ENGLEWOOD – Von Miller spent his offseason cracking up Steve Harvey, Colin Jost and Michael Che when he wasn’t impressing Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.
So, the questions hovering over the Denver Broncos when camp began were whether the Super Bowl MVP was in shape physically and psychologically.
He was downright svelte after all that “Dancing With the Stars,” but skeptics wondered if he’d be able to focus on football after he put his signature on the richest contract in NFL history for a nonquarterback.
Miller snuffed any doubts during his monster month of September, one that included an NFL-best five sacks through three games, a half-dozen more quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, a pass breakup and a forced fumble.
“I would never worry about his ability to focus on football – Von loves to play,” head coach Gary Kubiak said Thursday.
“What you worry about is just the overall conditioning of what they go through in the offseason. You can say I’m doing it on my own, I’m working, but it’s not the same. So, that’s what you worry about. But obviously he took care of his business.”
In more ways than one.
Not only did he set himself up financially with a record-breaking $114.5 million deal , but he showed up in terrific condition, even underweight by a few pounds, and that’s helped him heed general manager John Elway’s admonition to stay hungry even with his multiplied fame and fortune.
Miller’s spectacular September earned him his third career defensive player of the month honor, but he hardly stopped to acknowledge the accolades.
“It’s just the first month of the season. We’ve still got a long ways to go,” Miller said. “And that’s the mindset that I have, that’s the mindset that’s been working for me. I really don’t have too much to worry about but football, coming up here with my guys.”
Front office executives always fret over how superstars will handle themselves once they get paid, and Elway summoned Miller to his office in late July to talk about navigating the burgeoning expectations and distractions.
“It’s something special that’s going on with this team right now, and it’s great to be a part of it. Like I said, the locker room is the core of it,” Miller said.
“We’ve got great leadership here. When we come out here to work, when we come out here to practice, we really practice, we really get it in. It’s 100 percent football. That has to be the birth of some of the success.”
Even after a drama-filled offseason that included Miller’s contract stalemate and the loss of their top two quarterbacks, the Broncos have had no trouble dialing in.
“I think it’s just the attitude that we have. It’s 100 percent football. We come to work, we’re talking about football,” Miller said. “... We go home and we talk about football.”
Miller sets that tone, inviting teammates over to his decked-out basement that he’s dubbed “Club 58” when he’s not challenging them to reach higher in the weight room or classroom.
On game day he’s made his presence known, sacking Cam Newton and Andrew Luck twice and Andy Dalton once.
“He’s getting all kinds of pressure on the quarterback,” linebacker Brandon Marshall said. “Man, he’s where he’s supposed to be. He’s being that guy, the defensive player of the year that he can be.”
Broncos beat
Head coach Gary Kubiak said he thought “we made progress (Thursday)” with TE Virgil Green, who’s been out for a week and a half with a strained calf, a recurrence of an injury he suffered during OTAs.
