Broncos’ Phillip Lindsay doesn’t think about ‘getting more playing time’ than Royce Freeman

Phillip Lindsay wound up being the main ball carrier for the Denver Broncos in their 45-10 blowout of the Arizona Cardinals Thursday night, but it doesn’t change how the running back views his role on the team.

Lindsay finished with 90 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, while fellow rookie Royce Freeman — who suffered an ankle injury — had 37 yards and a TD on 13 attempts.

‘We complement each other real well’

The difference between them is Lindsay joined the Broncos as an undrafted free agent from Colorado, while Freeman was a third-round pick from Oregon.

“We complement each other real well and he did kind of tweak up his ankle, so I had to end up taking more of the load at the end of the game,” Lindsay told Bruce Murray and Mark Dominik on the SiriusXM Blitz. “It’s still kind of based off of who has the hot hand and just matchups. That’s what it’s about in the NFL, about matchups, and some games Royce will match up well on different opponents other than me.

‘I just want to make sure I make all my reps count’

“For me, I’m going out there trying to make plays, whether it’s on special teams or if it’s on offense. I just want to make sure I make all my reps count. That’s what I think about. I don’t think about the reps and getting more playing time. I just think about when I go out there what I can do to make an impact in the game.”

Lindsay remembers getting calls from NFL teams before the draft giving him a clear sense he would be selected. All that did was raise false hopes among him and his family.

‘Hopefully kids coming out understand that a lot of times what they say is not true’

“Even on Draft Day and during the time, you’re getting a lot of calls, and pretty much they’re lying,” he said. “Until somebody calls and says they’re going to draft you and you see it come on the screen, you can’t believe it. That’s something that I learned and hopefully kids coming out understand that a lot of times what they say is not true. … But you sit there and and you see all these running backs (drafted), some you never really heard of, and it does kind of frustrate you and you get mad just because you have men trying to dictate what you are and trying to tell you you can’t be this because of your size and your height.

“At the end of the day, it comes down to the heart of a man and the heart of a woman.”