ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — There were four, 11 on 11 team periods Wednesday and first-round rookie Bo Nix was exceptional in the first two.
He did miss an open Phillip Dorsett on a deep throw in the third team period and Courtland Sutton across the middle in the fourth period.
But he also sprinkled in some nice completions in those final two periods. All in all, the buzz in the media tent was this was Nix’s best practice.
“We’ll see the tape and evaluate it but I thought overall, pretty well,’’ Broncos head coach Sean Payton said of Nix’ performance Wednesday. “There are clips, plays that we’re going to look at and correct. And then there’s others where you’re going to say, ‘Hey!’
“But I do have to watch the film because I’m looking at so much. He ran with the 1s and I like his progress.”
That was actually Payton’s second answer to the question, What’d you think of Bo today? The first time, he directed praise elsewhere.
“Look, the guy that jumped out was Josh Reynolds,’’ Payton said. “I mean shoot he had three or four catches that were something else.’’
A veteran receiver of 9 seasons and four teams, Reynolds had 40 catches for 608 yards and 5 touchdowns last year for the Detroit Lions.
He used that production to leverage a two-year, $9 million contract from the Broncos in the third wave of free agency in late-March.
Reynolds, 29, went over the middle on a deep crossing pattern to catch a strike from Nix in the first team period Wednesday, then made a terrific toe-tap snag away from cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian along the right sideline on a Nix pass in the second period.
Reynolds also went up over veteran cornerback Levi Wallace to grab a Zach Wilson pass in the fourth team period.
“He’s got range,’’ Payton said of Reynolds. “There were a number of 50-50 balls that he ended up with. We had a good, clean vision for him and I’m glad we have him.”
QB rotation update
The new QB rotation has settled into Nix and Jarrett Stidham exchanging days with the No. 1 offense. Zach Wilson did operate the No. 2 offense Wednesday.
It appears Wilson is still in competition to become the No. 2 QB, although not directly for No. 1.
Since training camp began, Nix and Stidham have each had three days running the No. 1 offense while Wilson had one – none this week.
Center rotation update
It was veteran center Sam Mustipher who snapped to Nix with the No. 1 offense Wednesday. Alex Forsyth was the No. 1 center Tuesday and Luke Wattenberg on Monday and the four previous camp practices.
D.J. Jones playing well
Denver’s defensive front that has played so well isn’t just about ends John Franklin Myers and Zach Allen. D.J. Jones from the middle has also been playing exceptionally well.
Like left tackle Garett Bolles, Jones is in the final year of his contract with none of his eight-digit payout guaranteed. Jones collected $20 million through the first two years of his deal with the Broncos.
All but a fraction of his final $10 million becomes guaranteed once he’s on the game-opening roster Sept. 8 at Seattle. Is his contract situation a source of motivation?
“I’m in year 8, I’m just playing football at this point,’’ Jones said. “I want to dominate every day and get better every day. I’m not even t hinking about that. I’ve done that before and it’s backfired on me, so I learned my lesson. I won’t be thinking about contracts.”
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Dulcich running toward health
One of the medical theories behind his hamstring and foot injuries endured by Broncos’ tight end Greg Dulcich is his pronating running style – toe to heal – was a contributing factor. Dulcich has worked to change the way he runs.
So far so good as Dulcich has made it through all seven training-camp practices.
“We have great coaches and they’ve made it much easier,’’ Dulcich said. “I worked with (assistant strength and conditioning coach) Korey Jones a lot this summer and just changing the gait. Just working on striking below the hip and kind of cleaning things up a bit.”
Bolles a father times 3
After practice Tuesday, Garett Bolles sprinted off the practice field, dodging people as he entered the locker room. Turns out, Bolles received word his wife Natalie was about to deliver their third child and second daughter.
Bolles was back at practice Wednesday, although it appeared offensive line coach Zach Strief did give him a coupled first-team reps off with veteran Matt Peart filling in. After practice, Bolles said mom and baby were doing well.
Preseason playing time
As he did last year, Payton is going to play his starters during the preseason, starting with 11 a.m. Sunday, August 11 at Indianapolis, a game telecast on KTVD (Channel 20).
“I think the preseason is important,’’ he said. “I don’t want to say I’m old school, but two years ago, we were last in the league with players injured and lost for the season. I think 130-some players missed games two years ago. Last year, we finished first in the NFL with 34. So we’re going to play our starters in the preseason.
“I think it’s important to build a callus. Obviously, you weigh the reps. When I say we’re going to play them, in Week 1 it will be a certain number of snaps, Week 2 the same and then we’ll see where we’re at in Week 3.”
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