Mark Schlereth

The Broncos' defensive struggles against Buffalo are a bigger concern than Jarrett Stidham's ability

I'm far less concerned about Jarrett Stidham than I am about the way our defense played against Buffalo. Our defense got run through, I mean, and I thought we got out executed, out game-planned, out schemed as a defense.

Sam Darnold is playing with incredible maturity and focusing on wins over stats

I watched him throw the ball away. Here is a guy that has grown in maturity, that has used all that kind of pain and frustration... to his advantage. He's not worried about putting up stats, he's worried about wins. And he is looking at it from a standpoint, the only way my team that's playing so well right now loses is if I screw it up.

It's my duty to 'shake it off' on the floors of airplane bathrooms to punish people who walk in with just socks

I watch people get up in their socks and walk into the bathroom... I feel it's my duty to just shake it, shake it up, even it out. Just get the little, few little drops here and there just to let you know that if you wear your socks in there, you're coming home with urine on them.

Trent Williams is trying to murder opponents on every play

Trent Williams is one dude that practice stops, like other professional athletes stop what they're doing to watch him practice. And he does not give a shit if he misses a block. He's not trying to block you. He's trying to murder you. He is literally trying to shorten your neck on every play.

Russell Wilson's struggles in Denver were caused by the coaches letting him 'cook' too much

I think what we really saw more than anything else is Pete Carroll knew what his player could and couldn't do. And Pete Carroll basically put his foot down... I almost feel like there was a humiliation process that went on during the course of the season where Russell actually had to come to grips with the fact that I'm not quite ready for prime time when it comes to that. I think we took the restrictors off a little bit and let him cook too much. The engine blew up. Burned the house down.

Head coaches must utilize 'butt pucker' fear to be successful

Fear is an important aspect of being a head coach... you need fear. Like you need literally butt pucker type fear that if you don't get your job done, you will get cut, you will get benched, you will get punished. And it's not only for the players, probably more importantly your coaching staff needs to have fear. If I don't get my guys coached up, if my guys don't perform, I'll lose my job.

Joe Burrow has 'all balls' and stands in the pocket with no fear

Joe Burrow... He's legit all balls. All balls. All balls. And it's, it, I marvel... the fact that he stands there and just takes it in the teeth. He's all balls, man.

Offensive coordinators prioritize high-passing stats over fundamental winning to get head coaching jobs

Why do offensive coordinators do it? Because that doesn't get them head coaching jobs. If you develop a young quarterback and you throw it all over for 300 yards and four touchdowns, you know what? That's like Viagra to 80 year old owners. They can't get enough of that.

My 83-year-old father can bench press 225 pounds

Poolside [Mark's dad] is still 83 years old. I betcha he could get a couple reps with 225. 83 years old, 225... The dude is like, he'll send a picture... he's on top of a ladder on the front end loader at 83 years old, fixing a light bulb.

Only 12 NFL owners actually care about winning championships

I think there are legitimately 12 teams in the National Football League that are legitimately concerned about winning a Super Bowl... I think there are certain owners that are just in there to build equity... and every now and then catch the lightning.

The Dallas Cowboys will never win a championship until Jerry Jones stops being the General Manager

I've always said they'll never win until [Jerry Jones] is ready to actually relinquish control. I mean, it's one thing to appoint a guy, you know, head coach or whatever. It's an entirely different thing to empower that guy.

Aaron Rodgers acts like Compound W by covering up the Packers' warts

When you've got a quarterback like that—I always just say this about Peyton Manning... he's like Compound W, just spreading himself all over warts. The issue you get into is that I think you get this self-confidence that we're pretty good... they think they're a lot better than they really are.

The NFL is tailoring the game to fantasy football fans by creating 'Points-a-Palooza'

We've created a generation of people who have watched football based on fantasy football... and the NFL is actually going, okay, you love fantasy football? Here it is. Here's fantasy football for you. People are digging it.

Case Keenum is missing wide-open targets because of bad footwork

He [Case Keenum] just hasn't been very good. He's missed a bunch of wide-open targets... part of it is your offensive line stinks, and so you speed up your footwork... and the ball just gets out of your hands. The timing of your footwork and the routes don't line up.

The Kansas City Chiefs are 'September Darlings' who will get pummeled in January

See, the thing about Kansas City for me is I like to refer to them as September's darlings. Yeah, because they're always going to win a bunch of games in September, and January's going to come around, and they're just going to get pummeled.

Bill Belichick cannot truly understand the pressure of a 3rd and 12 from your own goal line because he never played

Bill Belichick has no idea what – he's the greatest football coach we've ever been around... He has no idea the ass pucker you get third down and 12 from your own six-yard line right in the shadow of your own end zone... I've been there. He can't.

You can only play with a back fracture in hockey and football

The only sports that you can play with a small back fracture are hockey and football... Injured is when you have to have surgery that holds you out. You have to play injured [in the NFL]. And more importantly, you have to play well injured.

Peyton Manning ruined the Colts and Broncos franchises because he covered up their lack of talent

I blame Peyton Manning is what I do... I think Peyton Manning has currently ruined two franchises. At least Indianapolis and Denver. ... What has happened is like he is so advanced in understanding what you're trying to do to him as a defense that basically he takes marginal players... four and 12 talent or eight and eight talent and makes it 12 and four every year. And so you as a general manager, as a franchise, I get a little bit more enamored with your talent than you should be... all of a sudden that guy leaves and you realize we suck.

Retiring NFL players lose their identity and are quickly forgotten

Very few people are going to remember that you played and even less are going to care once you retire. ... your identity better not come from playing football because your identity will be taken eventually or your career will be over eventually.

Kyle Shanahan will get a head coaching job and Mike Shanahan will be his consultant

I think what will happen is his son, Kyle Shanahan, will get a coaching job somewhere, and he'll go with Kyle to be a consultant.

NFL owners care more about profit than winning

There's a lot of owners that don't really, they say they want to win, but they don't want to do what it takes to win. They want to be profitable. They're in the entertainment business. They think it's cool to own a team.

NFL free agents always have a fatal flaw

if you hit the free agent market, you've got some fatal flaw. Right? You're either an attitude issue [or] an injury issue. ... The Redskins said, you can't play anymore. You're so injured, you can't play anymore. And I flunked three physicals.

The Heisman represents the player with the biggest campaign, not the best player

Let's not call it the best college football player because it doesn't represent the best college football player. It represents the guy with the biggest campaign who happens to touch the ball.

Jay Cutler should have played through his injury in the 2010 NFC Championship Game

You had a chance to win that game. ... Show me anybody who gets injured in a game of that magnitude, you still have a chance. ... And he's sitting on the bench, Mopey McMoperson over there. ... You'd have to drag me off the field at that point.

If an apple smells like apples, do not buy it

If it smells appley, do not take that apple. If it smells appley, it's soft. It's like apple sauce. If it has no smell, then it's crisp and firm, and that's the apple you want.