COSTA MESA, Calif. _ This weekend, Virgil Green will return to Denver.
This season as a whole, he knew he never was going to return there.
"My mind was made up," the Los Angeles Chargers' starting tight end said Thursday. "I knew I wasn't going back to Denver. I knew my time there was up."
After seven seasons with the Broncos, Green signed a three-year deal with the Chargers in March, on the first day of free agency.
He explained that he felt a general indifference from the Denver organization toward the way he played and prepared.
Green also suggested he was typecast by the team as a blocker and rarely was given the opportunity to contribute more.
"I know I can do a lot of things," he said. "I don't have a problem blocking at all. But what I did have issues with there was doing all that dirty work and just not feeling like the respect for the way I played the game was reciprocated."
Green was targeted a career-high 37 times in just 12 games in 2016, the same season in which he caught a career-high 22 passes.
This year with the Chargers, he has been targeted 26 times and has 19 receptions, for 210 yards and one touchdown.
"Nothing against the players there," Green said. "It's nothing against the organization. I have no ill feelings toward them. I just feel like the way I played the game wasn't respected as much as it is here."
As a Charger, Green said his love for football has been rekindled at age 30. He described himself as being as happy as he has been since before the 2015 season.
He also described his final three years in Denver as difficult, particularly from a mental perspective.
"It just wasn't healthy for me mentally to be there anymore," Green said. "I knew I had to get out of there. My wife (Marianne) had to deal with me at home. That wasn't good." He won a Super Bowl with the Broncos following the 2015 season. Green played in Denver with quarterbacks ranging from Peyton Manning to Tim Tebow.
His exit left linebacker Von Miller as the only remaining player from the Broncos' 2011 draft class.
When the Chargers met Denver during Week 11, Green caught two passes for 27 yards, 26 of which came on a first-quarter completion that helped lead to a field goal.
Green was wearing a microphone for the Chargers' production crew that day and, after the catch, was heard asking someone on the sidelines, "It looked sexy, didn't it?"
The Chargers eventually fell to the Broncos 23-22 on a last-second field goal by Brandon McManus. They were called for 14 penalties, committed the game's only two turnovers and repeatedly fell apart on both sides of the ball in the final 18 minutes.
"We lost that game ourselves," Green said. "They are a good team. But, at the end of the day, we beat ourselves that day."
He said the rematch Sunday will be about preparing for the playoffs and not reconnecting with his former teammates.
He also said the game will mean something on a more personal level.
"That was the first go-round," Green said of staging a Broncos reunion. "This time, I'm trying to go at them. I'm really trying to go at them and show them what they had and didn't really use."
