ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — If Broncos fans were on Twitter ahead of Sunday's game with the Chargers, they might have seen grainy cell-phone video, shot high above in the press box, of Von Miller working out with Head Athletic Trainer Vince Garcia.

They may have seen Miller on the sideline during the game — either from the stands or on TV — or caught a glimpse of Head Coach Vic Fangio's postgame press conference, in which Fangio detailed why Miller missed his first game since 2013.

But no one outside the Broncos' building, at least until Thursday, saw the emotion that Miller carried in the wake of being unable to play against the Chargers with a knee injury.

"It was hard," said Miller on Thursday in his first comments since his 95-game playing streak was snapped. "It was extremely hard. I cried real tears. A 30-year-old man. It was extremely hard for me. I thought, especially at the beginning of the week and the way that I've healed over my career, I thought I was going to be able to put it out there."

Miller hadn't missed a game since he tore his ACL in 2013, and he said there were a variety of upsetting factors when he wasn't able to join his teammates on the field.

"I think it was just a mixture of everything," Miller said. "As a pro football player, my identity is sewn into playing football. It's sewn into playing football, it's sewn into getting sacks and being out there with my teammates. Just to have that taken away for just a little bit — I have other stuff that I can do. Everybody knows I can farm chickens and I'm quite the comedian, but who I am, I play football. That's what I do well right now. To have that taken away, just for three hours, I really felt it."

Miller revealed that he is dealing with an MCL injury — which he said he suffered in Week 12 vs. Buffalo — and at his position, that wasn't an issue he could overcome.