ENGLEWOOD, Colo — Bummer for Taki tortilla chips. They just lost a devoted customer.
Broncos’ running back Javonte Williams was asked by head coach Sean Payton to lose 11 pounds over the summer break and start playing at 221 pounds again.
“He set my goal weight and I got to it,’’ Williams said Thursday.
How?
“A whole lot of sacrifices,’’ he said with a laugh before explaining. “I think the biggest thing—I just didn’t eat after 7 p.m., and I cut all my snacks out because I like to snack a lot. Takis and things like that, I cut all that out.”
Williams had not been running with the same burst or quickness the past year or so as he recovered from an ACL injury suffered early in the 2022 season. It was during OTAs in late-May/early June that Payton started watching film of Williams run the ball so efficiently at North Carolina. As a junior in 2020, Williams rushed for 7.3 yards per carry. In the final month of last season, he averaged 2.6 yards.
Williams happened to stroll in during the film study when Payton started talking about his running back getting back to his college weight.
“The type of coach coach Payton is, he’s seen a lot of great running backs come through,’’ Williams said. “Anything that he says, I’m going to listen to it. Just for him to even care and just to tell me, ‘This is what I want you to be when you come back to have the best chance to do what you have to do’. That by itself just showed me that he cared, and if he put that much effort into it, I will too.’’
RELATED: Lighter Javonte impresses Payton
QB rotation update
Jarrett Stidham got the firs-team reps Wednesday. Bo Nix was operating the No. 1 offense Thursday.
Does that mean it will be Zach Wilson’s turn Friday as training camp officially opens for fans?
Payton said he would “fill you in (Friday). We’ll see how it goes.”
Stidham had a good team period Wednesday but otherwise none of the three quarterbacks have been particularly sharp. Then again it’s July. And they do call it an acclimation period.
Bronco Bits
Backup safety Caden Sterns suffered a torn patellar tendon in his knee on his second snap of the season opener last year – a gruesome injury that takes longer than even a torn ACL to recover from. “I think Caden still has a road ahead of him, relative to getting healthy,’’ Payton said.
Nick Gargiolu, a seventh-round rookie guard and center, did not practice Thursday. He walked into the locker room accompanied by trainers late in practice Wednesday.
