ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- For the second year in a row and with a second playoff miss, reports about head coach Vance Joseph's future are circulating around the Denver Broncos.
On Monday, at 6-8 with two games remaining and in danger of the franchise's first back-to-back losing seasons since 1971-72, Joseph called reports about his future "nonsense" that he can't worry about.
"It's not my job to hire or fire me, so I'm just going to work," Joseph said. "That's my job. We have a game next weekend against Oakland and that's my focus."
Joseph answered to reports last December that he could be fired just minutes after the regular-season finale. He again was asked about his future after a report Monday morning in the Colorado Springs Gazette that John Elway, the Broncos' president of football operations and general manager, had tried to hire Mike Shanahan for a second stint as Denver's head coach after the 2017 season.
Shanahan coached the Broncos for 14 years (1995-2008), including Elway's last four as a player, a run that included Super Bowl wins to close out the 1997 and 1998 seasons. Joseph, who meets regularly with Elway, said he had spoken to Elway on Monday morning.
"I've spoken to John, that's a private conversation, obviously," Joseph said. "To be honest, that's the least of my worries. ... There's been worse things written about me, I'm assuming, but that's not my concern. My concern is the football team, these coaches. ... What's written, what's being said, I can't worry about that. That's nonsense, to me it is, it really is.''
The Broncos were on the edge of the playoff race just two weeks ago at 6-6, but have lost two consecutive games -- to the 3-10 San Francisco 49ers and the 6-7-1 Cleveland Browns. The Broncos finished 5-11 in Joseph's first season as head coach.
Joseph was asked Monday if he carries concerns over his future and he said: "I don't, I don't. It's about my coaches and my players. We have a great staff. It would be tough for me to find a better staff in this league. These coaches have coached a really, really, young team and we've got young guys playing at a high level because of the coaches and our players. Each week they battle. That's my only concern, not my future. My ultimate future is the Oakland Raiders [game]. That's my focus.''
Joseph was also asked Monday if he thinks the team's front office "has your back" and Joseph said, "Yeah, absolutely I do, absolutely I do."
The Broncos face the Raiders (3-11) on Christmas Eve and close out the season Dec. 30 against the Los Angeles Chargers (11-3). The Broncos defeated the Chargers 23-22 on Nov. 18 in Carson, California
Joseph said the Broncos -- who had 11 rookies in uniform Saturday against the Browns to go with two other players who spent their rookie seasons in 2017 on the practice squad -- have shown improvement over last year's team. The Broncos have battled through one of the league's toughest schedules. Between Sept. 23 and Nov. 25 they played the Ravens (8-6), Rams (11-3), Chiefs (11-3) twice, Texans (10-4) and Chargers.
The Broncos lost by four points to the Rams, had a 10-point fourth-quarter lead get away in one of their losses to the Chiefs and missed a field goal on the game's last play in a two-point loss to the Texans. But after a three-game winning streak that got the Broncos to 6-6, they've had a lackluster loss to the 49ers and Saturday night's 17-16 loss to the Browns, when Joseph elected to kick a field goal with 4 minutes, 39 seconds left in the game when the Broncos faced a fourth-and-1 from the Browns' 6-yard line.
"Absolutely we have [improved]," Joseph said. "... We have gotten better. ... Overall when you watch our team play, we have."
Joseph also said he believed the team could continue to improve if he and his staff remained in place.
"I believe that; we have a great staff," Joseph said. "... It raised a lot of young players this year and they're playing at a high level. That speaks to the staff."