Jeremy Mincey says Broncos were Lackadaisical before Super Bowl XLVIII Versus the Seahawks

Jeremy Mincey: Broncos were 'lackadaisical' before Super Bowl

"Having veterans (older players) made the team low-key before big game..." Sports CR3W will have to deflect that onto the coaches and partially the captains in overlooking the noise factor and perking up the emotions at the right time instead of not at all. As it unfolded on that dreadful Sunday for the Broncos who played the worst game of their very successful last two seasons by exponential 'times' of the next worst performance in that same time span.

This is a metaphor for the Broncos' night: a safety 12 seconds into the game. (USATSI)

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Defensive end Jeremy Mincey joined the +Denver Broncos late last season and found himself in the Super Bowl. Denver was no match for +Seattle Seahawks in a game that was decided by halftime, and Mincey, who signed this week with the +Dallas Cowboys, thinks part of the Broncos' problem was their laid-back approach.

"Sometimes the better team doesn't always win, that's the team that wants it the most," Mincey said Saturday during an appearance on "The End Zone" with Zig Fracassi and Alex Marvez on SiriusXM radio. "And the Seattle Seahawks came out fired up and they wanted it a little more than we did. I think we were a little bit lackadaisical in the locker room before the game.

"That's the thing about having older guys -- and Denver was full of older guys -- [they] take stuff a little lighter than younger guys do ... but we were more laid back and lackadaisical and I think that cost us, in a sense," Mincey said. "But you live and you learn. Denver's putting together some great players and a great scheme, and I think they're going to have a phenomenal year."

In the first week of free agency, the Broncos have added DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward to, as Elway noted via Twitter, add energy and toughness to the defense.

When Marvez asked Mincey if the pre-Super Bowl locker room could've been more "rah-rah, you're playing the game of your life," the defense end said: "Yeah, it could've been, you know. All of us could have played a lot better, but things happen. But as you can see with what coach Del Rio, coach Fox and John Elway are trying to put together, I don't think they want to go through what they went through last year. And adding those type of players can make your team very dangerous."

This isn't the first time we've heard that the Broncos weren't ready for the enormity of the Super Bowl. Days after the game, wide receiver Wes Welker admitted that the team didn't prepare well for the crowd noise that led to a safety on Denver's first offensive snap.