CENTENNIAL, Colo. — And so the Denver Broncos minicamp — and Broncos offseason — is in the books.
Sean Payton dismissed his players a day early. After all that fuss, Courtland Sutton only had to show up for two days of mandatory minicamp, not three.
“I felt that we had a really good offseason program,’’ Payton said. “The key for all of these guys is during the five and a half weeks that they are away is maintaining their conditioning level. There will be a few guys who will stay here rehabbing injuries. Overall, I think it went well.”
Good energy. Good work. Renewed enthusiasm. No more Russ drama.
“I’d say the competition kind of sharpens things and we have it in a lot of spots and so it was different, it felt different this year in a good way,’’ Payton said.
The Broncos are confident they will not only exceed expectations – which will not be hard to do as 5.5 is the oddsmakers' win total – but they will be better than last year’s 8-9 team.
Of course OTAs and the two minicamp sessions still leave one big question: Will Bo Nix start in the season opener Sept. 8 at Seattle? The No. 12 overall draft pick in the first round performed well during the offseason – although Wednesday wasn’t his best day as he threw behind a few intended targets.
Jarrett Stidham was the top performing quarterback, as was the expectation considering he is entering his sixth NFL season and second year in Payton’s offensive system.
“I think that helps, too, year two in what we are doing,’’ Payton said. “I think the competition helps and we are younger. Clearly, we are younger, and we should not be afraid of that. We embrace it. There is probably a combination of things that have gotten us to where we are at now.”
Even for Payton, year two has seemingly helped him ease his grip on the bat handle.
“There is probably in the first year where you are pissing on all of the trees, and I’m probably guilty of that,’’ he said to media laughter.
The Broncos will exceed expectations if Nix performs like Sean Payton thinks he will. The coach likes this quarterback. After eight straight years without a playoff appearance, the Broncos need this coach-QB duo to be the answer.
But first, summer vacation.
“There is a happy medium there,’’ Payton said. “It is important that these guys get away. I think these guys will all lift and run. They have their computers, they go to Teamworks and the weight program is there for them.
“I know that a group of them will gather. All three of the quarterbacks and a lot of the receivers are going to have a week after the Fourth of July where they will go somewhere and work out and train. Courtland mentioned that yesterday. Then having the playbook and having the film, all of them — at that position, you shouldn’t have to worry about what those next five weeks are going to be.
“Quite honestly, I said to every one of these guys, ‘At some point, we discussed every one of you guys in depth and it’s not always the discussion for when you are here. It’s also how we feel like you are going to work when you are not here.’ I think they understand that. Although it is a young team, I think they are pretty smart.”
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