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Tag: Brandon Jones

  • How many coverage breakdowns have Broncos had recently? ‘Too many,’ Sean Payton says.

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    The first sign of trouble came with a not-so-heated discussion, before the floodgates truly opened. A simple 9-yard out from Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence hit to Brian Thomas Jr. to further set up an end-of-half field goal, and he fell out of bounds, easy. Too easy. Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II came over to discuss with safety P.J. Locke. Surtain’s hands splayed out. Something was amiss.

    The second sign of trouble came with a punch to the mouth, with Denver already on the ropes. Jaguars wideout Parker Washington took another quick out in the third quarter, made Riley Moss miss, made Talanoa Hufanga miss, and strolled 63 yards down Mile High Lane. A touchdown later, and defensive end John Franklin-Myers trudged past a sideline of slouched shoulders, tugging off his helmet and going to chuck it. He thought better of it.

    The third sign of trouble came with the finishing blow. Moss had Washington contained on a third-down grab in the fourth quarter, until he didn’t.  Washington spun away again for a 24-yard gain. Moss lingered on his knees for a beat. Then took his palm and smacked the ground in front of him.

    Keeler: Broncos Country, don’t blame NFL referees for loss to Jaguars. Blame tackling.

    How many passing-game breakdowns have there been in recent weeks, for these Broncos?

    “Too many,” head coach Sean Payton said, postgame.

    Defensive players largely shrugged this off, after the Broncos’ three-month win streak was snapped Sunday night in a 34-20 loss to the Jaguars. Because what else is them for there to do? Denver’s still a 12-win team, as linebacker Alex Singleton pointed out postgame

    “I’m not going to sit here and let you guys (expletive) on our parade,” Singleton chuckled. He grinned. His eyes didn’t really grin. “We have two games to go to be the number-one seed in the AFC.”

    There’s no mistaking it, though: these Broncos have issues on the back-end to fix across those next two games and beyond, to play as deep as they’d like to. Lawrence picked defensive coordinator’s Vance Joseph scheme apart for four quarters, often sniffing out third-down blitzes and smoothly depositing the ball to his playmakers in a 23-of-36, 279-yard, three-touchdown performance. Payton said postgame that such a porous defensive performance “better be” an anomaly, and there’s plenty of reason to believe so.

    Broncos’ 11-game winning streak snapped by Jaguars, AFC playoff race tightens

    Look deeper, though, and Sunday was not as much an anomaly as an eruption of bubbling issues. In the last four weeks, quarterbacks have combined for an 89.7 rating against Denver’s defense. The Commanders’ Marcus Mariota freewheeled his way on some zone-read concepts against the Broncos a few weeks back. The Packers’ Jordan Love dinked and dunked with abandon in the first half in Week 15. Lawrence blew the top off on Sunday.

    They’ve all exploited the same nagging issues that haunted Joseph’s unit down the stretch of 2024 — as teams have targeted Bronco linebackers and safeties in advantageous matchups for a solid month. Here’s a quick roundup of tight-end performances against Denver’s defense in the last five weeks:

    — Chiefs’ Travis Kelce in Week 11: 9 catches, 91 yards, touchdown.

    — Commanders’ Zach Ertz in Week 13: 10 catches, 106 yards.

    — Raiders’ Brock Bowers in Week 14: 4 catches, 46 yards, touchdown.

    — Packers’ Luke Musgrave in Week 15: 4 catches, 52 yards.

    Another matchup-problem gadget weapon reared his head Sunday, as the Jaguars’ Brenton Strange went for five catches for 39 yards. He ran away from Broncos linebacker Dre Greenlaw for a 23-yard gain midway through the second quarter. A few plays later, he boxed out Locke — with a bit of an obvious push-off — for a short touchdown.

    “They scheme up plays pretty nicely,” Locke said, asked about problems containing tight ends and running backs in the passing game. “That’s it.

    “I don’t think it’s problems. I don’t think it’s problems. That’s stuff we just gotta handle.”

    Jacksonville head coach Liam Coen, though, repeatedly and obviously aimed at Bronco holes in coverage Sunday with a variety of targets. Greenlaw has been a step slow on a couple routes in recent weeks. Locke was effective against the run in his first start of the season at safety, but was picked on on a late-first-half field-goal drive by Jacksonville. Communication errors abounded, too, as Jacksonville went eight-of-15 on third downs.

    Renck: Broncos find out hard way that reaching their goals will not be easy. Can they handle prosperity?

    On a short week before travelling to Kansas City for a Christmas Day game, the defense will gather to watch film Monday, Singleton said. They have overcome some early-season missed handoffs in match coverage before. And Singleton, for one, wants his unit to feel it, as he said.

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    Luca Evans

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  • Broncos’ Darren Rizzi takes ‘full responsibility’ for special teams errors

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    After two weeks of special teams errors and repeated frustration from head coach Sean Payton, Broncos special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi placed himself squarely under the bus on Thursday.

    “We cannot be the reason that we’re losing field position, and things like that,” Rizzi told reporters Thursday. “But listen, it starts with me. Always starts with me as a coordinator, and trickles down to the players.

    “So, I certainly take full responsibility on getting it cleaned up.”

    The Broncos have endured weeks of inconsistent play under the veteran coordinator, who came to Denver in the offseason from New Orleans as a former colleague of Payton. It all boiled over in the last two games, with a communication error preceding a concussion for All-Pro returner Marvin Mims Jr. and multiple players running out late on special teams units against the Texans last Sunday.

    Rizzi explained that a recent rash of injuries jumbled substitutions against Houston, and he said Denico Autry’s first-quarter field-goal block last Sunday was “frustrating” given a weeklong emphasis on protection. Rizzi, though, gave credit to the play of offensive linemen Calvin Throckmorton, Frank Crum and others on a game-winning field goal from Lutz and expressed confidence in his ability to right the ship.

    “I’ve always prided myself on being an organized, disciplined guy,” Rizzi said. “I think you guys probably know that about me by now. And so, those are things we gotta get cleaned up.

    “And we will. We’ll get that done this week.”

    Broncos release former All-Pro special-teamer: Rizzi’s units will continue to cycle through some change against the Raiders on Thursday night after the Broncos waived safety J.T. Gray with an injury designation. The specialist landed on Monday’s injury report with a hamstring injury after playing 21 special teams snaps in the Broncos’ 18-15 win over Houston.

    The Broncos signed Gray, a second-team All-Pro with the Saints in 2024, off the Ravens’ practice squad in mid-October. Rizzi called him the “best coverage player that I’ve coached,” and Denver could’ve used some juice on its kick units. But Gray was inactive his first two games in Denver, and the Broncos are now cutting ties.

    Mims back at practice: After a laundry list of an injury report on Monday, the Broncos had a cleaner bill of health at practice Tuesday. Mims was back and limited at practice after missing Sunday’s game with a concussion. Cornerback Riley Moss and safety Brandon Jones were also present during stretching and limited, after both landed as would-be DNPs on Monday’s report.

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    Luca Evans

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  • Broncos training camp rewind, Day 1: QB Zach Wilson takes turn in rotation and fans join the party for the first time this summer

    Broncos training camp rewind, Day 1: QB Zach Wilson takes turn in rotation and fans join the party for the first time this summer

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    Attendance

    Did not practice: Physically Unable to Perform list — S Caden Sterns (knee), S Delarrin Turner-Yell (knee) and LB Drew Sanders (Achilles). Non-Football Injury list — RB Blake Watson (muscle strain). Out — OLB Nik Bonitto, OL Nick Gargiulo. Dropped out — S Brandon Jones (hamstring)

    Payton told reporters after practice that Jones “tweaked” his hamstring and was being evaluated. He also expects Bonitto to be back to practice work Saturday.

    QB Race Today

    Zach Wilson did, indeed, get all the No. 1 reps during practice Friday, continuing the rotation that began earlier this week with Jarrett Stidham on Wednesday and Bo Nix on Thursday.

    The Broncos didn’t waste any time, getting a 7-on-7 period and three team periods in during their first full-length camp practice of the summer. Head coach Sean Payton said afterward that the team put a heavy emphasis on third-down situations.

    None of the three quarterbacks turned the ball over in team settings Friday, though Wilson and Nix were each almost picked by corners Riley Moss and Reese Taylor, respectively.

    “There’s things you have to evaluate sometimes,” Payton said. “In other words, the pocket, was it broken down? There’s certain things that can take place that can affect their execution. So when you’re evaluating and breaking down the reps, you have to take all of that into account. I like the way they’re protecting the ball and I think they’re working through their progressions. … They’re getting a lot of looks.”

    Top Play

    On a Friday devoid of big, spectacular plays, beauty was in the eye of the beholder. Maybe you preferred a pretty looking toss play to the left for Jaleel McLaughlin? Or a couple of nice plays on the ball by Moss, the second-year corner? Or the continued, consistent pressure that the defensive line generated? All come with caveats: It’s early and more to the point they’re not wearing pads yet.

    Thumbs Up

    Reynolds’ all-around addition: Wide receiver Josh Reynolds made a couple of plays Friday and is already showing the kind of versatility Denver coveted in free agency. He’s a tall, long receiver, a smooth runner and a willing blocker.

    “He’s flexible, he’s smart,” Payton said. “(Passing game coordinator) Johnny Morton worked with him in Detroit so we had a little bit more knowledge of the player. He loves playing. … He’s been a good addition.”

    Welcome, Bo: Not surprisingly, the rookie quarterback got a big cheer from the crowd on hand Friday. With fans in attendance for the first time since Nix was selected No. 12 overall in April’s draft, it’s no surprise he got a warm welcome considering it’s the highest Denver’s drafted a quarterback since Jay Cutler went No. 11 in 2006.

    Thumbs Down

    Safety net?: The Broncos’ depth at safety is already a question mark with Sterns on PUP. If Jones ends up missing substantial time with the hamstring issue, Payton and company will have to take a realistic look at whether they’ve got enough depth on the roster.

    Dink and dunk: The NFL’s not much of a home-run league these days. Not only that, but Payton talked about the situation-heavy work Friday, the still-early installation schedule and more that is all reality this time of year. Still, the Broncos’ trio of quarterbacks at some point is going to have to show the ability to attack down the field with the ball. That hasn’t shown up much yet this offseason.

    Odds and Ends

    • The evaluation changes dramatically for everyone when pads come on, but some positions more than others. One of the most interesting players to watch: Rookie RB Audric Estime. He’s a load and has looked good so far this week.

    • Early means early — and it’s early — but so far the center battle has not seen as much rotation as the quarterbacks. Luke Wattenberg so far has seen most of the top-group work. We’ll see as time goes along if he’s truly leading or if Alex Forsyth or Sam Mustipher makes a move.

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    Parker Gabriel

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  • Conservatives Explain Why The U.S. Should Invade Mexico

    Conservatives Explain Why The U.S. Should Invade Mexico

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    “Right now it’s illegal for me to take clippings from the protected Mexican wildlife, but if I enlisted, passed boot camp in record time, was immediately deployed to the front lines, somehow survived, and went AWOL, I could probably sneak a few rare varieties of saguaro back, which would finally impress the other guys in my local cactus-growing group.”

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  • ‘Bachelor In Paradise’ Stars Brandon And Serene End Engagement

    ‘Bachelor In Paradise’ Stars Brandon And Serene End Engagement

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    By Paige Gawley‍ , ETOnline.com.
    Published:

    Brandon Jones and Serene Russell are calling off their engagement. The “Bachelor in Paradise” alums took to Instagram on Monday to announce the end of their relationship, nearly six months after their engagement aired on the show’s season 8 finale.

    In a joint post, which included pics of videos from Brandon and Serene’s time together, the former couple wrote, “After many months, today we have ultimately decided to end our engagement.”


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    “We have tried to work privately on our relationship which has been incredibly challenging in the public eye,” they wrote. “This has been immensely hard to accept and painful, as there is a lot of love between the two of us.”

    “We are deeply hurting and can only ask that there be no hate,” the post concluded. “The best path for us at this time is to try and move forward and heal from this as individuals.”

    Brandon and Serene were a fan-favourite couple from the beginning of the season. When ET spoke to them after their engagement aired, Serene described her and Brandon’s love for each other as “life-changing.”


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    “Your love is so much more than the love I had dreamt of all those years,” Serene told her then-fiancé, who responded in kind, stating, “I love you in every sense of the word… My happily ever after could’ve never started until I started a life with you.”

    Click to View Gallery

    Celebrity Couples Who Split In 2023




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    Melissa Romualdi

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  • Column: Bittersweet win for Logano as Gibbs family mourns

    Column: Bittersweet win for Logano as Gibbs family mourns

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    AVONDALE, Ariz. — Joey Logano began his career at Joe Gibbs Racing, which signed him to a driver development deal when he was 15, and then put “Sliced Bread” in a NASCAR national series race seven days after his 18th birthday.

    There was a plan to develop Logano, but it was scrapped when JGR fast-tracked him to Cup after just 19 Xfinity Series starts because Hall of Famer Tony Stewart left ahead of the 2009 season.

    Logano wasn’t ready for the big leagues, and JGR let him go after four rocky Cup seasons.

    He landed at Team Penske and on Sunday won his second Cup championship with his victory at Phoenix Raceway in the NASCAR season finale. He joins Kyle Busch, his former teammate at Gibbs, as the only active NASCAR drivers with multiple Cup titles.

    Logano earned both of his titles with Penske, and all of his success was achieved long after his Gibbs dismissal. That didn’t make Sunday any less conflicting for Logano, who learned shortly before the start of the race that Coy Gibbs, vice chairman at JGR, had died in his sleep hours after watching his 20-year-old son, Ty Gibbs, win the Xfinity Series championship.

    “It’s such an interesting spot as you sit there preparing to run a championship race and then you hear. I don’t have words to explain how that is,” Logano said. “I feel for Ty more than anything. When you take all the championship racing stuff out, it doesn’t matter at the end of the day. It’s great that we’re up here and we won a championship, but something happens to your family, it doesn’t matter.”

    Logano said Gibbs’ passing made for a somber season finale for the entire industry, and he grappled with the grief his former team owner must be experiencing. Joe Gibbs, both an NFL and NASCAR Hall of Famer, has now lost both of his children; J.D. Gibbs died in 2019 from degenerative neurological disease, and both brothers died roughly a month before their 50th birthdays.

    “It’s a bittersweet type of thing because here we are winning a championship, and one of the people that’s a leader in our sport and someone I’ve known for a while is gone,” Logano said. “Our prayers and thoughts go to the Gibbs family and everyone over at JGR. They’ve had a rough run at it, I couldn’t imagine how Joe feels right now. But for Ty to lose his dad, that’s just hard.”

    Logano’s emotions were about more than just his past relationship with the Gibbs family and their race team. He had spent much of the week leading into the championship races defending Ty Gibbs, who was maligned for wrecking JGR teammate Brandon Jones from the lead on the final lap of a race Jones had to win to race for the Xfinity title.

    The incident caused a deep divide at JGR and Toyota, and both Joe Gibbs and Coy Gibbs seemed weary leading into Saturday’s finale of discussing how to handle their budding star who happens to be family. Joe Gibbs promised consequences for his grandson, who is expected to be named the replacement Cup driver for Busch now that Busch’s 15-year run at JGR has ended.

    Even after Ty Gibbs made it through the week with a humbling apology tour and then delivered in the finale by holding off rival Noah Gragson for the championship, his father was still navigating the storm his son had created a week earlier.

    “When you start this day, I’m kind of like, ‘I just want to get this day over with.’ That was my mindset, because I want to move on and get past it,” Coy Gibbs said after his son won the title Saturday night.

    “I’m definitely proud of him. I’ve always got his back as his father. Obviously it’s heartbreaking to go through tough stuff and watch, it’s actually more heartbreaking to watch him go through it. I don’t give a rip; I’m old and don’t care. But to see a kid hurting — and he knows he screwed up; and to go through all that, it’s tough. It’s tough as a parent for sure.”

    Hours later, Coy Gibbs passed away in his sleep.

    Logano could relate to Ty Gibbs’ uncomfortable position leading into the race because Logano himself made his share of silly mistakes as he struggled with the spotlight in his early NASCAR years.

    “We’ve all done stupid things when we were kids. Every one of us, right?” Logano said earlier in the week. “I can’t say I agree with much that he did or said, but I also have some sympathy in saying, ‘Man, I’ve been there, I get it.’ It’s the life that I chose. It’s the life that Ty is choosing.”

    But it also hit Logano because unlike 2018 when he won his first championship and had only an infant son, he’s now a father of three and at 32 years old was the veteran of the championship four. Logano brought 4-year-old son, Hudson, to Phoenix and has spent the last several weeks reading car magazines to his son as bedtime stories and promising a big fun party when Daddy won the Cup title.

    Logano got to take Hudson up the track to collect the checkered flag and the little boy was skipping as he clung to his father’s hand. Then Hudson got a ride in the No. 22 Ford to the championship stage.

    As Logano celebrated with his son, he was cognizant that the Gibbs family was not at the track and mourning the loss of a son, husband and father.

    “That just goes to prove that you’ve got to cherish every moment in life. You don’t know when the next one happens. You don’t know when your number is called,” Logano said. “Hudson and I, like he’s my oldest and we have a connection.

    “He’s just a little me. I see so much of me in him. I always dreamed of winning with him here because I always wanted to take him for a ride. To see him smiling and celebrate the moment together, it’s truly the most awesome feeling.”

    ———

    AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • JGR co-owner Coy Gibbs, 49, dies hours after son wins title

    JGR co-owner Coy Gibbs, 49, dies hours after son wins title

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    AVONDALE, Ariz. — Coy Gibbs, the vice chairman of Joe Gibbs Racing for his NFL and NASCAR Hall of Fame father, died Sunday morning just hours after his son won the Xfinity Series championship. He was 49.

    “It is with great sorrow that Joe Gibbs Racing confirms that Coy Gibbs (co-owner) went to be with the Lord in his sleep last night. The family appreciates all the thoughts and prayers and asks for privacy at this time,” the team said in a statement released shortly before the start of the NASCAR season finale.

    Joe Gibbs has lost both of his sons. J.D. Gibbs died in 2019 of degenerative neurological disease, and was also 49 at the time of his death. Coy Gibbs succeeded his older brother as vice chairman of the family-run NASCAR organization.

    “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Coy Gibbs. On behalf of the France Family and all of NASCAR, I extend my deepest condolences to Joe, Pat, Heather, the Gibbs family and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing on the loss of Coy, a true friend and racer,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France.

    NASCAR held a moment of silence for Coy Gibbs before the start of the Cup championship Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, where JGR’s Christopher Bell was racing for the title. Kyle Busch, in his final race after 15 years with the team, was crying on pit road before the start of the race.

    “Today we will do what we don’t want to do, but we will unite as a family and race for the name on our chest,” JGR driver Denny Hamlin tweeted.

    Ty Gibbs had been scheduled to drive the No. 23 for 23XI Racing but was replaced by Daniel Hemric for what 23XI called “a family emergency.” Jackson Gibbs, son of the late J.D. Gibbs, was on Bell’s pit crew Sunday and worked the race.

    Coy Gibbs had just closed a tumultuous week with his 20-year-old son, who won the Xfinity title on Saturday and is soon expected to be named Kyle Busch’s replacement at JGR.

    But Ty Gibbs has been criticized this year for aggressive driving and last week wrecked teammate Brandon Jones out of the lead at Martinsville Speedway on the final lap. Jones needed to win the race to make the Xfinity championship and JGR and Toyota would have had two cars in the finale had Gibbs just stayed in second.

    “Racing is a family and the relationships within the entire garage go so much deeper than on-track competition. Today, we lost a dear part of our family. The loss of Coy Gibbs is devastating to everyone at Toyota and TRD,” said David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development.

    On Saturday, shortly before Ty Gibbs won his title, Hamlin said it had been a difficult week at JGR. He had tweeted after Ty Gibbs crashed Jones “I miss J.D.” and explained he was referring to the atmosphere at JGR established by J.D. Gibbs, which he called a “tight family unit.”

    “We really have to treat (teammates) like they’re our brother and our family, and I think at times at JGR, we probably work with each other the least amount of any other team, and that’s just the facts,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s anyone’s fault currently, but J.D. was just different because he really wrapped his arms around everyone. I told Coy, ‘J.D. was my dad.’ He was really my dad as soon as I came into the series, so when you lose that, it changes the culture a little bit, and we just have to get it back.”

    Joe Gibbs and Coy Gibbs spent the days after Martinsville defending their young driver, who was resoundingly booed at both Martinsville and Phoenix after his back-to-back victories. Ty Gibbs made his own humbling apology tour before holding off Noah Gragson for the championship.

    “Prayers to the Gibbs family,” tweeted Gragson, who had open animosity toward Ty Gibbs most of the Xfinity season before congratulating him following Saturday’s title.

    Coy Gibbs played linebacker at Stanford from 1991-94 and served as an offensive quality control assistant during his father’s second stint as the Washington NFL coach. Gibbs had a short racing career, including two years in the then-NASCAR Busch Series and three in NASCAR’s Trucks Series before helping his father launch Joe Gibbs Racing Motocross in 2007.

    Coy Gibbs was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and lived in Cornelius, North Carolina, with his wife Heather and four children.

    ———

    AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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