Wolfe Feels 'Blessed' To Be Back In Action With Broncos
DENVER (CBS4) - During the first half of the Broncos win against the Philadelphia Eagles Broncos defensive lineman Derek Wolfe said he got so fatigued that it hurt to sit.
Wolfe said on Xfinity Monday Live he's never been as tired in his life as he was in the second quarter on Sunday after a fast start by Eagles quarterback Michael Vick and their fast-paced offense.
"They tempo-ed us pretty well, and it's a high powered offense. So they keep going and going and coming at you," he said. "So it's not easy to substitute guys in. You're going to have to play seven to eight plays straight at a fast tempo at no rest."
But for Wolfe, it never hurt so good. The Broncos defense eventually got things figured out, and the final score was a very enjoyable 52-20.
Wolfe said doing fast-paced, no huddle drills against Peyton Manning and the Broncos offense in practice helped them prepare for what the Eagles threw at them. He also praised defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio for the for the attitude and swagger he has given the defense.
"Obviously Jack did a great job of putting in a scheme that made it simple for us as defensive linemen to just line up and go," he said. "And that's pretty much what we did the whole game. We just lined up and went."
Wolfe said on Xfinity Monday Live that he doesn't take winning for granted. And he doesn't take playing for granted either after what happened to him in Seattle six months ago.
"It's kind of weird to watch yourself get hurt. I don't really like watching it," Wolfe told CBS4's Vic Lombardi as footage of his scary injury against the Seahawks during the preseason was shown during the CBS4 show. "I bruised my spinal cord and it could have been a lot worse than it really was. I'm blessed. I'm lucky to be here."
Lombardi asked Wolfe if he believes professional football is safer with a slew of new rules that have been instituted in recent years.
"It's not a safe game and you sign up for that. I'm not mad that it happened. It's part of the game; it comes with the territory," he said.
"Are you playing any differently since it happened?" Lombardi asked Wolfe.
"Absolutely not," Wolfe said. "You don't think about that when you're playing the game. If you do, you're going to get hurt even worse."
There's a reason why you haven't seen much of Wolfe in the Denver media lately. He was holding out on doing any interviews this season until he got a sack. And that happened on Sunday.
"They left the tight end one-on-one with me. And (Wesley Woodyard) actually missed it. He still wants half of that but I'm taking the whole thing," Wolfe joked.
- Written by Jesse Sarles for CBSDenver.com
Watch more of the video with Derek Wolfe in the Xfinity Monday Live! section.
