ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Mike Westhoff is gone, presumably not far from his fishing boat off Fort Myers, Fla.
That leaves Ben Kotwica to figure out what went wrong with the Broncos’ field goal unit this past Sunday at Kansas City. And to make sure the game-losing block never happens again, at least not this year. And never, ever again when it’s win-or-go home mad, frustrated and demoralized.
“There’s a handful of things there, we’ll all work together on it,’’ said Kotwica, the Broncos’ second-year special teams coordinator. “Give them credit. There was an area there on that left side. You’re making corrections continuously in this league. It’s very, very dynamic. We’ve done that over the past couple days.
“Coach (Zach) Strief (the offensive line coach) has helped out. He’s played on all those positions. Just getting another set of eyes on it. We’re all a part of it and we made those corrections and really looking forward to watching it come to life this weekend against Atlanta.”
The outer three Broncos blockers on the left side of their field goal unit — Matt Peart, Alex Forsyth and Mike McGlinchey — all wound up on the ground during the jailhouse break by the Kansas City Chiefs. But it was the Chiefs’ standout special teamer Leo Chenal who blasted Forsyth on his backside before blocking Wil Lutz’s 35-yard field-goal attempt. The block with no time remaining preserved the Chiefs’ 16-14 win.
“You bleed for a while and then you get up to fight again,’’ Kotwica said. “That’s what this league is, man. It just keeps coming at ya.’’
As for Forsyth, Kotwica said he has talked to him.
“First off, Alex is a great football player,’’ Kotwica said. “Love having him, he’s a great teammate. We’re all part of that. Even though that may be the isolated spotlight, we’re all part of that.
“Yeah, we’ve had conversations and mostly it’s been ball. Alex just wants to get better and we’ve got to do a better job as coaches of giving them tools to be successful. Putting that together, I’m excited about the product moving forward.”
One more thing. Was the kick low?
"No, I wouldn't say that,'' Kotwica said.
Estime ready for full-time No. 1 back?
With Javonte Williams averaging a mere 3.6 yards per carry the past season-and-a-half, it wasn’t a surprise the Broncos gave rookie Audric Estime a chance to be the leading ball carrier last week against the Chiefs.
Estime had 53 yards on 14 carries – and another big gain was called back by penalty. Williams had just one carry for 1 yard. Jaleel McLaughlin started the past two games but finished with a combined 22 yards on seven carries.
Is Estime ready to become Broncos’ lead back from now on?
“I think if he keeps running the ball like he did it certainly appeared like that,’’ said offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi. “He had some success early and you ride the hot hand. We feel good about him. But we feel good about Javonte, we feel good about Jaleel. But (Estime) was the one on the good end of the reps.
“You keep gaining yards when you get the ball, we keep giving you the ball. We’ll see how it shakes out going forward, but, yeah, he’s a big, tough, strong guy — those guys are built to last so he can definitely handle the carries.”
Burton new player rep
It’s been a nice week for Broncos fullback Michael Burton. First he was promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. Presumably it’s a permanent transaction, at least as permanent as a player can be in the NFL, as Burton has used up his maximum three practice squad elevations.
Also this week, Burton was elected as the Broncos’ new union player representative in a vote of the players during the team’s NFL Players Association meeting Wednesday. Inside linebacker Alex Singleton is the first alternate union rep, right guard Quinn Meinerz is the second alternate and cornerback Pat Surtain II is the third alternate.
Burton is the team’s first union rep since last year, when Justin Simmons held the position. Simmons is back in town with the Atlanta Falcons to play against his former team this Sunday at Empower Field. Russell Wilson, the veteran quarterback now with the Pittsburgh Steelers, was the Broncos’ first union alternate last year.
The NFLPA led by executive director Lloyd Howell and player director Wesley Woodyard, a former Broncos special teams captain and inside linebacker, met with Broncos players Wednesday. Among the topics discussed were international games, offseason workout programs, playing surfaces and bye weeks, especially with the future possibility of an 18-game regular season.
Broncos players are challenged this year with the latest possible bye, week 14.
