiler has repeatedly denied that being benched for the playoffs was a factor in his decision.
“I can completely understand why everybody was extremely surprised and shocked at the time,” Osweiler said. “I’m not lying when I tell you, it was the hardest decision of my life … because I have nothing but gratitude, love, respect, appreciation for not only the organization but the fan base because everybody was nothing but great to me.
“Bottom line, Denver had the opportunity to extend an offer. In fact, they had a great, very long period of time to extend an offer. Right before free agency opened, there was two offers on the table, there were two things to examine, to explore, to try to do as much research on as possible to see what the best move moving forward would be.”
So Osweiler isn’t too interested in anything beyond digging into the playbook and searching for ways to build upon an encouraging performance during a 26-23 overtime victory he engineered over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
“I think emotions can take you out of a game,” Osweiler said. “I was taught very, very early in my career that you need to have laser focus on your job and doing your job at a high level. So, I feel like if I let outside noise and things that really aren’t relevant to the game plan and emotions that aren’t relevant to the game creep in, all it’s going to do is take me out of my game.”
Osweiler led the Broncos to a 5-2 record in seven starts last season, passing for 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.
The Broncos practiced against Osweiler for four years while he ran the scout team. The Broncos learned a lot about his habits and tendencies. Now, they square off against a quarterback who has been sacked 12 times and hit 44 times through six games and has completed 47.9 percent of his passes on intermediate patterns. Osweiler has completed 59 percent of his throws for 1,402 yards, eight touchdowns and eight interceptions.
The Broncos had 17 sacks in their first four games but just four in the past two games. They’re hoping to get back to their quarterback-harassing ways Monday night. Nothing personal against Osweiler.
“I don’t really have any hard feelings towards Brock,” Broncos linebacker Von Miller said. “I want to see him be the quarterback that the Houston Texans want him to be, but I just don’t want to see him do it on Monday. I love Brock. It’s just a little added sauce on it when you’re playing somebody that you played with before.”
Learning from Manning
Although Osweiler knows he’s a target and likely to be heartily booed, he’s not letting that overwhelm him.
“I don’t feel like a marked man, whether that’s how they feel or not,” Osweiler said. “I have nothing but love and respect for everybody in that organization, and especially the players.”
And the words and advice of Manning still resonate with Osweiler heading into this hostile environment. Osweiler recalled how Manning handled an emotional situation when he played the Colts for the first time after spending the majority of his career in Indianapolis.
“Flashing back in my head to the two times Peyton had to go back to Indianapolis, he didn’t change anything,” Osweiler said. “He stepped into the meeting and the way he conducted himself, he was the same Peyton Manning.
“That was a huge lesson. He treated that football game just like any other football game. I’m sure there was emotion involved with that, but he certainly did a phenomenal job of removing that and focusing on his job.”