Metropolitan Division Madness Gets Contenders Playoff-ready

There hasn’t been a cornerback named the NFL’s defensive player of the year since Stephon Gilmore in 2019. Sean Payton strongly believes Pat Surtain II should end that streak. “It’s an easy case to make,” the Broncos head coach said. “Sometimes it’s a more difficult case to make, but certainly he’s deserving of that type of award.

Scott Wedgewood was walking around the Colorado Avalanche facility Friday in flip-flops, a pretty encouraging sign for a goaltender who left Ball Arena the night before in a walking boot. Avs coach Jared Bednar said there’s still no timeline for Wedgewood’s return, but the club is expecting him to be out for at least the next handful of games. “They’re hoping it’s not a high-ankle sprain, which would be an automatic six weeks or someplace in that range,” Bednar said.

All year, the Broncos’ receiving group has been Courtland Sutton and then the rest. That hasn’t changed completely in recent weeks, but a new face has entered the equation. Suddenly, Marvin Mims Jr. is squarely in the picture. Over the past six games, Sutton has 34 catches (51 targets) for 414 yards and four touchdowns.

Garett Bolles spoke from the bottom of a hole deeper than the 50-point loss his team had just suffered. The veteran offensive lineman couldn’t hold in bubbling frustration as his seventh professional season started with a third straight defeat, this one a 70-20 embarrassment at the hands of the Miami Dolphins on Sept.

Vance Joseph was honest. When Dondrea Tillman arrived at Broncos’ training camp in July, the defensive coordinator didn’t know what to expect from the 26-year-old outside linebacker the team had signed out of the United Football League. Tillman, at 6-foot-3 and weighing 270 pounds, has all the physical traits a team would look for in a pass rusher.

Michael Malone’s inner monologue might be too cartoonishly profane for him to share on live television. “I was, man, walking off the court at halftime — you should hear some of the conversations I have with myself,” he said Wednesday after Denver allowed 71 points in the first half of an eventual 139-120 win over the Hawks. And if there’s anything this NBA season has taught players and coaches about talking to the media, it’s that speaking your mind too bluntly comes with a price tag.