[Elite_video_player id=”2″]
Playing at soon-to-be-renamed Sports Authority Field at Mile High is one of, if not the greatest home field advantage in all of the National Football League. With opponents having to tackle the daunting altitude change intertwined with a continuous sellout crowd that is going on its 46th consecutive season, the Denver Broncos have gone 10-2 at home since the start of last season, including two playoff wins.
But as the team prepares to go on the road to Cincinnati to face the defending AFC North champion Bengals, the luxuries that they benefited from in their first two victories of the 2016 season will not be afforded to them. Few will feel the effects of that more than the rookies who will see substantial playing time at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday.
With fullback Andy Janovich and Punter Riley Dixon listed as starters since the opener, and running back Devontae Booker as well as safeties Justin Simmons and Will Parks receiving expanded playing time, one would expect to see at least four of the seven 2016 draft picks take the field in their first away game of the season. And don’t forget Trevor Siemian will also be playing the first road game of his career as well.
During his time with the media on Monday, veteran cornerback Chris Harris Jr. offered up his thoughts on the rookies’ first game away from Mile High and whether it is a concern for the team and defense in particular.
“Coming into these road games, things can speed up a lot for them,” Harris stated of rookie players. “For young guys, they come out and make a lot of mental errors. It’s a great thing that we have a lot of veteran guys on defense. We’ve played in Cincinnati, so it doesn’t affect us too much since we have a veteran defense.”
While Harris Jr. may be confident in the defense’s veteran majority to overcome any adversity on that side of the ball, he also gave praise to the Bengals’ offense. An offense that contains numerous explosive weapons that could pose many difficulties to that unit, with all-pro wide receiver A.J. Green at the forefront.
“He’s going to make plays so you just can’t get down on yourself,” said Harris Jr. of the dominant Bengals wideout. “You just have to keep fighting, keep attacking them. A lot of guys come out and play with fear with him; they don’t challenge him. We’re going to challenge him and make him work for all his catches.”
Harris Jr. will be the one tasked with covering Green most of the afternoon in single man-to-man coverage, there will undoubtedly be a handful of plays where the safeties on the field at the time will be required to assist him in down the field throws.
Should those safeties happen to include either Parks or Simmons or both at any given time, the mental errors made by young guys that Harris Jr. alluded to will have to be minimized in order for the team to claim a victory for the third straight week in a row.
In the end, though, playing on the road is no concern for Harris.
“I feel like we played our best games defensively on the road last year,” he explained. “We thrive on the road. We thrive under the pressure. I’m looking forward to it. I have a great match up with [Bengals WR] A.J. Green. He’s definitely one of the best receivers in the league. It’s just one of the long list of guys that we have to see.”
As the saying goes, defense travels.
