Coach Fox says Broncos ready for Super Bowl
Denver Broncos head coach John Fox watches during NFL football practice at the team’s training facility in Englewood, Colo., Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014. The Broncos are scheduled to play the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII on Feb. 2. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)
FLORHAM PARK, New Jersey — After putting his team through its final full practice of the season on Friday afternoon, Denver Broncos coach John Fox declared his team ready to go for the Super Bowl.
The Broncos used the indoor field at the New York Jets practice facility for their nearly 90-minute practice after Fox determined that the outdoor synthetic field was too hard.
Fox did use the outdoor field for a 30-minute walkthrough before the practice, allowing more exposure to the type of wintry weather that is forecast for Sunday night’s big game at MetLife Stadium.
As was the case after the two previous full practices this week, the Broncos didn’t suffer any injury setbacks.
Of the 53 players on the active roster, defensive tackle Sione Fua was the only non-participant. Fua is nursing a calf injury and is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game.
“I feel good about where we are,” Fox said. “Our guys have worked hard all week, and the preparation’s been good. Excited to play the game.”
The team will have a walk-through session on Saturday at the Super Bowl game site.
Fox said that he has been pleased with his players’ professionalism; with not a single case of any players breaking curfew this week.
“I couldn’t ask for more, for the way they’ve done it,” Fox said. “We’ve been on par. Very focused.”
Still, after Friday’s practice, there were still more than two days before kickoff.
With the practice work completed, Fox is hoping that players will strive for an even sharper focus.
“We talk about the mental preparation,” Fox said. “They’re going to continue to go through their playbooks, iPads, whatever information source they have, and continue to review. Now it’s mostly just reviewing and visualizing what their job is.”
To minimize distractions, the Broncos will leave their hotel where they have stayed all week — and where family and guests of players are staying — and move to another hotel on Saturday and remain sequestered overnight.
Fox, who has participated in two Super Bowls as the Carolina Panthers head coach and as the New York Giants defensive coordinator, won’t buck Super Bowl tradition or his team’s normal routine.
But first there will be the matter of visiting MetLife Stadium for the walk-through session on Saturday. The visit will be more about checking out the environment than fine-tuning strategy.
“Depending on the security and all, we’re not going to see a whole lot,” he said. “I’ve got a feeling, if it’s like past Super Bowls, they’ll be doing all kind of work around there. They’re probably not going to show a whole lot.”
Fox has been pleased by the level of practices during the playoff run, noticing fewer mental errors. He suspects that comes with the more repetitions that players get as the season progresses.
The sessions this week have only bolstered that belief.
“Guys appear ready,” Fox said. “We’ve worked hard. Now we’ve got to go perform.”
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