Thumb Things To Ponder

DALLAS — Jamal Murray called his shots. With a laugh and maybe a little venom in his in voice, he said Tuesday morning when asked how much his sore left knee is affecting him: “If you watch the game, I’m sure you’d be able to tell. At least the last game. “But I should be better today.” It turned out to be an understatement.

The Colorado Avalanche’s power play had a very bad Tuesday night, and the head coach called it the least of his worries. That’s how little Jared Bednar thought of his team’s performance — even if the result ended up being much better than the process. Devon Toews scored with 36.1 seconds left in overtime and the Avalanche rallied for a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers at Ball Arena. “Hey, we’ll take the points, but yeah … unimpressive,” Bednar said.

The Chicago Bears interviewed Broncos senior personnel executive David Shaw for their head coach opening on Tuesday, the team announced. Shaw completed his first season in Denver after joining the team’s personnel department last June.  Shaw has college and NFL coaching experience. The 52-year-old served as Stanford’s head coach from 2011-22. Before that, he spent time as an assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Ravens. Shaw was among the group of coaches who interviewed for the Broncos head coach job after the team fired Nathaniel Hackett late in 2022 — a gig that eventually went to Sean Payton. Shaw is not the only Denver staffer to be looked for a head coaching job. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is expected to interview with the Las Vegas Raiders for their open head coaching job, a source told The Post.

Tad Boyle officially was a former player, and he had not yet embarked on a collegiate coaching career now in its 31st season when the legendary Bill McCartney era of Colorado football reached its apex in 1989 and 1990. In 1989, Boyle was only four years removed from the end of his playing days in Kansas.

The Broncos’ season ended Sunday after losing to the Bills, 31-7, in the wild-card round. Next up for Denver: The offseason and looking to the NFL draft. The Broncos locked in the No. 20 pick in the first round of the NFL draft. It’s a spot the franchise has picked from four times since the AFL-NFL merger, selecting Hall of Famer Steve Atwater (1989), offensive tackles George Foster (2008) and Garett Bolles (2017), and tight end Noah Fant (2019). Take Our Poll (function(d,c,j){if(!d.getElementById(j)){var pd=d.createElement(c),s;pd.id=j;pd.src='https://www.denverpost.com/wp-content/plugins/polldaddy/js/polldaddy-shortcode.js';s=d.getElementsByTagName(c)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(pd,s);} else if(typeof jQuery !=='undefined')jQuery(d.body).trigger('pd-script-load');}(document,'script','pd-polldaddy-loader')); After finding their franchise quarterback in Bo Nix in last year’s draft, the Broncos have numerous needs heading into the offseason, from revamping the running game to finding answers at inside linebacker to finding more playmakers on offense. Here’s a look at who national draftniks are thinking will land in Denver. 247Sports | Brad Crawford | Updated Jan.

Deion Sanders and Jason Witten are two of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ former — and favorite — players, and both have been floated as potential replacements for coach Mike McCarthy. Jones and McCarthy agreed Monday to part ways after five seasons together. McCarthy was on an expiring contract and finished 7-10, ending a three-year run of playoff trips with 12-5 records.