WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. — Quinn Meinerz is the first to acknowledge his play didn’t meet his standard over the Broncos’ first two weeks.
Sunday against Tampa Bay he played much better and, perhaps not surprisingly, so too did Denver’s offensive line collectively.
The Broncos right guard signed a four-year, $72 million deal worth up to $80 million this summer, then was named a team captain.
That, he has said multiple times, took some adjusting to.
“I think I’ve definitely put a lot of pressure on myself and I think I’ve taken responsibility for my performances the last couple of weeks,” he said. “Getting used to the pressure day in and day out and getting more comfortable with this and being in this role and being in this realm.
“I’m looking to keep continuing to grow, grabbing those percentages throughout the week and to keep playing my game and my brand of football and to get back to doing the things that I do.”
That started to show through in the Broncos’ 26-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Denver didn’t give up a single pressure through the interior of its offensive line. That despite the fact that Meinerz is trying to help a young center to his left in Luke Wattenberg and now also a right tackle in Alex Palczewski, who made his first career start Sunday.
“It’s a phrase that gets thrown around but he’s a football player,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said. “He’s a guy that knows what he’s good at, where his limitations are, and he’s one of those players that especially sticks out on the offensive line where they know how to play according to the opponent they’re facing and according to the talents that they have. He’s just one of those guys that doesn’t just go out there and play. He’s got a plan and that comes from the experience he’s had in college and a year in the program.
“We have a lot of confidence in him. I think he played very well on Sunday, and I think he had a lot of fun.”
Meinerz said he wasn’t surprised that Palczewski stepped in and played well, nor was he surprised that the offensive line as a whole bounced back after a rough start to the season.
“It was great, we played great and I think it started with our practices,” Meinerz said. “We’ve done a really good job so far this week, early on, of taking advantage of these practices and making them feel more game-like so we can take those advantages and carry them forward into the game.
“We know what kind of front we have to go against this week and how important it is to have another good week communication-wise on the o-line.”
If Meinerz gets back on track and once again starts playing like one of the best guards in football, that will go a long way toward stabilizing Denver’s offense. If the rest of the offensive line also plays up to its ability, all the better.
“I would say in the first two games we knew what we were doing wasn’t good enough to win,” Meinerz said. “I said at the beginning of the year: Games are won and lost on us and our room. We’re extremely motivated with these away games to put some of our best stuff on tape and take control of these games and do what we’re supposed to do.”
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Meinerz doesn’t see the equation changing any time soon for Denver’s offense. As the offensive line goes, so goes the unit.
“Great teams have to stack (wins) and stack them early,” he said. “Especially with being behind the 8-ball, so to say, at 0-2. Great teams stack practices and stack wins. That starts with execution.
“We started this trip knowing it was two away games and also that we were going to be staying here, away from our normal routine and stuff like that. We know this is a very important trip on our long journey this season and we’re doing our best to make the most of it.”
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