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QB Terrelle Pryor*: I'll start off with a joke. They said, 'Terrelle, you really are like Rudolph,' because they say I run like a deer and then they looked at my nose right here and they said, you also have the red nose. Wasn't that a good joke? *(laughter)
Q: Terrelle, how has your confidence grown after playing two full games this season?
Pryor:How's the confidence? I'm always a confident guy. I know time and time again I'm going to get better at my craft and get better at things in terms of footwork and accuracy and stuff like that. It's an ongoing process and I want to get better, but I'm a confident guy nevertheless.
Q: How are you going to keep yourself settled, Terrelle, going into Monday Night Football, the biggest stage in football besides the playoffs and the Super Bowl and going against Peyton Manning?
Pryor:I just have to play my own game and Peyton's great and I can't let that get into mind. I have to play my game and focus on my team. He's going to make big plays and I can't go in there and say, 'I'm going to fire back too, because he is.' Down for down, one play at a time, and take my time and that will be a lot better than going in and trying to match back to back and force some things.
Q: Not to sound cliché at all, but is this something you've dreamed of, playing on a stage like this?
Pryor:I just dreamed of being in the NFL and being a starting NFL quarterback, and whatever the stage brought, it brought. I know right now I don't want to get too excited about a stage or anything like that because at the end of the day, I still have to drop back and I have to help this team win. I don't want to get too excited, I know it's a big task against one of the greatest quarterbacks; he's a Hall of Famer. I just have to go handle the business of my 1/11th of the offense and get us in good positions.
Q: Have you ever met Peyton?
Pryor:I've met Peyton, yes. He was at the Ohio State facility one time, he talked to us. [Former Ohio State WR Anthony] Gonzalez brought him in so it was pretty cool to talk to him. He was telling us about his golf stories and stuff so I met him twice. It was a good day.
Q: You ever go to his camp or anything?
Pryor:No, I never went to the camp.
Q: What did you take away from, I guess, your little brush with him in terms of how he carries himself?
Pryor:I talked to him a good bit because at Ohio State I was the starter there. He just said, 'Hey, stay in the film room,' and pretty much the quarterback talk and why he's great. He can't really pass along everything because it was in a timely manner but the advice that he gave me, I took it and ran with it.
Q: Can you talk about how you're mentally and physically preparing? Obviously it's a better team than the Jaguars who stopped your running game and you had some trouble on third-down conversions. What are some of the things you guys are working on this week that you can get past when you're talking about your game?
Pryor:You know what, we were running the ball a good bit on first and second down on Jacksonville, and we had some minor mistakes in our house on offense. We made mistakes, whether it was a ball, a bad snap, or not catching the snap, or drops, or whatever the case may be, at the end of the day it doesn't matter. We know. We watched the film and we have to get better, we know that. It's a task, it's a big challenge coming up, and we definitely look forward to it. I know I do.
Q: Terrelle, now as far as your running ability, watching the film after the first two games, what do you think defenses are doing to try to adapt to you having the running ability?
Pryor:I assume there will be spies and things like that. At the end of the day, I just have to know where they're at and I just have to go through my progressions and do my job. I just have to react to what they're going to do. I couldn't tell you what they're going to do because I just don't know. I'm going to react to it, whatever it is. I guess I assume there will be a lurking guy and he's going to be spying. That's what I assume, but I assume a lot of things going into games.
Q: Denarius [Moore] has had a few drops this season. He's made some good plays. Do you feel like you have to keep him up psychologically at times or do you trust his playmaking ability will shine through?
Pryor:Denarius, the drop he had, both the drops were on me. They were both two bad balls. It had nothing to do with Denarius, and we're definitely going to be looking for him more. I have to get the ball in an accurate spot and he'll catch it if it's accurate, but if it's not accurate, like it [wasn't] last game, it's hard to catch. He may makes a play, that's on me. I have to throw him an accurate ball.
Q: Terrelle, can you measure how much more confident you are with two starts? I mean three altogether, but two this season under your belt and one in a hostile environment on the road?
Pryor:I can't really measure my confidence; I can just measure my heart. I know I'm going to give it my all and to get me off the field you're going to have to injure me because I'm going to give it my all. That's the only way I'm going to get off the field and that's the only way. I'm not going to help; I'm going to give it all I have to the wheels fall off. I think it's not really a measurement of confidence, I think it's a measurement of heart and what kind of heart you have to lead a group of men and I have a big heart.
Q: Has anything jumped out, watching the Broncos on film?
Pryor:I'm glad 58 [Von Miller] isn't playing. These guys are very sharp; they're sound, the outside guys, [Dominique] Rodgers-Cromartie, they're tough corners, they have tough safeties out in back. Their front four is pretty good. [Wesley] Woodyard can run and is a strong guy, so it's definitely a challenge; the number one rush-stop defense versus the number one rushing offense. We're going to be running the ball and throwing the ball, so let's see what we can get. Q: You talked a lot through camp about what a good place the quarterback room was. Since the roles changed and you became the starter, is it still that way?
Pryor:I've just got to focus on the job at hand. The guys have been really great support to me, and I just have to keep on focusing on the job that I have to do to help the "we" of the offense. I can't really worry about, or think about whether guys are still dwelling on stuff. I've got a job to do, my butt's on the line, so I've got to get the guys going and not really worry about that stuff.
Q: Last week you talked about having a basket of how you draw from other quarterbacks, do you have anything in that basket from Peyton Manning?
Pryor:He's a unique quarterback. I watched a lot of film on him, and I really like to watch his pocket presence. He has very quick feet and that's not really my game. I have real long legs and it's just not my game to get my feet down real quick like that. So, it's hard to put him in a basket from that standpoint, but you can put the mental aspect into the game. The way he's focused on the field, before he even gets up on the ball, you can look at that and try and be like that, because he is one of the greatest, period.
Q: One of your good qualities is your athleticism. Have you thought about ways to get around the defense if it's too much pressure?
Pryor:The Denver Broncos defense, especially when you get in a situation like nickel or something like that, they bring a lot of different packages and are a sound, tough team. And I think our offensive line is studying very hard, and I think they're going to give me a lot of time to sit back there. But obviously if it doesn't happen, I may need to react and understand the situation and go down the field, or find somebody open, or do I have to run. I just need to understand the situation and make bright decisions in those moments.
Q: With the read option, the defensive end is keying on you, how dangerous do you think this running game could be with you, Darren [McFadden] and Marcel [Reece] on the field?
Pryor:It's not really the defensive end, it's the overflow of the linebackers too. They start overflowing on me and then there's a whole back side and all it takes is for two linebackers or one linebacker because if two people don't come with me, then I'm going to take the ball and have a big crease, but if I take two or one linebacker, all you need is one extra guy and everybody else gets blocked up can turn the play into a home run possibly. The [Broncos] defense definitely has a task, just like we do. They have to make sure all of their responsibilities are covered or they'll pay for it. And we have to make sure that all of our responsibilities are covered up or else we'll have to pay for it because if we don't we'll end up getting minus yardage and negative plays, which is something we do not want. So they have to be sharp and we have to be sharp and that's the only way that it'll equal out.
