John Elway couldn’t hold back about Brian Flores’ accusations any longer.

Flores, the former coach of the Dolphins, filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL and its 32 teams this week, alleging racial discrimination. In the suit, he accused Elway of being late and appearing “disheveled” to his 2019 head-coaching interview.

“While I was not planning to respond publicly to the false and defamatory claims by Brian Flores, I could not be silent any longer with my character, integrity and professionalism being attacked,” Elway said in a statement released Thursday morning.

“I took Coach Flores very seriously as a candidate for our head coaching position in 2019 and enjoyed our three-and-a-half hour interview with him. Along with the rest of our group, I was prepared, ready and fully engaged during the entire interview as Brian shared his experience and vision for our team.”

Elway, at the time of the interview, was the Broncos’ general manager. He is currently the team president.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, in response to allegations that he bribed Flores $100,000 per loss to tank games, also used the word “defamatory” — suggesting there could be counter-litigation looming.

“It’s unfortunate and shocking to learn for the first time this week that Brian felt differently about our interview with him,” Elway’s statement continued.

“For Brian to make an assumption about my appearance and state of mind early that morning was subjective, hurtful and just plain wrong. If I appeared ‘disheveled,’ as he claimed, it was because we had flown in during the middle of the night — immediately following another interview in Denver — and were going on a few hours of sleep to meet the only window provided to us.”

Former Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was ultimately hired for the Broncos job in 2019.

“I interviewed Brian in good faith, giving him the same consideration and opportunity as every other candidate for our head coaching position in 2019,” Elway said.