ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Vance Joseph has coached defensive backs in the NFL long enough to know the Denver Broncos' secondary is a rare group.
And he's coached long enough to expect he will have to address safety T.J. Ward's release by the Broncos on Saturday. Ward, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, was one of 34 players the Broncos either waived or released to get their roster down to 53 players.
Ward had been the topic of trade reports over the past week, and as the possibility he could be released also had been raised, several high-profile Broncos players had made their feelings known, either on social media or following the Broncos' preseason finale Thursday night. Joseph said Saturday he would not only address it with the team, but would be worried if those sentiments didn't exist.
"I would say so because he was obviously a valuable teammate to these guys," Joseph said. "They won a lot of games together. It's natural, it's expected.
"It's a close-knit locker room," Joseph added. "I wasn't surprised to see guys saying, ‘Hey, we're going to miss T.J. We don't want him to go.' That's natural and it should be that way in the locker room, and if it's not that would be concerning."
Ward had said this past week he was concentrating solely on "getting ready for the Chargers," the Broncos' Week 1 opponent. He left the team's locker room quickly after Thursday night's game and was one of 29 starters or regulars who did not play in the game.
Ward signed with the Broncos in 2014 in an offseason when Aqib Talib, DeMarcus Ware and Emmanuel Sanders also were added to the roster. He has been named to the Pro Bowl in two of his previous three seasons in Denver.
"It's always hard," president of football operations/general manager John Elway said Saturday. "I would tell you, I was in that locker room, I didn't agree with every move management made. … But I can tell you how many friends and people I had, cut over their careers, I didn't agree with all of them. That's hard.
"We had to do what we believe is best for the Denver Broncos. When you make tough ones like this, they're not always going to be popular."
Elway and Joseph both said the play of Justin Simmons and Will Parks -- both members of the 2016 draft class -- was the biggest reason the Broncos moved on from Ward. The 30-year-old Ward was set to enter the last year of his contract.
Ward missed all four of the Broncos' preseason games because of a hamstring injury. Simmons has played with the starters during that time, while Parks has been used in the role, at weakside linebacker, that Ward played when the Broncos went into their specialty packages.
"Justin had a hell of a spring," Joseph said. "Obviously, with T.J. not working the entire training camp, for the most part, Justin and Parks got a chance to play a lot. Obviously, opportunity leads to promotion. So both of those guys played very well."
Linebacker Brandon Marshall posted on Twitter Thursday afternoon that "Letting go of TJ would be a mistake. With all the plays he's made and leadership he's brought. He deserves to at least play out his contract." Cornerback Chris Harris Jr. and Talib also had made their feelings clear about the possibility of Ward's departure.
"I'm with him, I'm with him 100 percent," linebacker Von Miller said Thursday night. "I don't think he should be going. That's a cornerstone of the 'No Fly Zone.' The 'No Fly Zone' has made me great individually, us great as a defense and us great as an organization. We have championship leaders. We make championship decisions all the time. The front office puts us in championship positions all the time. You can only trust those guys like those guys trust us."
Elway said he had spoken to Ward's agent previously and said the Broncos were not going to talk about a contract extension for Ward before the season started. Elway added the Broncos did not ask Ward to take a pay cut before he was released.
Ward finished what he had said was his best all-around season in 2015 with 87 tackles, a sack, an interception and three forced fumbles.
"We give him a lot of credit with what we've played defensively the last few years, but it always comes down to football decisions," Elway said. "And young guys, they were playing well. It really wasn't anything to do with T.J., it was the young guys playing well."