DENVER — JL Skinner kept waiting for a phone call that never came.
“Yeah, I was, I was sweating it out for sure, all day,’’ Skinner said Monday at his Broncos’ locker. “Sweating it out. First year, so I don’t know how the stuff goes so I was waiting. I didn’t know I made the team.’’
It was cut down day last Tuesday. Skinner was a sixth-round rookie safety, far enough down the draft board where making the Broncos’ 53-man roster is not guaranteed. Matt Paradis was a sixth-round Broncos pick in 2014 who was cut and spent his rookie season on the practice squad before he became a seven-year starting center making $6 million a year. Seth Williams was a sixth-round rookie cut in 2021.
Further challenging Skinner was he had sat out the Broncos’ offseason practices because of a torn pec while lifting weights on March 3, just before he was to report to the NFL Combine. Cleared for training camp, he mostly worked with the third-string defensive group in practice and during preseason games.
And so cutdown day arrived. Fellow rookie Thomas Incoom, an undrafted rookie outside linebacker, said he couldn’t eat breakfast he was so nervous. Adding to the confusion, head coach Sean Payton held a practice on cut down day that ended 10 minutes before the deadline to set the 53-man roster. Seven players who participated in that practice were cut with two never to return – receiver Marquez Callaway and Tomasi Lalaulie.
There were six safeties on the Broncos’ first 53-man roster – Justin Simmons, Kareem Jackson, Caden Sterns, Delarrin Turner-Yell, P.J. Locke and Skinner. Locke was moved to short-term injured reserve the next day. Skinner stayed, learning a lesson that in the NFL, no news is good news.
“I had to ask somebody before I knew I did,’’ Skinner said. “I was waiting on a call and never got one. So I asked coach (Vance) Joseph, ‘Did I make the team?’ He said, yeah, you made the team.’’
A tall safety at 6-foot-4, Skinner didn’t redshirt during his four-year term with the Boise State Broncos but he unofficially may as a Bronco of a different kind this season, at least in the early going.
“Trying to make an impact in any way,’’ he said. “Special teams, defense, whatever they need from me. Scout team I try to make a difference. Do something. I’m trying to learn. I’m a rookie. So I’ve got a lot to learn. There’s a big difference playing safety in the NFL, too. It’s one of the hardest positions in the league.’’
Remember, Simmons, one of the NFL best safeties the past six years, was inactive for three games as a rookie and didn’t start until the final three games of his rookie season. The learning curve for safeties is a tad steeper than many other positions.
“You have to know the entire defense,’’ Skinner said. “Reading things, communicating to everybody on the field. And knowing who you’re communicating to. Just the overall intel of the game.
“The NFL game is hard and simple at the same time. The vets ahead of me do a good job of making it very simple so I try and copy what they do. Try and learn how they see it and try and break it down simple. I’m going to continue to learn that throughout this whole first year. I’ve only been cleared since July so I got a little bit less time than everybody else so continuing to key that speed and continuing to grow every day.”
One adjustment Skinner has made is with his workouts. He suffered his injury while bench pressing a barbell.
“I mainly do dumbbells now,’’ he said. “I try to stay away from barbells so I don’t put too much stress on it. Just continue to build this pec up and get it stronger. I’m still here, made it though, so blessed for sure. Just a little trial and tribulation.”
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