Can the Broncos change some national perceptions with a beatdown of the Commanders tonight? My thoughts from Landover, Md.:

“No doubt,” Pat Surtain II said when I asked about whether the Broncos and he elected to not rush him back from the partial tear of his pectoral muscle. “Obviously we know we at a good state with the team, so … I took my time with it.”

The Broncos lead the NFL in penalty yards heading into today, CB Riley Moss leads the NFL in penalty yards, and DC Vance Joseph makes no excuses. "I do like how aggressive we play & how we bounce back from the penalties," Joseph says. "It's not the league; it's not the officials. We have to fix it."

Broncos coach Sean Payton, on points of emphasis he conveyed to his team to improve out of the bye: "The penalties stand out ... and then secondly is harping on the plus-minus turnover [differential]."

Denver has an NFL-worst 93 penalties & is T-19 in turnover margin (minus-3).

I’m an unabashed Adam Trautman enthusiast.

“If you’re talking s*** about Bo online, you’re a coward. Absolute coward… We don’t really care what people have to say, so, Dragonslayer69 w/ his 7-11 Slurpee in his mom’s basement, I don’t give a s*** what he has to say, right? And Bo doesn’t, either.”

Broncos QB Bo Nix, on tuning out the noise: “I delete all my social media; I don’t even have it. So, unless somebody says it to my face, I don’t even hear it.”

Broncos LB Alex Singleton, on his testicular cancer diagnosis: "Yeah. It's funny, the doctor all week was like, 'Please stop Googling things.' So, I haven't Googled much. I've tried not to, because obviously, you start Googling any kind of cancer ..."

Asked J.K. Dobbins about Broncos fans booing the offense repeatedly on Thursday night, and his response was simple: "They should."

"We're not very good at times, so, they should be mad because we have so much talent. We just gotta get together. ... We have the guys to figure it out and we will."

Broncos RB J.K. Dobbins: "The defense is winning us the games, and we're not helping them. We're not doing them any justice. We're not. I feel bad the way we play on offense and the way they play on defense because they're doing so great and then we're doing so bad. And they're our brothers, too."

Sean Payton had 10 kickers from 2006 through 2015. Wil Lutz has been his guy since then, aside from 2021, when Lutz was injured. I asked Wil what it takes to work under Payton.

"That's a deep question," Lutz replied, smiling. "I think you gotta trust yourself."

He elaborates:

Broncos RB J.K. Dobbins says that the thought of a contract extension hasn't crossed his mind, but he wants to stay regardless. "I hope to end my career here and be here for the rest of my time in the NFL. Far as extension and all that, though, I don't think about that. ..."

Broncos LB Dre Greenlaw was asked whether the NFL thought his language to referee Brad Allen was egregious enough to result in a suspension: "Honestly, they didn't tell me. They just -- show clips or whatever, but they're going to make their decision, & all you can do is just do what they tell you."