Elway calls out 'little bit soft' Broncos amid losing streak

Denver Broncos general manager John Elway couldn't sit in silence any longer as his team remains mired in a five-game losing streak.

The Broncos are two years removed from winning Super Bowl 50 and started the year 3-1 after missing the playoffs last season. However, the Broncos have slumped to the bottom of the AFC West, tied for last with the Los Angeles Chargers at 3-6.

"We'll look back once the season's over. At this point, we're still trying to figure out how we can get through it. There's no question at the end of the year we'll evaluate it, look back and see what happened," Elway said, via Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post.

"But I will tell you, I think we got a little bit soft. To be dead honest with you, we got a little bit soft. We went 4-0 in preseason, we started out 3-1, we get a bye week and if you exhale in this league, you're in trouble. To be dead honest with you, I think we exhaled and it's hard to recover from that. It'll be a lesson that hopefully we all learn and prevent from happening in the future."

Elway also said he's disappointed by the way the Broncos have played, losing by 10, 28, and 25 points, respectively, in their last three losses.

"I've gone through losing streaks before and losses and tough seasons, but the way that we've lost these games has been the most disappointing thing."

Elway also said head coach Vance Joseph, who was hired in January 2017, is undergoing growing pains as a first-year head coach. Joseph previously worked as the Miami Dolphins' defensive coordinator and never served as a head coach at any level prior to taking the Broncos job.

"There's going to be growing pains as a head coach, especially as a first-year head coach (and) we got a lot of youth on staff when it comes to coordinators, too. So there's growing pains there. Just like with players, we have to give them a chance to grow and get better and learn from certain situations. Obviously, it's been a little bit tougher situation, but sometimes you learn a lot more in tougher situations than you do when things are going good.

"Vance, in my mind, is doing just fine and continues to get these guys to play hard and the energy is still there. So we'll work our way through."

Elway is quickly growing fed up and he'll certainly have his work cut out for him as the Broncos try to salvage their season with seven games remaining.