Von Miller was caught offside twice in the Broncos' Week 9 shellacking at Philadelphia. Miller took ownership of his mistakes that aided the Eagles' blowout, but also explained his philosophy on trying to time the snap.
For Miller, getting a split-second head start to crush the quarterback is worth the risk of an occasional penalty.
"I look at it like taxes," the Denver Broncos' pass rusher said Thursday, via the team's official website.
"The sacks are going to come, so the false starts and the offsides are like taxes on those. You've got to pay taxes. I would like to [keep] my taxes minimal. I wouldn't like to have two a game. Probably one every three games would be cool. Two a game is just not good."
Miller also added that time and situation play on whether he tries to time the snap.
"[Outside linebackers] coach [Fred Pagac], he coaches us better than that. [Defensive line] coach [Bill] Kollar, all the guys coach us better than that. It's just, especially when you're down, you're just more inclined to take risks like that. Never on third-and-10, never in crucial situations for me, but there are some plays where I walk out there -- and even as a fan I think you can feel it -- like, 'OK, they've been moving the ball. They've been going on one for the last six snaps.' I'm a gambling man. Gambling got me here."
It is likely Miller will gamble some more Sunday night against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. The all-world pass rusher has 7.5 career sacks on Brady in eight games (including playoff). No other player has more on the future Hall of Fame quarterback (Cameron Wake also has 7.5 in 14 games). With the Broncos' offense struggling, Miller knows his defense must smother Brady in order to pull off the home upset in a virtual must-win to save Denver's season.