ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Training camp is finished for Broncos fans' viewing. That doesn’t mean training camp is finished for Broncos players.
Players who have been around a while can leave the team hotel and start sleeping in their own beds again. Otherwise, camp is not only not finished, it’s in the dog days.
“Some of the veterans I will allow, but we are in camp still,’’ said Broncos head coach Sean Payton. “There is no light even at the end of the tunnel. It’s dark.”
The Broncos have a full week of practice next week including joint workouts Wednesday and Thursday with the Los Angeles Rams. Team sponsors will be allowed to watch the practices with the Rams but the 3,000 ticket holders per camp practice are no more.
VIDEO ABOVE: Broncos preparing for next preseason game
Training camp is not nearly as arduous as it was even 13 years ago, before the players made major financial concessions in the new collective bargaining agreement in exchange for less practice time. But still Payton is an old school coach who puts his players in pads as much as the CBA allows.
And the good guys play in the preseason, too. Broncos defensive starters played 15 snaps over two series in the preseason opener at Arizona while the first-team offense played 20 snaps over four series. For the next preseason game Saturday night at San Francisco, Payton said the plan is for the starters to play 20 to 24 snaps.
Compare that to last year, when Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett didn’t have his starters play any preseason snaps. But to transform the Broncos’ six year-long culture of losing, Payton not only wants his starters to get conditioned for football by playing in the preseason, he wants them to win.
“It does matter,’’ Payton said. “It’s a mindset. You have to be able to get the evaluations done, but it would have been a better feeling last week if we had won that game. I probably would have been a little cheerier in the postgame presser. I think it matters.”
No. 1 running back Javonte Williams won’t play 20 to 24 snaps Saturday. The plan is half that — 10-12 — as he continues his return from a torn ACL suffered 10 ½ months ago.
“I’m going to be smart,’’ Payton said of Williams. “He’s not going to get 20 plays. In a perfect game, I’d like to see him get three or four carries, maybe a pass, and just get him going.
“I think more than anything, it’s someone coming off of an injury like that and getting back on the horse again and playing—not only physically but mentally. I’m not as worried about whether he is in pass pro or not as much as it’s a grass field. It will be good to see his uniform a little dirty, and him feeling a little better about the second game and getting back out there.”
Second-round rookie receiver Marvin Mims Jr. will also make his first appearance in a professional game. Mims got off to a slow start in camp because of a hamstring pull. Which followed a pull to his other hamstring at the end of OTAs and minicamp in late spring.
“He’s had a good week, so he’ll play,’’ Payton said. “I think he’s had a really good week. He’s healthy.”
“Looking forward to it, really excited to get out there with the guys,’’ Mims said following practice Thursday. “I was on the sidelines watching last week, got a little taste of it but to actually be out there and do it will be awesome.”
Trivia
A three-year letterman and mathematics major at Northern Colorado, he was a teacher his first year out of college at Greeley West High School, then asked the Broncos for a tryout prior to the 1966 season. He spent most of that season on the Broncos’ taxi squad, then became their starting left tackle for four years. He played a fifth season at right guard before a broken leg ended his career. Who is he? (answer below)
A. Jim Perkins
B. Sam Brunelli
C. Claudie Minor
D. Matt Lepsis
Coach and QB
Payton was asked where he’s seen the most growth in quarterback Russell Wilson since training camp opened three weeks ago.
“His movement skills have been impressive,’’ Payton said. “His off-schedule plays—every practice, you see an example of one or two. It really forces the receivers to (be active and alert). If you are not open in the initial route progression and the pocket moves one way, you have to move with it. His location has been really good. I think the last week-and-a-half or two weeks have been really impressive.”
White on Color Rush
The Broncos picked two of their most attractive home games – game 5 against the New York Jets on October 8 and game 15 against the New England Patriots on Christmas Eve – to wear their alternate white helmets, along with their all-orange uniforms.
Trivia answer
B. Brunelli
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