ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos took the field for their first training camp practice Thursday with a message from coach Gary Kubiak that they need to put their Super Bowl 50 victory in the mental scrapbook.
"I talked to them about focusing on everything moving forward,'' Kubiak said after Thursday's practice. "I told them we're not defending anything, we're chasing the next one, and we're going to work on the next one, we'll focus that way as a football team.''
That message went right from their team meeting Wednesday night to the first song that poured out of the speakers adjacent to the field during their warm-ups Thursday morning -- Jay Z's "On To The Next One."
The Broncos' offseason was filled with plenty of drama to be sure, but it's also been filled with platitudes and public appearances for the team's players. The franchise's third Super Bowl win was celebrated plenty.
But the past is now past, Kubiak said, and it's a new football day.
"I told them our mission right now is to get this group of guys as good as it can possibly be,'' Kubiak said. "We've got a long ways to go and we've got an opportunity, in many areas, to improve this football team, but we can't do it until we go to work, so let's go to work.''
Kubiak added he also told the team to "focus on the things we can do next, we let everything go.''
The message got through, even as several Broncos players spoke following Thursday's practice, the "moving on'' theme had taken hold.
"I agree ... Super Bowl 50 is ours, you can't go back to get 50, it's on to (Super Bowl) 51,'' said running back C.J. Anderson. "We're back to work now, the wave is all over and done.''