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          NFL Nation

          Broncos' Marvin Austin plays to honor father

          • Jeff Legwold, ESPN Senior WriterSep 21, 2014, 10:09 PM ET
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              Jeff Legwold is a senior writer who covers the Denver Broncos and the NFL at ESPN. Jeff has covered the Broncos for more than 20 years, joining ESPN in 2013. He also assists with NFL draft coverage, including his annual top 100 prospects. Jeff has been a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors since 1999. He has attended every scouting combine since 1987.
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          SEATTLE -- A few takeaways from the Denver Broncos' locker room after Denver couldn’t close the deal in a 26-20 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks:

          • Broncos defensive tackle Marvin Austin played Sunday, just two days after his father, Marvin Sr., 49, died from injuries he suffered in a car crash last Sunday. “I know he was looking down,’’ Austin said following the loss. “We fought the way he would have wanted us to ... but I know he’d be saying he wanted us to win too.’’ Austin finished with two assists on tackles in the game as he played in the defensive line rotation. Marvin Austin Sr. was in an automobile accident in Selma, N.C. last Sunday. Austin Sr. was one of four people hospitalized Sunday after the accident. Austin Sr. suffered serious injuries when he was ejected from the vehicle. Marvin Austin has said he will wear “Austin Jr.’’ on his jersey for the remainder of the season, following the team’s Week 4 bye.

          • Wide receiver Wes Welker, in his first game since he suffered a concussion in the Aug. 23 preseason game against the Houston Texans and had been re-instated from what was originally a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, finished with six catches for 60 yards. As a player with three concussions in the last 10 months, Welker took some exception to being leveled on Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor’s interception in the fourth quarter. Welker was behind the play when the hit happened and he talked to referee Bill Vinovich immediately following the play. “I asked the referee about it, and he said ‘well he caught the ball first, right?’ so it’s your call. It is what it is, nothing you can do about it.’’

          • Broncos tight end Virgil Green doesn’t catch the ball much in the Broncos offense, but when he left Sunday’s game with a concussion he suffered on special teams in the first half, quarterback Peyton Manning thought it changed things for the team’s offense. “I thought Virgil Green’s injury was significant ... it limited us a little bit formation wise that we were going to try to do ... so we changed a little bit when Virgil went out.’’ Green will be evaluated more on Monday, but is expected to be under the league’s concussion protocol. The Broncos do have a bye next week.

          • The first play on offense has not been a good thing for the Broncos against the Seahawks. In Super Bowl XLVIII center Manny Ramirez snapped the ball past Manning for a Seattle safety. Sunday, running back Montee Ball ran for 9 yards on the team’s opening play on offense, only to fumble the ball away at the Broncos’ 23-yard line. Four plays later the Seahawks had a field goal and a 3-0 lead. “I was trying to do too much,’’ Ball said. “I was trying to jump around, that didn’t work too well for me, I have got to run the hole.’’