ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- In those salad days of summer, the pairing of new Denver Broncos coach Vic Fangio and pass-rusher Von Miller had even the most hard-boiled, prove-it types excited.
But a month into the season, the Broncos sit at 0-4 with an injury-riddled defense that has lost linebacker Bradley Chubb for the rest of the year and has not seen a snap from cornerback Bryce Callahan. Miller, a member of the league's pass-rush royalty with seven Pro Bowl selections and three first-team All-Pro nods, has two sacks.
That's seven fewer than the Buccaneers' Shaquil Barrett, a player who spent his first five years in the NFL with the Broncos, soaking in all of the information Miller and DeMarcus Ware dispensed.