ENGLEWOOD, Colo — And in the Broncos’ first padded practice in nearly seven months, somebody on offense flinched prior to the first play for an illegal motion.
The play continued and running back Javonte Williams was bear hugged for 2-yard loss.
Prior to the next snap count by rookie quarterback Bo Nix, again somebody jumped offsides. Continuing on with the busted play, running back Jaleel McLaughlin was tackled immediately for a 5-yard loss.
Prior to the third snap Monday, it looked like defensive end Zach Allen and nose tackle D.J. Jones jumped offside, although they may have been drawn off by another flinch. The play was blown dead.
Finally, Nix got the play off clean, and as the Denver front three charged in on him, he quickly dumped off to running back Tyler Badie for a small gain.
What’s the Broncos’ over/under again?
“We had some snap counts. We had a handful of things we have to get cleaned up,’’ Broncos head coach Sean Payton said. “But that can be true early on with pads.”
To finish the first-team offense’s first team period, running back Samaje Perine was stopped for no gain. Let there be no doubt Denver’s newly revamped defensive line – with John Franklin Myers joining Jones and Allen – was ahead of the Broncos’ well-paid offensive line.
“We set the tone,’’ Franklin Myers said. “That’s what it is. We’re going to set the tone every day.”
Stidham, No. 2 offense excels
It got better for the Broncos’ offense when Jarrett Stidham led the second stringers. Stidham hit rookie receiver Troy Franklin on a deep sideline pattern and Williams had a nice run off a toss right.
In the second team period, Nix began his four-play sequence with a long run off a scramble and he also hit Brandon Johnson on a nice short crossing pattern in space.
“He takes a lot of pride in not screwing things up or if he does once, he’s not going to do it again,'' said starting right tackle Mike McGlinchey of Nix. "He takes the small details such as like the cadence. It’s tough when he’s always coming up asking me and asking the rest of us, ‘How can I do this better,’ or ‘How can I do that better?’
"Bo has been an impressive person in our locker room, as a player—I think he’s picking things up incredibly fast and doing a great job—but as a competitor and as a teammate, he’s done a great job too. I think Bo’s is on the right track. I think he’s going to take the coaching that he’s going to get. He’s got some of the best in the world helping him out and I think he’s going to do great things for us.”
Stidham came back by completing all four passes, including a midrange completion to Lil’Jordan Humphrey.
Zach Wilson with the No. 3 offense hit all three of his passes, including a midrange pass to tight end Greg Dulcich.
Honoring yesterday’s players
It was alumni day Monday at the Broncos’ training camp practice. Payton stopped by after practice and addressed the former players, a group that included Dave Studdard, Steve Watson, Steve Foley, Claudie Minor, Daniel Graham, Steve Atwater, Wesley Duke, Joel Dreessen, Rod Smith, Larron Jackson, Dave Treadwell, Marv Montgomery, Brandon Lloyd, Glen Bailey, Billy Van Heusen, Alfred Williams, Ralph Tamm, Keith Bishop, Wade Manning, Ron Egloff, Ebenezer Ekuban, Chris Brewer and Nan Miller, widow of former head coach Red Miller.
As they watched practice, the former players naturally bemoaned how they don’t let today’s players hit in practice like they used to.
Besides speaking to the group, Payton took several selfies with some of the former players and their guests.
“Coach had a few encouraging words,’’ Egloff said. “He came over and right away said, ‘Before you do anything, I want to tell you how important you are to us.' He then said something that no other coach had said before. He said, ‘You guys have carte blanche anytime you come into this facility. You guys have the keys to the building.’
“No coach has ever said that. I don’t know if he overstepped his security authority or not, but he went the extra mile to make us feel good. He got us pumped up. We were ready to go play.’’
Bronco Bits
Tim Patrick participated in early stretch and the walkthrough, then took a scheduled day off. The veteran receiver is coming off back-to-back training camp injuries that ended his season – an ACL in 2022 and Achilles in 2023. …
Will the QB rotation be adjusted Tuesday? It’s Zach Wilson’s turn to run the No. 1 offense, but while he has played much better the past three practices, the prevailing thought is he’s fallen behind Stidham and Nix. …
The No. 1 defense Monday featured safety JL Skinner (in place of the injured Brandon Jones), cornerback Riley Moss and inside linebacker Jonas Griffith. Those are the positions up for competition. ...
David Shaw, the former Stanford head coach who is now a Broncos' personnel executive, attended his first training camp practice Monday. He mostly works remotely, but it's good to get eyes on the people you see on tape.
“David and I have worked together for a couple of years in Philadelphia,'' Payton said. "My first two years in the NFL, I was with David with the Philadelphia Eagles, 1997-98, under Ray Rhodes. Jon Gruden was our offensive coordinator. John Harbaugh was our special teams coordinator. There were like six head coaches on that staff. David was hired in the offseason. He’ll be in more of a front office position helping us with the evaluation. There are a number of things that he can help us with. Extremely smart, he’s a close friend and a good addition for us.”
