| Denver coach John Fox isn't putting much stock in Sports Illustrated's prediction that his team will reach the Super Bowl. (US Presswire) |
When Broncos coach John Fox was halfway through his tenure as the Panthers' head coach, Sports Illustrated splashed the headline "It's Carolina" across their front page, proclaiming that his team would end the 2006 season in Super Bowl XLI.
The Panthers limped home that year 8-8.
So excuse Fox if he takes a dim view of the Super Bowl prediction foisted upon his team by Sports Illustrated -- and ESPN's magazine -- as the Broncos finished their last preseason practice Wednesday.
"Not much," Fox replied when asked what stock he places in those prognostications. "There's games won and lost between those lines."
His players saw it the same way.
"That's great. Unfortunately, it doesn't mean much at all," said TE Jacob Tamme.
Sly Fox: When asked about the playing rotation for Thursday's preseason finale at Arizona, Fox declined to elaborate. Nevertheless, it would be a seismic shock if more than a small handful starters played at all, since his recent coaching history indicates that he only plays them under dismal circumstances.
The exception that proved the rule came in 2009, That August, Fox's Panthers began the preseason 0-3, and his starters were outscored 34-10 by their opponents' first-teamers. Thus, the starters played two series in that year's preseason finale against the Steelers ... and they were outscored by Pittsburgh's backups, 7-0.
In Fox's first season with the Broncos, he rested his starters for the preseason finale.
Osweiler's chance: Backup QB Brock Osweiler's last chance to claim the No. 2 position will come Thursday after two appearances in which he failed to guide the offense to a score -- but was also plagued by dropped passes and slipshod blocking that forced him to spend most of his time dashing out of duress.
"I don't know if I've ever experienced four quarters of football without even crossing the 50-yard line," Osweiler said. "that's something we worked extremely hard at this week as an offense to clean up, as a second and third unit. Hopefully tomorrow night we can show that."
Osweiler played at nearby Arizona State, so he's been besieged for tickets by friends from campus and beyond in the Phoenix area.
"I told them about StubHub," he said. "No, there's going to be quite a few people there. It's pretty exciting to be able to go back to where you spent the last 3½ years of your life and you have so many friends and family members down there to play in front of, so it'll be a pretty special opportunity."
Injuries: Guards Chris Kuper (fractured forearm) and Tony Hills (neck) were the only players held out of Wednesday's work.
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