Change -- and a much prognosticated one at that -- for the Denver Broncos came on Monday with the firing of head coach Vance Joseph following back-to-back losing seasons.
Broncos cornerback Chris Harris believes more change is coming and needed -- not just with personnel but in approach as Denver has failed to make it to the playoffs since winning the Super Bowl following the 2015 season.
"I think, after the Super Bowl, we just kind of got stagnant. We haven't evolved," Harris said Monday, via The Denver Post's Sean Keeler. "So we've got to figure out how we can evolve on offense, defense, special teams, everything. ... In terms of the NFL, we're behind right now.
"We've got to just get with the times ... we kind of just stayed doing the same thing we've been doing since 2015. It's 2019 now. ... So we've got to evolve, man. We can't do the same things. I have to evolve my game. I can't think I'm still going to play the same coverage (how) I played in 2015 or 2013. I have to evolve my game. And we have to evolve, too."
Harris, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, has been a key component to a Broncos defense that has remained highly regarded in the aftermath of the Super Bowl win. With stars such as Von Miller on board, huge alterations to the defense do not seem all that necessary.
However, with the trade of Demaryius Thomas to the Texans during the season and Emmanuel Sanders' subsequent season-ending injury, the receiving corps is in dire need of revamping even if younger players such as Courtland Sutton pan out. Led by Phillip Lindsay, the running game seems poised for production.
Regardless of whether quarterback Case Keenum remains, the offense seems to be where the changes need to be made most.
A change in philosophy is likely needed as Harris said, but just what those changes are and who brings them about remains to be seen.
"I will be a starter the next place that I go," Ray said via the Post. "That's the kind of player that I am and that's the type of player that I've been. Wherever I go next, they'll want me and it will be time for me to do what I could have been doing. And I'll be healthy. That will be a difference, too."
And so Monday might well have been the first of many changes for the Broncos, who have fallen from atop the NFL in three seasons to a playoff outsider. Only the offseason will tell just how many developments will play out, but Harris believes he could be gone along with many others as a new dawn takes shape.
"I think everybody who won the Super Bowl is pretty much (on) a non-guaranteed contract now," Harris said. "So I expect everybody to be gone, really. I expect to probably have two or three vets on the team and I think we'll keep moving like that. That's how I see it. I see it as a big rebuild coming on. I see a big tidal wave coming."
