ENGLEWOOD — Chad Kelly was walking out the door when he strode right by the boss, head coach Vance Joseph.
Kelly was the star of the Broncos’ training camp scrimmage here Sunday at UCHealth Training Center, throwing two long touchdown passes and even throwing a block.
It was the block where Kelly went downfield after ball carrier De’Angelo Henderson reversed his course that drew some razz from the head coach.
“Hey, Swag,’’ Joseph said, calling Kelly by his nickname, “you can’t be hitting anyone when they don’t get to hit you. Come on, now.’’
Kelly smiled. Forgot about that, coach. Offensive players have been wearing orange jerseys in camp, defensive players have been wearing white jerseys, and the three quarterbacks – Case Keenum, Paxton Lynch and Kelly – have been wearing blue, “don’t hit me” jerseys.
It’s not fair for the pass rushers to let up on him, only to have Kelly go out and hit them.
“Gotcha, coach,’’ Kelly said.
His performance Sunday morning before a Swag-loving crowd of 4,070 didn’t necessarily oust Lynch for the Broncos’ No. 2 quarterback job, but it’s clear Kelly deserves more serious consideration.
And by serious, we mean getting Kelly his share of reps with the No. 2 offense.
“It hasn’t happened, yet,’’ Joseph said in his post-scrimmage press conference Sunday. “It could happen in the future.’’
Lynch had a very good practice earlier in the week, but Kelly clearly outplayed him the past two days. Kelly doesn’t have Lynch’s arm strength or overall talent. There is a reason why Lynch was a first-round draft pick in 2016 while Kelly was the very last selection in 2017.
But there is more to playing quarterback than physical talent. Kelly’s pass timing is better – Lynch often waits for the receiver to come open before he throws.
And on Sunday, Kelly delivered perfect strikes to Jordan Leslie for a long touchdown down the left side and Mark Chapman down the right side for another.
Lynch, meanwhile, had little success in moving the No. 2 offense. If Kelly doesn’t get a chance to mix in with the No. 2 offense either when training camp resumes Tuesday, or the following week when the Chicago Bears come to town for joint practices and preseason game No. 2, then it’s not really a competition.
“I just got to keep on performing to the best of my ability,’’ said Kelly, who has obviously been coached up in the art of interviews compared to his outspoken ways in college. “Go out there and try and execute whatever play call is called and find the open guy and bring my team down the field, whether it’s with the one’s, two’s, or three’s. I’m focused on trying to get better in the classroom and out here on the football field.’’
He keeps answering questions like that and they’ll have to change his moniker from “Swag” to “Shucks.”
“Coach (Mike) Sullivan preaches you’ve got to market yourself in the huddle,’’ Kelly said. “You’ve got to go in there confident. You’ve got to go in there and make sure those guys have a sense of urgency of completing this play.’’
Kelly is starting to get it. After essentially redshirting his rookie last year to rehab knee and right wrist surgeries, Kelly is better now than he when he first arrived a year ago as primarily a bystander.
“A lot better,’’ he said. “Just getting more familiar with the system, knowing where to go with the football, knowing where my hots are, knowing where everybody’s blocking and the routes that are being ran … I think the more reps I get is how a lot of these guys are going to get better. I’m excited for this preseason to get live reps and see how everything goes.’’
