Broncos DC Ed Donatell on Justin Simmons' Pro Bowl Snub: 'His Abilities are Unmatched'

The Broncos' defensive coordinator went to bat for Justin Simmons after the safety was snubbed in the NFL's Pro Bowl voting.

Denver Broncos fans shouldn't be too surprised that none of their favorite players received Pro Bowl recognition this year. After all, the Broncos are scraping by at .500 as a team entering Week 16. 

Most Broncos fans know that the entire Pro Bowl process has been reduced to nothing more than a popularity contest in recent years with several big-name players gaining votes based primarily on their reputations and past accomplishments.

That being said, the accolade still carries some weight, especially for the players themselves, who lean on them as bargaining tools when it comes to getting paid. The Broncos' most glaring snub is safety Justin Simmons, who's tied fourth in the NFL with five interceptions. 

Head coach Vic Fangio called Simmons' Pro Bowl worthiness a "no-brainer" while Broncos' defensive coordinator Ed Donatell expressed his surprise at the safety being overlooked, despite being listed as a first alternate. Donatell is convinced Simmons is the best safety in the business when it comes patrolling the deep areas of the field.

“I speak for Justin. Justin is the type of guy—he doesn’t want to talk about Pro Bowls,” Donatell said. “He wants to talk about what he can do to help this team get back to the Super Bowl. All his energy is to that kind of thing. That’s how he works. As far as the deep part of the field—middle safety—his abilities are unmatched, and he has [the] production to verify that. He’s the catalyst of this defense.”

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Donatell has been coaching secondaries for more than 20 years. When he speaks to a defensive back's skill-set, it carries weight. 

The sting of losing out on a Pro Bowl nod often hinges on how much it hurts future earning potential. That’s something Simmons doesn't have to worry about for the foreseeable future after signing a lucrative multi-year deal this past offseason. His more pressing concern is to build an enduring legacy to match some of his illustrious peers.

With that in mind, Donatell went on to make a stunning comparison to one notable Broncos Hall-of-Fame legend, and it should resonate loudly in the ears of Simmons.

“Justin is like a [former Broncos S] Steve Atwater," Donatell said. "Steve Atwater—it wasn’t on his terms of how he was going to perform every day for his teammates and coaches. That’s really important. You can’t have a stronger catalyst for your organization. You see the things he does in the community on top of everything he does to help this team. The best way to sum him up [is] he binds people together, whether it be on the field or in the community. That’s how I feel about Justin.”

Moving forward, the Broncos must win every game left on the slate and Donatell included Simmons’s teammate Patrick Surtian II in the mix when he said the pairs' motivation is now aimed directly at the Las Vegas Raiders this Sunday.

“I think it comes back to they want to just help the team, and the focus is on the Raiders this week,” Donatell said. “We know how we have to be on point for that to happen and getting our team back. Can we win these three games and be in contention?”

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