ENGLEWOOD, Colorado — Fight! Fight!
The Broncos are officially in the hot days of training camp. A fight broke out about one and a half hours into the 1 hour, 55-minute practice session Tuesday at Broncos Park.
Second-year tight end Nate Adkins and first-year outside linebacker Durell Nchami exchanged haymakers on the final play of the second 11-on-11 team period.
The brawl was the first of the Broncos’ training camp, and it came on its sixth day. It was a good one, too, as several teammates from both sides jumped in to break it up.
“It’s a scuffle, sometimes it doesn’t bother me,’’ said Broncos head coach Sean Payton. “In that case, I think – we’ll look at the film, but one player (Nchami) gets blocked pretty well and frustrated, and so I don’t want discipline fouls. We’ve all seen it. We talked a little bit about it afterwards. But the guys are working hard.”
Courtland's business is now football, not contract
Broncos No. 1 receiver Courtland Sutton was hoping to get a raise and more guarantees on his contract this offseason. He didn't get it although he does seem to have put the matter behind him after the Broncos added $1,7 million in incentives that combine offensive team improvement with his own personal production.
“It was nice,'' Sutton said. "I think it was made pretty clear that this is home for me, and this is where I wanted to be. I’m grateful that we were able to come to some form of an agreement to be able to help both of us move forward. The biggest thing is going out there and having successes as an offense and doing what we know we’re capable of doing.''
Staying healthy is Browning's goal
Baron Browning is remarkably talented as an outside linebacker, but injuries have prevented his production from matching his potential. In his three seasons with the Broncos, he has played in 14, 14 and 10 games, respectively.
His goal for 2024 is simple.
“For me myself just to play 17 games this year,'' Browning said. "That’s my main focus. Just to be available for my teammates and just do whatever I can do to help us win games.”
Defensive line bats ‘em down
Led by Zach Allen, who has been all but unblockable since the pads went on Monday, Denver’s defensive front knocked down four passes during the third team period. Jarrett Stidham had two passes deflected, and Bo Nix and Zach Wilson each had one.
“Sometimes it’s quarterback-driven – and I don’t want to say it’s height-driven,’’ Payton said. “Because there’s been some bigger quarterbacks that were more prone. … I was more encouraged, not discouraged in that there’s some savviness involved there to do it. and that was encouraging.”
Center competition
Luke Wattenberg was the No. 1 center through the first five training camp practices. But after a couple bobbled exchanges with quarterback Bo Nix on Monday, Wattenberg worked with the No. 2 offense on Tuesday. Perhaps, one reason was Nix was also the No. 2 QB.
Alex Forsyth got his first camp practice with the No. 1 offense Tuesday. With two major competitions going on up the gut of the offense – quarterback and center – should the expectation be it will take a while for the offense to gel?
“I don’t anticipate that,’’ Payton said. “I expect us to be ready to play when the season starts. Just because you’re playing a new center or the quarterback certainly draws more attention and that’s going to be important.
“... But look, the single-best thing we can do to help the quarterback is play good defense and be able to run the football," he said. "Those are the two best allies for good quarterback play. And it’s tough to play that position if you’re struggling on defense and you can’t run the ball. But, listen, we’ll be ready when the start of the season comes.”
The Broncos’ offense did run the ball much better Tuesday than it did Monday. Javonte Williams with the first team, rookie Audric Estime and quarterback Nix with the second team, and Marvin Mims Jr. on a Jet Sweep with the third team all had nice runs in the first team period. And veteran Samaje Perine had a big hole up the middle in the second team period with the No. 2 offense.
Bronco Bits
After practice Tuesday, Payton was joined by several players in greeting young people from the Children’s Hospital Burn Victims Unit. …
Rookie outside linebacker Jonah Elliss got some work with the first-team defense in place of the injured Nik Bonitto. …
Bonitto has missed his second camp practice of the past week because of a back issue. Defensive lineman John Franklin Myers was excused from practice Tuesday for personal reasons as he had a death in the family. ...
An NFL spokesman declined comment Tuesday when 9NEWS asked for an update on the league's review of Eyioma Uwazurike's reinstatement from his gambling suspension. The Broncos' defensive lineman was eligible to return last Wednesday but the league put his case on hold until state and local authorities completed their review of his gambling activity.
The Arapahoe County District Attorney's office confirmed Monday to 9NEWS no charges will be filed against Uwazurike, who is now hoping for clearance from the league.
