ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — After they were unable to nab household names Clay Matthews III and Cameron Wake to fill Von Miller’s spot at outside linebacker, the Broncos went to another team’s practice squad to secure a unique name.
Chickillo. Anthony Chickillo is the newest Bronco after he was signed off the New Orleans’ practice squad. Chickillo had been a backup outside linebacker the previous five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers – Denver’s opponent this Sunday. He has 7.5 career sacks.
The Broncos have two other outside linebackers on their practice squad in 7th-round rookie Derrek Tuszka and recently signed former Bears’ backup Isaiah Irving. Chickillo is still in the pre-entry phase of the COVID-19 testing program so he’s not expected to play Sunday against his former team.
“It’s probably going to be way too early for him to be a part of Sunday’s game,’’ said Broncos coach Vic Fangio by Zoom media hookup Thursday. “He’s an experienced guy. We’ll see how he looks when he gets here, and we’ll make a decision. Same thing with Isaiah. He was the fourth OLB the last few years in Chicago and they didn’t keep him this year. With Von’s injury, we needed to add some depth there, both for practice purposes and for the game. We’ll see between Isaiah, Chickillo and Tuszka who our fourth OLB will be moving forward.”
With Miller out following ankle surgery, the Broncos have Bradley Chubb, Jeremiah Attaochu and Malik Reed as their top three outside linebackers but they need a fourth on game day. They called up Tuszka from the practice squad for the game Monday but he was sent back to the practice squad Tuesday.
Irving was a No. 4 outside linebacker for the Bears the previous three years, including as a rookie with Fangio as his defensive coordinator. He has 1.0 career sack. A week ago, the Broncos made offers first to Matthews and then to Wake -- who have a combined 192 sacks and 11 Pro Bowls -- but couldn’t reach contract agreements with either.
Bolles sprains elbow
Garett Bolles suffered a sprained left elbow early in the Broncos’ 16-14 loss Monday to Tennessee as the Broncos’ left tackle got his left arm caught up with defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. Bolles finished the game without missing a snap and he will play Sunday at Pittsburgh, although he will be wearing a brace. He was limited in practice the past two days.
“He’s got a little issue with his elbow that he’s working through,’’ Fangio said. “We think he’ll be alright.”
Bolles didn’t give up a sack, nor was flagged for a penalty in the opener against the Titans.
Coach defends coach
With Fangio admitting he was thinking defensive play call instead of clock management late in the Broncos’ loss to Tennessee, defensive coordinator Ed Donatell was asked if he volunteered to call plays, as he did for the Packers, Falcons and Washington for seven seasons in the previous decade. Donatell has been Fangio’s right-hand man since 2011.
“Vic’s a hell of a play caller,’’ Donatell said. “He’s one of the best guys that have taken the sidelines in years. We’ve coached 200 games now together—almost 200. We have a flow about us. It’s an isolated incident. My job is to support him. We’re a team together.”
Reviewing 1st and goal at 2
Just because Pat Shurmur isn’t coaching in New York anymore, doesn’t mean his play calls won’t be second-guessed. About that first-and-goal from the 2 situation, coach, in which four plays later, the Broncos had failed to score in a 2-point defeat Monday.
“First of all, those are all plays that we practice,’’ said Shurmur, the Broncos’ offensive coordinator. “Second of all, the first one, we tried to run in.’’
Running back Phillip Lindsay was toppled at the 1. Lindsay is not exactly built like a prototype goal-line backs, but he knows how to find a crease in tight spaces. Besides, Melvin Gordon fumbled the ball away in the previous series.
“The second one was a pass out of a big formation grouping, where we had a little bit of pressure,’’ Shurmur said. “We had two guys open, but we missed them.’’
With a pass rusher coming, Drew Lock overthrew an open Nick Vannett.
On third down, Gordon was stuffed a half-yard short. Then came fourth down. A shovel pass to tight end Jake Butt who was gang-tackled for no gain. Trick ‘em calls are always criticized when they don’t work, especially on do-or-die plays.
“The last one was a play that we felt had a chance,’’ Shurmur said. “We just didn’t execute it as well. As far as dissecting plays, they are all designed to work. When they don’t, you go back, and you look at what happened and you’re critical about it and then you move on. That’s the approach on everything.
“We called a lot of plays the other night that worked, and we called a few that didn’t. What we have to be able to do is—that’s a situation that puts us with 21 points on the board and that’s very important in the outcome of that game.”
Final drive and third down
In four of the Broncos last 17 games, they lost games in which the defense gave up the winning score on its final drive. In all four of those heartbreakers, the defense played well throughout the game – until it couldn’t close.
“I don’t think just coming down to that last drive determined the game,’’ said veteran safety Kareem Jackson. “I think if you go back and you look at us defensively in the third down category—I think they might have had seven or eight third downs with three or less. For us, we have to get better in third down categories and give ourselves a chance when it comes to that. Maybe if we get a couple more stops on third downs early in the game it doesn’t even come down to us having to get that last stop.’’
Bellamy call up?
Maybe it was a coincidence. Or maybe it was zero coincidence. The Broncos listed undrafted rookie running back LeVante Bellamy among their four “protected” practice squad players this week as it was learned Lindsay will miss the Pittsburgh game with a significant turf toe injury.
“Bellamy ended up having a good camp with us,’’ Fangio said. “He has some good ability. He can be a contributor on the special teams. He might be up this week due to Phillip’s injury.’’
