Patrick Surtain II’s comments as training camp opens exposed a disconnect many Broncos fans have with the team
Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II met with reporters on Tuesday as NFL training camps get underway.
Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II addressed reporters Tuesday as training camp gets underway and he made the team’s 2026 objective clear: the Super Bowl is the goal.
And that, of course, should surprise no one. The Broncos came up short last season after a second-half blizzard and quarterback Bo Nix’s ankle injury derailed what looked like a legitimate Super Bowl run.
Denver has the roster, the coaching staff, and a head coach who has done it before. Stay healthy, and it’s a very attainable goal.
The part Denver Broncos fans (and really all football fans) need to hear
I think fans hear Surtain say “Super Bowl” at training camp and immediately want to fast-forward to February. And if the Broncos don’t end up getting there, the narrative will become that something went wrong, that Denver came up short and that the franchise failed.
But that’s not how it works.
The most important thing Surtain said Tuesday came right before and right after the Super Bowl comment.
“Our expectations are pretty high,” said Surtain. “But we’re just gonna take it week by week. Obviously, that’s (the Super Bowl) the main goal, but it starts right here in training camp. It starts early on in the season. Our main focus is to start off fast, start off hot, so that way we can propel ourselves to get to that stage.”
It’s cliché, but it’s true: you have to take it week by week.
There is no magic button you can push that delivers a Super Bowl appearance. It is a day-by-day grind. It is staying true to the process every single day. Surtain and his teammates can’t wake up every morning thinking about outcomes. They have to win the day while fans complain about roster moves or bicker with other fans.
Nothing is guaranteed in the NFL. Just because Surtain was one of the best cornerbacks in football last season doesn’t mean he steps onto the field on Sundays and automatically reclaims that title. It doesn’t work that way. It’s the work you put in every single day that prepares you for the moment on Sunday. It’s playing free, playing with confidence, and not worrying about outcomes.
Surtain is not going to win every snap, no matter how talented he is. The Broncos aren’t going to win every play. They’re not going to win every game. That’s how it goes in competition in any sport.
Roger Federer, for example, is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He won 80 percent of his matches, but he lost nearly half his points.
Not every play is going to work out for the Broncos.
The disconnect between fandom and understanding what it actually takes to reach a Super Bowl feels like it’s never been bigger. And I’m hardly the first to mention this.
ESPN’s Seth Wickersham, in fact, noted in his recent profile of Sean Payton that he and the Broncos head coach have a running conversation about that very topic.
“Payton and I have known each other for years, and a running conversation between us is the paradoxical relationship between the NFL and America,” wrote Wickersham. “The more professional football is watched and discussed, the less people truly understand what goes into winning a game, much less competing for a Super Bowl, what the practitioners of it are willing to trade, and what it does to those who define themselves against the results.”
I think the Broncos have every reason to believe they can compete for a championship in 2026. But the path there runs through July practices, August preseason games, and 17 regular-season weeks where the process matters more than the outcome. Surtain understands that. Denver’s fans should, too.