NEWARK, N.J. -- Coach John Fox said Monday there is "no question" the Denver Broncos have played their best football of the season over the past month leading up to Super Bowl XLVIII.
A big part of that success has been a defense that has turned in four of its most impressive games of the season despite losing its best player -- All-Pro linebacker Von Miller.
Though Terrance "Pot Roast" Knighton is beginning to receive due credit for emerging as a dominant force on the interior, second-year linebacker Danny Trevathan continues to fly under the radar.
After a pre-draft groin injury dropped Trevathan's stock coming out of Kentucky, he was limited to nickel packages as a rookie. This season, however, he's joined the NFL's thinning herd of every-down linebackers -- finishing second behind cornerback Chris Harris in snaps played for the Broncos.
Trevathan not only has joined Knighton as Denver's most valuable defensive players, but he is also one of the league's premier weakside linebackers.
Asked by Around The League when he might gain recognition as an all-around linebacker -- capable of hanging with tight ends and running backs in coverage as well as stuffing the run -- Trevathan quipped: "I'm gonna answer that after this Super Bowl."
Sunday could be Trevathan's springboard to national recognition. The Seahawks better be ready to face a player who will match Marshawn Lynch's infamous "Beast Mode" for four quarters.
"You gotta be an animal out there," Trevathan told Around The League, "especially at linebacker."
*We handed out awards for the 2014 coaching class and talked all the latest headlines in the latest "Around The League Podcast." *
