Injured LB Breaks Silence on Broncos' Success, Vows to Be Faster, Stronger

As the players cleaned out their lockers to mark the end of the season, the Denver Broncos have a lot to reflect upon collectively. For some, the one-and-done playoff exit in such convincing fashion vs. the Buffalo Bills might take the shine off the Broncos' drought-snapping postseason berth.

As expectations change around Broncos HQ, so will the personnel. Some of the coaching staff has already changed, as special teams coach Ben Kotwica was fired on Friday, while defensive coordinator Vance Joseph interviews for two head-coaching vacancies.

Down the stretch this past season, things got more tricky as opposing teams studied the tape and opted to attack the soft underbelly of the Denver defense. The draft process and pending free agency period will likely see changes at the inside linebacker position.

In fairness, a season-ending knee injury sustained by leading tackler and defensive signal-caller Alex Singleton in Week 3 put enormous pressure on the linebacker corps. Time spent in the recovery process meant Singleton had to reset his goals and expectations.

After the "hardest year" of his life, he hopes to return as a far better player to help re-galvanize the linebacker group in 2025.

"I plan on being a better player, a faster player, a stronger player [and a] smarter player," Singleton told Susanna Weir of the team website. "And that's what a year off has given me. It'll be exciting to show that. It's a long way away... but I'm excited about that."

Singleton makes double-digit tackle games a matter of routine, and his all-action style and high football IQ were badly missed by the Broncos, especially when more elite opponents started showing up on the schedule. 

Core leadership was also subtracted when Singleton went down. Instead of being on the field or the sidelines, the Broncos Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee was limited to circling around the team and providing encouragement. 

Cody Barton posted his third-straight season of 100-plus tackles, while Singleton's replacement — Justin Strnad — finished with a career-high 73 tackles.

"Just as a leader and a guy in the locker room, it was really enjoyable to see the guys step up [and] obviously in my room, play the way they did," Singleton told Weir. "The defense — and the team as a whole — it was special. I know it's a good year to build upon."

Singleton may have spent more time close to his teammates than any other injured Bronco we've seen in recent times, which helped clue him in on the vibe that this team doesn't see making the playoffs alone as an achievement to stand on. The Broncos doing the utmost to improve their seeding and subsequent playoff opportunities next season and beyond is a clear team objective — particularly in Singleton's opinion.

"It has to be that. I think to just settle for anything less than that is kind of, 'Why are you here?" Singleton said, via Denver Sports' Andrew Mason. "If your mindset isn't to host divisional round and AFC championships, there's to me, no point. It kind of fires me up because that's what you want."

Despite the distinctly anticlimactic conclusion to the Broncos' defensive campaign, there's still much to like about the way the Joseph-led unit performed. Of course, leading the league with 63 sacks will undoubtedly take center stage, but because Singleton was forced to take a back seat for once, it gave him a broader overview of how the Broncos stacked up.

"I've gotten to look at our defense, look at how I see it, how the other guys see it, why they see it that way and just kind of evaluate that process," Singleton said.

As the Broncos enter the offseason, the inevitable salary-cap casualties will emerge. Because he's coming off a major injury, Singleton's name is bound to be mentioned amid the speculation.

"For so long, I was chasing where I wanted to go next," Singleton said. "It took a long time to get to where I'm at. It was kind of a year where I got to reflect on that and just kind of sit back and be like, 'Woah, this is how it happened. This is how I got here.'"

Singleton's $7.33 million cap hit for 2025 might be subject to some creative front-office number-crunching — such is the nature of the NFL. Even so, losing a vital cog in the Broncos' defensive machine would be particularly short-term thinking and potentially damaging.

It should best be avoided, especially if the playoffs are going to become standard issue again in Denver.