ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos’ active roster is carrying a few players who have yet to see the field.
The game-day list of inactive players has a familiar look each week. It consistently includes Kris Abrams-Draine, a fifth-round cornerback. Blake Watson, a premium undrafted rookie running back. Eyioma Uwazurike, a fourth-round defensive lineman from 2022 coming off a season-long gambling suspension last year. Tight end Lucas Krull, who was undrafted in 2022.
Then there’s practice squanders like Nick Gargiulo, a seventh-round rookie, and undrafted rookie nose tackle Jordan Miller.
For some of these players, it’s the equivalent of a college redshirt year. Yet, they are still in the team’s future plans. Alex Palczewski essentially redshirted his rookie season last year, first because of a knee injury, secondly because he needed to build strength. He’s the Broncos starting right tackle now, filling in for the injured Mike McGlinchey.
Frank Crum, an undrafted rookie offensive tackle from Wyoming, was inactive the first two games but the McGlinchey injury caused a trickle-up affect that promoted Crum to game-day special teams contributor as the team’s No. 4 tackle.
Watson may “burn” his redshirt and become the No. 3 running back this Sunday when the Broncos play the Raiders at Empower Field at Mile High.
“We’re not redshirting,’’ said Broncos head coach Sean Payton. “We’re not redshirting. I understand the question, but we talk about the roster weekly. There are some of these guys that are going to be playing before you know it. Like, it’s just going to happen. It’s different if a person is on short-term injured reserve or injured reserve, but it happens every week. Is ‘Palcho’ redshirting? Well no, he’s playing, playing pretty well. You’re constantly on-going skill and development training, and you have to get the team ready because the rosters are where they are.”
Ring of Famers Rod Smith and Tom Nalen spent time on the Broncos’ practice squad. More recently, sixth-round center Matt Paradis spent his 2014 rookie season on the practice squad, then delivered every snap to Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler during the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 title season of 2015.
Abrams-Draine is one play away, as they say, from becoming active.
“I always prepare like I’m the starter,’’ Abrams-Draine said at his locker Friday. “Because you never know, anything can happen. It’s a long season so I’m always ready and stay prepared.”
Isn’t it difficult for a player to stay motivated when his work isn’t rewarded with a game-day uniform?
“It can be challenging, but I wouldn’t say it’s difficult,’’ said Abrams-Draine, who played in five games as a receiver for Missouri as a true freshman during the COVID season of 2020, then became a starting defensive back as a second-year freshman in 2021. “You’ve got to be in the right mental space and always come in here ready to work.”
Watson No. 3?
With Tyler Badie a candidate for injured reserve following his scary back injury last week against the New York Jets, Watson figures to be the No. 3 running back behind Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin this Sunday against the Raiders. The Broncos did sign veteran running back Salvon Ahmed to their practice squad this week but the former Miami Dolphin has had but three days to learn a new offensive system.
“(Watson) gets a lot of work obviously against the defense (as a scout team back),’’ Payton said. “You go back and you look at the preseason—we did this the other night. We went and looked at every one of his touches in the preseason, even in the joint practice. I’d say he’s a decisive runner, deceptively powerful after contact. Ball security is good. We’ll see where his role is relative to this game.”
Take it outside
NFL locker rooms were closed to the media during the COVID season of 2020 and players never really warmed up to having reporters and cameras back in the locker room starting in 2021. The NFL players union sent out a statement Friday announcing it is now asking all players to take its interview requests outside the locker room.
As it is, the media is only allowed in the locker room for 45 minutes, three days a week, and then again for about an hour after the game. Media is still allowed that time in the locker room, but players now have the right to move interviews outside.
Alex Singleton, the Broncos’ inside linebacker who recently suffered a season-ending knee injury, serves as the team’s de facto union rep. He participated in a midweek conference call with union leadership where all teams were encouraged to follow the lead of Washington and Cincinnati, whose players had already been moving interviews outside their locker rooms.
For the local media, the lifeblood of a team’s coverage, this seems not only an distraction but could have adverse effects on reporter-player relationships that brings players closer to the fans. Moreover, it potentially could be step one towards removing reporters and cameras from the locker room altogether.
“I understand how it … it’s changing the way things have been,’’ Singleton said in a media scrum held outside the locker room Friday. “From the perspective of the union and the players, it’s our private changing area and some guys are uncomfortable in general, religious reasons, and stuff like that. Guys just feel it’s an outdated thing to have the media in the locker room and we (want) to set up better ways to be able to communicate with you guys.”
Singleton said he’s had several positive discussions with Broncos’ PR chief Patrick Smyth to find a solution for all parties. The Broncos’ PR staff is renowned for accommodating the media, having won the Rozelle Award for league’s top PR staff twice in the last decade.
