We know what the fans think of wide receiver Antonio Brown, as he finished second among receivers and eighth overall in fan voting for the 2016 Pro Bowl with 485,167 votes, but what do the Broncos think of him and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger?
Head Coach Gary Kubiak on the challenge the Steelers receivers present:
"They're playing really well, probably one of the hotter teams in football, a lot of big-play players that have been as good as there is in this business, sitting back there throwing it, hard to get to, hard to get down, and having to go there and play. They're playing really well right now as a team. I had a chance to look at their game from yesterday. They played really well defensively, too. Then 84 (Antonio Brown) is back there returning punts and those type of things. It's another big challenge for our team. We'll have to play as good as we can play, we know that."
**
Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders on if he sees any similarities between the wide receivers now and when he was in Pittsburgh: "**Of course. I see me, Mike [Wallace] and A.B (Antonio Brown), the young money crew, I see it all over again. Those guys got speed over there. I knew what A.B. could do and he's still been doing what he was doing when I was over there. Markus [Wheaton], obviously he's a young guy, but he's developing into a great player. Then, you got 10, Martavis [Bryant] is fast. He's a big, fast guy. Like Mike Wallace, he can stretch the field. So, you all got the young money crew over there again. It's definitely going to be a good matchup."
Cornerback Chris Harris Jr. on the Steelers wide receivers:
"They have three great receivers that have been making plays all over the field and are deep threats. Having Big Ben (Roethlisberger), he gives those guys extra time to really run their route. We have to definitely practice that covering extra three seconds of the scramble drill for Big Ben."
Cornerback Aqib Talib on facing Roethlisberger and the receivers:
"I am excited. It will be great weather, hopefully. Three receivers, three corners, good quarterback, good rush. We're going to get it in."
Harris on what makes Roethlisberger effective:
"The ability to prolong those routes. He makes a lot of plays with his feet. He extends a lot of drives. They do a lot of scramble drill and those guys get open. They're on the same page. They've been doing that forever."
Sanders on if his comments about Roethlisberger not working hard were taken out of context: "Yes. I never would've said Ben didn't work hard. This is what the situation came down to. Obviously, you have the recorder, you asked to compare, compare, compare. Right? So, anything that I say, anything that comes out of my mouth, it's never "Oh man, that's awesome what he said about Peyton." It's always, "Oh, it's bad what he said about Ben." What I said was everybody in the National Football League knows that when it comes to Peyton, this guy is the ultimate leader. He's a guy that approaches the game different than anybody I've been around. That goes for every quarterback I ever played for, college, anybody. Obviously, this is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. The question was, "What is the difference," and I said it's how Peyton prepares. That's different from all of the quarterbacks in the National Football League. I wasn't taking a shot at Big Ben. I know Big Ben is a great player, he's been great. He has two Super Bowls and I was excited to play with him. Ben made me a better player, he molded me into the player I am today, just running the Bruce Arians offense and Todd Haley offense. So, I have nothing but love for Ben. That wasn't a shot at Ben. If anything, it was trying to uplift my quarterback now and let everyone know that what you hear about Peyton is what you get. He's the ultimate leader."
