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Davis loves that winning feelingDaniel Williams, DDN Staff WriterMonday, October 26, 2009 |  | | DAVIS |
Losing sucks.
Denver Broncos linebacker Andra Davis knows all about what it feels like to work hard, only to suffer losses week after week while he was with the NFL’s lovable losers, the Cleveland Browns.
For seven seasons, Davis was known as a good player on a bad team. But eight years later, he is playing at a Pro Bowl-caliber level while playing for the Orange and Blue.
“I knew I had a lot left to offer and they didn’t feel the same,” said Davis about his old team, which didn’t re-sign the free-agent and which didn’t push to keep the veteran under new head coach Eric Mangini.
Thriving
But Davis is now thriving in defensive coordinator Mike Nolan’s 3-4 defense, and not only is he playing some of the best football of his career, his team is an undefeated 6-0.
“He is a great leader,” said Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels of Davis. “He has got great work ethic, he studies as much or more than anybody else on our team, and does a great job of showing our younger players how to practice, how to prepare.”
Elvis Dumervil agrees Ń he and several other young Broncos linebackers like Wesley Woodyard and Robert Ayers have all said they look to Davis for advice Ń on and off the field.
“He’s one our leaders on our defense, he provides our fire and he gets us going,” said Dumervil.
“No. 54’ sort of plays the game similar to another former great Bronco linebacker, Al Wilson. They are both do-it-all but undersized linebackers who rarely make mistakes.
“He has played in this defense before. He understands what is required of him: to be physical and to go downhill. It is not a jump-around-blocks defense. He doesn’t do that,” McDaniels said. “He is just a veteran player that is just mature, a great leader and obviously, he has been playing well.”
Revenge
Still, the 30-year-old Davis is not taking anything Ń including the 6-0 record Ń for granted. He is just happy to be off a Browns’ team that now without Davis Cleveland went from competitive to league bottom feeders Ń and a Browns’ team that he helped Denver dismantle in Week 2 by the score of 27-6.
“It’s a blessing. It is definitely a blessing,” Davis said about he and the Broncos being in the position they are in, and about his emotional win over the Browns.
“These guys knew how much that game meant to me and they went out there and had my back. We’re just trying to build on these wins and that’s the way to go.”
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