This time, John Elway evaded all controversy.

On his weekly radio show this morning, the Broncos' boss avoided saying anything that might be construed as negative about quarterback Tim Tebow.

Instead, Elway praised the Broncos' overall effort in Sunday's 16-13 overtime victory against the Chargers, including the Tebow-led fourth-quarter comeback. Tebow completed 9-of-18 passes (his highest completion percentage of the season), threw one touchdown and did not commit a turnover.

"It's mistake-free football, it's playing great defense and running the ball on the offensive side and really making the plays when they need to be made. I think that's what's happening," Elway said on the show on 102.3 FM. "We're not beating ourselves on the offensive side. We're playing with passion, good hard-nosed football, and tackling, catching and running, and that's kind of what it's all about it."

A week ago, Elway set off an internet firestorm after he said that he didn't know if the team's quarterback of the future is on the roster. Tebow fans flooded Elway's Twitter account with negative messages.

"I was surprised that people took it to be a negative answer. That's why I was taken aback because it wasn't meant to be a strike at Timmy at all. It was just a reality check of where we were at the time. It wasn't a negative. I tried to follow it up with all the positives and point out things that we need to get better at," Elway said. "I was disappointed. Obviously I need to do a better job of communicating that message, because the way it was taken, it was taken more negatively than I meant it to be. It's something I'll learn from."

Lindsay H. Jones: 303-954-1262 or