ReportWire

Tag: Garett Bolles

  • Keeler: Broncos should spend Russell Wilson money on getting Bo Nix receivers without butterfingers

    [ad_1]

    Say this for Sean Payton: He sure liked to spread the drops around.

    The Broncos were the only NFL team to place three players among the league’s top 15 in dropped passes during the regular season, per Pro-Football-Reference.com — wide receiver Courtland Sutton (eight), tight end Evan Engram (eight) and running back RJ Harvey (seven).

    No wonder a 15-4 record feels like such a Boverachievement, in retrospect.

    It’s going to be a beast to repeat if Payton and GM George Paton don’t add an experienced, proven wideout for Bo Nix in 2026. Or a big-time tight end. Better yet, both.

    What the heck. Russell Wilson is off the books, right? Paton is rolling into the offseason with diamond encrusted Walmart gift card in his wallet. Go nuts.

    “I think the position that this team, the position that we’re in, (we) have a win-now mentality,” Engram said Monday at Dove Valley as the Broncos cleaned out their lockers following a 10-7 loss to New England in the AFC Championship. “And there are some things that we can work with to even make our roster even better.

    “So, yeah — I have the utmost faith in the guys upstairs, all the decision-makers, the coach. They’ve done a great job since they’ve been here. They’ve built (a) championship team. Being able to add to that already, we’re in a great spot. We’ll be in a good spot for a while.”

    Yeah, but you’ve got to strike now. Nix is on a rookie contract through 2027. That time is going to fly by. Like the Nuggets with Jokic and Murray and the Avs with MacKinnon and Makar, this is the window. Right here. We going for this? Or not?

    “Obviously, we need some key players to come in and do what they need to do by getting points on the scoreboard,” veteran left tackle Garett Bolles noted Monday. “(We’ve) got a phenomenal defense. We have everything we need. We just need a couple more playmakers, and sky’s the limit for this team.”

    Almost everything. Nix can sling it with Sam Darnold all stinking day. What do the Super-Bowl-bound Seahawks have that the Broncos don’t? A bell cow tailback (Kenneth Walker) who has averaged 15 games per season over his career. And a No. 1 wideout (Jaxson Smith-Njigba) who’s putting up seven catches and 86 receiving yards per game this postseason.

    [ad_2]

    Sean Keeler

    Source link

  • Broncos win AFC West for first time since 2015

    [ad_1]

    A decade-long drought is over.

    The Broncos are AFC West champions again.

    The long wait ended Saturday evening in the midst of a long weekend for the Broncos, who beat Kansas City on Christmas night and then watched with joy as Houston knocked off the Los Angeles Chargers two days later.

    That result cemented the Broncos’ status as division champions by knocking the Chargers to 11-5, two games behind with just a Week 18 tilt between the teams at Empower Field remaining.

    Head coach Sean Payton has said since the beginning of the season that the team’s three goals, in order, are to win the division, earn the best seed possible and then play for a Super Bowl title.

    Now the first of those goals is achieved. Next weekend Denver will play for the second.

    The game against the Chargers loses some juice because, had Los Angeles won Saturday, it would have been a division championship game. Still, the stakes are plenty high for Payton’s team. A win secures the No. 1 seed in the AFC, a bye through the Wild Card round and the assurance that the playoffs will run through Denver as long as the Broncos are playing.

    Regardless of what happens in Week 18 — the NFL sets the playing slate after Week 17 action finishes, meaning the Broncos and Chargers could play Saturday or Sunday — Denver is assured of a top-3 seed in the conference and a home playoff game.

    The difference between the top spot and any other, though, should be plenty to keep Payton’s team motivated as it returns to the practice field this week.

    “We have to play the final game and we have to take care of it,” quarterback Bo Nix said Thursday night after beating the Chiefs but before the division was secured. “They’re going to be a good football team. Some other team could help us along the way, but at the end of the day, it is going to come down to us vs. them. We’re excited to have them at home. It is going to be a really good environment and atmosphere. It’s honestly a playoff atmosphere. It is going to be tough.”

    Now the Chargers have only seeding to play for, but Jim Harbaugh’s team has been a thorn in Payton’s side. Harbaugh to date is 3-0 against Denver since returning to the NFL before the 2024 season.

    [ad_2]

    Parker Gabriel

    Source link

  • Renck: Von Miller will always be a Bronco, even if playing for Denver again unlikely

    [ad_1]

    ASHBURN, VA. – Von Miller knew the answer. But he could not resist asking the question.

    A free agent last summer, training camp approaching, Miller had not decided on a new team. Garett Bolles, in attendance at a Von’s Vision event in Colorado, urged his good friend to call the Broncos.

    Von had not played in Denver since 2021. Russell Wilson had him on a group text with Chandler Jones in 2022, asking for him to return. Von wisely sidestepped that “disaster of a season,” signing with the Buffalo Bills as Denver added Randy Gregory.
    Three years later, there was a new coach and new quarterback. Maybe the remodeling needed an old antique to complete the project.

    Von picked up his iPhone and dialed general manager George Paton.

    “When Garett brought it up, I was like, ‘Come on, man.’ You have Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper. But I started thinking, ‘You have all these people on the team and there’s not a spot for me? I know there probably won’t be, but let me check and see.’ I talked with George and I already had an idea how it was going to go. And that is exactly what he said.”

    There was no room for the 36-year-old Miller, not with backups Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman capable of playing special teams. The conversation with Paton, the man who traded him to the Rams in 2021, was productive, but not for the reason he expected.

    “It was more about me taking the steps to get into a front office. He knows I want to be a GM someday (a goal inspired and encouraged by Bills GM Brandon Beane),” Miller told The Post on Friday. “I am still happy I did it. That was this season. What about next year?”

    Sitting below the No. 24 name plate — an ode to Champ Bailey and Kobe Bryant — in the Washington Commanders locker room, Von flashed that devilish grin, the one that appeared so often after his franchise-record 110.5 sacks with the Broncos.

    Truth be told, he would “love to return” to the Commanders. Would like a “rain check” after a lost season because of a battery of injuries to stars, including quarterback Jayden Daniels. Daniels is why Von chose Washington over the Seahawks.

    “Nothing against Sam Darnold, but it was Jayden Daniels. In my opinion, it was the best situation,” Miller said. “They were coming off the NFC Championship Game. And (coach) Dan Quinn had a plan for me as a veteran player. He gets it.”

    Of course, nothing has worked out, save for Von delivering as an effective situational rusher. He has five sacks in 11 games. He wants a third Super Bowl ring. But he is also motivated to collect eight more sacks, and have his sons, Valor and Victory, gain a better understanding of what their dad does for a living.

    That is why he fully intends to play next season. Get that number, and he will reach 142.5 for his career, ranking sixth all-time.

    “Myles Garrett is like 14 sacks behind me, and he came into the league six years after me. I don’t want to make the top 10 and get knocked out,” Miller said. “I want to stay there for 10 or 20 years. So, yeah, I definitely want to play another year, and who knows after that?”

    With Washington hosting the Broncos on Sunday night, Miller cannot avoid becoming nostalgic. He never wanted to leave, but knew his time was up after he called a captains meeting with coach Vic Fangio and Paton to discuss turning the season around and aiming for a division title.

    “It fell on deaf ears. What I realized later is that we were were so far removed from that. That’s all I knew from playing with Peyton Manning. But we had guys who couldn’t relate. It’s hard to get somebody to miss something they never had,” Miller said. “I was talking about winning a Super Bowl, and they were like, ‘What? We are try to win a single game.’ ”

    A few weeks later, Von was shipped out. He was surprised, the news bringing him to tears. He still wonders if he would have played his entire career in Denver if the Broncos had drafted someone like Bo Nix.

    “We never had a quarterback for a lot of years. No one special or elite,” Miller said. “And Bo fell in their lap. And you’ve got him with one of the greatest minds in NFL history, Sean Payton. And they have Courtland Sutton, Troy Franklin, and Marvin Mims, and that offensive line is way better than what we had in 2015. This year’s team is special. And if Bo Nix continues to take those leaps.”

    Miller catches himself. There he goes again. He cannot help it. When it comes to the Broncos, Von is a fan.

    He spent a decade in Denver, morphing into a future Hall of Famer. He made mistakes, grew up before our eyes, became a father — his third child, a daughter named Virtue, is due in January — a leader and a champion.

    [ad_2]

    Troy Renck

    Source link

  • Broncos agree to four-year, $48 million extension with center Luke Wattenberg, sources confirm

    [ad_1]

    The Broncos have locked up another key member of one of the best-performing offensive lines in football.

    On Tuesday night, Denver agreed to a four-year extension with center Luke Wattenberg, sources confirmed to The Denver Post. It’s a four-year, $48 million extension for Wattenberg, a source confirmed, with $27 million guaranteed.

    The deal ties Wattenberg with the New Orleans Saints’ Erik McCoy as the fifth-highest-paid center in the NFL, with an average value of $12 million yearly.

    The move comes just a day after head coach Sean Payton told reporters that he and general manager George Paton had spent time before last week’s bye discussing extensions and initiating conversations with a handful of players.

    “The key is not affecting the mojo or how your team’s doing,” Payton said. “I’m always sensitive to that, especially when you’re playing well, because sometimes those can be difficult discussions.”

    The Broncos clearly moved quick with Wattenberg, whose rookie deal was set to expire after the 2025 season. The crop of available 2026 free-agent centers was fairly slim, and Wattenberg would’ve likely commanded a hefty sum on the open market. Still, Wattenberg’s extension — if signed as a free agent in the offseason — would’ve made him the third-highest-paid center in 2025 free agency, behind the Bears’ Drew Dalman and the Jaguars’ Patrick Mekari.

    The 28-year-old Wattenberg has become an integral part of a Broncos offensive front that currently ranks fourth in the NFL in pass-block win rate and ninth in run-block win rate, according to ESPN. Wattenberg won the starting job prior to the 2024 season in his third year in the league, authoring a strong year in pass protection in front of rookie quarterback Bo Nix.

    [ad_2]

    Luca Evans

    Source link

  • Amid career year, Broncos RB J.K. Dobbins says he hopes to ‘end my career here’ in Denver

    [ad_1]

    At the end of another J.K. Dobbins scrum that charmed the masses, employed little filter and featured him smiling roughly 5,643 times, left tackle Garett Bolles wandered over with a request.

    “I’m Garett Bolles, from K-Jazz 101,” Bolles said Thursday, posing as a reporter. “I’m just here to ask you a question about your Spanish. You’ve learned a lot of Spanish over the years, and I just — can you touch base on that, please?”

    Dobbins smiled, a month after he charmed the masses by giving an all-Spanish postgame interview on ESPN Deportes. He bantered with his protector at left tackle. And he asked Bolles to give him one word. A single word of Spanish.

    “¿Qué pasa, hombre, amigo?” Bolles responded, which translates roughly to What’s up, man friend? in English.

    Dobbins doubled over and shrieked with laughter.

    Any time Dobbins is mentioned in a news conference in Denver, Broncos head coach Sean Payton has uttered some version of the following: Denver knew what they were going to get on the field. They didn’t know they were getting, as Payton said Wednesday, “all this other stuff.” The personality, according to Payton, is infectious, beyond the success of a running back who ranks third in the league in rushing yards. And Broncos Country has rapidly become enamored with Dobbins.

    On Thursday, Dobbins took the love up another notch.

    “Far as extension and stuff like that, that doesn’t cross my mind,” Dobbins responded when asked about potentially re-upping with Denver. “But, me just wanting to be here in Denver — yes. I hope to end my career here and be here for the rest of my time in the NFL.”

    Currently, Dobbins is playing on a one-year deal with a base value of $2.7 million. And Denver is quite fond of rookie second-round back RJ Harvey. But Dobbins made quite clear he wants to stay a Bronco.

    “I don’t really think about that,” Dobbins said. “But, yeah, that would be nice. Because I want to be in Denver. I love it.

    “I love the fanbase,” Dobbins continued, gushing. “I think the fanbase and I have a connection. Love my teammates. And I also love, I love Sean Payton. I love the owners.”

    Dobbins has played 10 games just twice in five previous seasons in the NFL, and the Broncos appeared poised to slowly pass the torch from Dobbins to Harvey. Through eight games, though, Dobbins has shown no signs of slowing down. The breakaway burst may not be what it once was, but the vision remains. Dobbins racked up a season-high 111 rushing yards on 15 carries against a porous Cowboys defense last Sunday. He’s also held off Harvey for a true backfield timeshare, although the rookie had three touchdowns on just eight touches Sunday.

    The division of playing time suggests the Broncos still trust Dobbins more as a pass protector. The veteran has 29 pass-blocking snaps to Harvey’s four this season. On Sunday, he lit up Cowboys safety Markquese Bell to give Bo Nix ample time to laser a 32-yard touchdown strike to Troy Franklin.

    “He sticks his face in there,” Nix said of Dobbins. “He’s not a prima donna that is not worried about getting hit, or not wanting to protect, or just wanting the football. He just does whatever the team needs him to do.”

    [ad_2]

    Luca Evans

    Source link

  • The Bo Nix Index, Week 5: How tempo, blitz recognition keyed QB’s fourth-quarter breakout

    [ad_1]

    Eventually, they stopped talking about points. Bo Nix, and the rest of the Broncos’ offense around him made clear: they needed to go get six.

    They had punted on six straight possessions in Philadelphia. Nix was playing some of his worst football in a topsy-turvy start. He “wasn’t happy,” as he put it postgame.

    And then a shining version of Nix unfurled before the hostile Philly crowd, the best version of the second-year quarterback shooting the Eagles down in the fourth quarter in one of the most important performances of his young career.

    “We handled it how we handled it,” Nix said after the Broncos’ 21-17 win, “and we went out and won the game.”

    Welcome back to The Denver Post’s Bo Nix Index, reviewing every drop-back from Nix’s performance the previous week. For Week 5, let’s focus specifically on the factors that contributed to the quarterback’s star-making final frame: 9-of-10 passing, 127 yards, a touchdown. Plenty of reps both explained Nix’s erratic play early and his steadiness down the stretch. Here are four key themes.

    1. Nix favors tempo. It worked against Eagles

    Last week, head coach Sean Payton noted that Nix “likes tempo” to start a game — a kind of fast-paced offense that incorporates no-huddle and motion to wear defenses down. Within that, too, Payton hinted his staff has adapted to reduce verbiage in play calls so Nix can get to the line quicker.

    “He’ll have input like, ‘Hey, this is a play I really like, can we get that in?’” Lombardi said of Nix. “And nine times out of 10, we do it.”

    Denver went straight to tempo in their first drive against the Eagles. Nix clapped his hands in an early no-huddle third-down look, smoothly one-handing a high snap, pivoting, and firing a quick comebacker to Courtland Sutton for a first down. The Broncos went no-huddle three times across that first drive, and Nix moved them into Philadelphia territory before a sack by Cooper DeJean stalled the drive.

    After veering away from tempo in the third quarter, Nix got rolling in Denver’s early fourth-quarter drive with some faster looks. He hit Sutton again on a quick play-action back-shoulder ball for a first down to push the Broncos into Eagles territory. His eventual game-tying touchdown pass came off tempo, as Nix cycled through his reads while rolling out and found Evan Engram for a score.

    Nix has a 108.8 quarterback rating this season on play-action passes, and a 101.5 QB rating when taking less than 2.5 seconds to throw, according to Next Gen Stats. Generally, he appears to make quicker decisions when Payton speeds up opposing defenses.

    2. Nix scraps strange statue-feet habit

    As has been pointed out in previous Bo Nix Indexes, the QB is better when he actually sets his feet to throw — and more importantly, doesn’t drift. But Nix also has a particular mechanical quirk at the opposite end of the spectrum. At times, on quick-hits, he’ll take a snap and fire with only a tiny tap of his front foot, generating little lower-body momentum.

    Sometimes, it works out fine — like a second-quarter strike to Trent Sherfield, when Nix fired quickly to expose an opening in the middle of the Eagles’ zone. But it can also backfire.

    On a late Broncos third-quarter drive that stalled out, Nix had receiver Marvin Mims Jr. open on a short flare on third-and-2. He turned his body in Mims’ direction toward the right sideline. But instead of shuffling his feet again to point parallel at Mims, Nix planted near-horizontally and fired a sidearm throw. The ball sailed and tipped off an outstretched Mims’ fingertips for an ugly incompletion.

    Nix’s feet went topsy-turvy at times throughout the fourth quarter, as he’s wont to do. But each of his most visible strikes — a 10-yard hit to Troy Franklin, an 18-yard crosser to Engram, a pivotal 34-yard connection with Sutton — came with drive off his back foot. He switched off statue mode, and the Broncos were better for it.

    3. Nix deciphered and felt out pressure much more quickly in fourth quarter

    Broncos third-string running back Tyler Badie got more snaps on Sunday than rookie RJ Harvey, in large part because Denver trusts him more in pass protection (and two-minute situations). Badie absolutely wiped out Eagles inside linebacker Zack Baun on an early third-down ILB blitz.

    Harvey, meanwhile, got smoked by DeJean on a blitz on that same drive, and Nix nearly was dinged for a game-changing sack-fumble.

    That play knocked the Broncos out of field-goal range and an early opportunity to put points on the board. But it wasn’t all on Harvey. Nix had a few puzzling moments where he got himself into trouble against the Eagles by not feeling pressure off the edge.

    Harvey wasn’t even blocking DeJean on Nix’s blind side, and the quarterback had ample room to step up or even escape the pocket on that third down. This played out again in the second quarter, when Azeez Ojulari got an angle on Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles and hit Nix for an incompletion when he didn’t step up.

    [ad_2]

    Luca Evans

    Source link

  • Renck: In signature win for Sean Payton, Broncos prove they’re afraid of nobody with remarkable comeback vs. Eagles

    [ad_1]

    PHILADELPHIA — The quarterback fought frustration. The tight end remained in witness protection. The cornerback got cooked.

    The penalties, each more ridiculous than the last, mounted. The Broncos were on the verge of getting skunked.

    Then something remarkable happened. They finished.

    They met the moment. At last.

    Trailing by 14 points against the defending champion Eagles, who had not lost a home game in 13 months, the Broncos rallied for a 21-17 victory, surviving a heart-in-a-blender Hail Mary pass.

    Broncos Analysis: In dominating trenches vs. Philly, Sean Payton’s team finally has road map to loftier goals

    This game threatened to become a blowout. Instead, it became the blueprint. You saw it. Run the ball. Convert third downs. Use the middle of the field. Turn Nik Bonitto loose (not sure if he showers after games or just licks his paws).

    As the football sat lonely in the corner of the end zone with time expired, safety Talanoa Hufanga taunted Philadelphia fans, raising his arms in the air for dramatic effect. The swagger and confidence were no longer just a locker room thing, but in the light for everyone to see.

    The Broncos are back in every January conversation.

    They are 3-2 and should be favored in their next seven games. In a remarkable final 15 minutes, they transformed the lingering narrative that they were frauds into a story inspiring fear.

    These players, who were the equivalent of a clenched fist after walk-off losses to the Colts and Chargers, punched back.

    Enough was enough.

    [ad_2]

    Troy Renck

    Source link

  • Sean Payton defends Broncos center Luke Wattenberg after penalty-filled Bengals outing

    [ad_1]

    A few seconds of silence passed on ESPN’s broadcast Monday night, announcer Joe Buck waiting for the inevitable after a replay of a blindside-block flag on the Broncos’ Alex Palczewski.

    Eventually, color commentator Troy Aikman let loose.

    “I’m not gonna keep my mouth shut,” Aikman chuckled. “That’s a good call. It’s just not a necessary call, you know?”

    The Broncos, too, came away from Monday night’s 28-3 win over the Bengals with a few offensive-line flags they didn’t particularly agree with. Center Luke Wattenberg drew five penalties over the course of 60 minutes against the Bengals — a rough day on paper. But Wattenberg was whistled for two particularly questionable holding calls that Payton lambasted.

    “I’m gonna come to his defense, because there was a handful of — we never send anything to the league, but there were a few of ‘em that, if you guys watch the tape…” Payton said, trailing off. “He’s been playing well.”

    After Monday, the 28-year-old Wattenberg now leads all NFL centers in penalties (six) through Week 4, according to Pro Football Focus. Still, Payton and left tackle Garett Bolles expressed clear faith in the Broncos’ starting center moving forward.

    “I mean, some of those penalties were ticky-tacky,” Bolles told The Denver Post in the locker room Thursday. “It is what it is. You can’t focus on what you did. You gotta focus on what you’re going to do to continue to get better.

    “And I trust Luke,” Bolles continued. “We all love Luke. He leads us up front. He identifies the stuff we need to identify. And without him, we wouldn’t be where we’re at today. So, we love him.”

    [ad_2]

    Luca Evans

    Source link

  • Broncos TE Evan Engram on track to play vs. Bengals, still has ‘trust’ in team’s plan for him

    [ad_1]

    Evan Engram has been through the high of the highest and the lowest of the low, ex-Giants tight end coach Lunda Wells put it this offseason. These days, he tends to stay somewhere in between.

    The Broncos’ much-hyped tight end is back on track to play in Week 4, after two straight days of full participation in practice. It’s a Monday night chance to stabilize an early tenure in Denver that hasn’t gone to plan. In Week 1, the 31-year-old tweaked his calf . In Week 2, his back “flared up,” as Engram told The Denver Post on Friday.

    Engram said his back “feels good” on Friday, though, and largely shrugged off his rocky start.

    “I feel like God just kinda throws little curveballs at you sometimes,” Engram told The Post. “And I just take pride in responding to it the best way I can. And I think everything’s leading in the right direction.”

    After missing last week’s practices and game against the Chargers, the Broncos’ self-dubbed “cleaner” has returned to tidy up a messy offensive kitchen in Denver. Quarterback Bo Nix has lacked a consistent option over the middle, beyond Courtland Sutton on crossing routes. The Broncos still have yet to get any passing-game production from their tight ends, a room with a collective 10 catches for 63 yards.

    That lack of production is precisely why the Broncos signed Engram back in March. In the two games he’s played, though, Engram’s been on the field less than half of Denver’s offensive snaps — and coach Sean Payton made clear last week that injuries hadn’t played a factor in his on-field role.

    “I don’t know if there’s anything that hasn’t clicked,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said Friday. “I think, a little bit like the running backs, we’ve got a bunch of tight ends that we like. And they all do different things well.

    “But, yeah — we’re aware of what that guy’s strengths are. And he’ll be getting going here real soon.”

    Engram nodded when asked if he feels there’s a plan to escalate his usage.

    “I really do,” he told The Post. “That’s one of the big reasons why I came here, is because I trust the coaches. I trust their plan for me. And I think new things like this take time.”

    Engram noted it took a “couple weeks” to find his groove when he first arrived in Jacksonville in 2022, after playing five years with the New York Giants. Indeed, in his third and fourth games of that first year with the Jaguars, Engram had a combined two catches on four targets .

    [ad_2]

    Luca Evans

    Source link

  • Youth, competition create excitement within Broncos offense: “We have a team full of hungry dogs”

    Youth, competition create excitement within Broncos offense: “We have a team full of hungry dogs”

    [ad_1]

    As Sean Payton embarks on his second season as the Broncos head coach, he has felt rejuvenated.

    Denver’s offense has been sprinkled with youth, sparking position battles — and not just at quarterback — as players are try to make their mark on a team that’s in the midst of a rebuild.

    “I think it’s that challenge of working with a young team,” Payton said. “I think that’s the one thing I notice at least watching. I feel the competition.”

    Courtland Sutton didn’t show up to the Broncos’ facility until mandatory minicamp, but for the two days the veteran wide receiver was on the practice field, he felt the same energy.

    He said the offense is filled with hungry players who are determined to go on the field each week to prove themselves, which is one reason there’s excitement among the players and coaches about training camp.

    Indeed, the battle between rookie Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson for the starting quarterback job will be the highlight of the summer. But the competition at center, wide receiver and running back could be just as heated. The current state of the organization has created opportunity for first- and second-year players to step into meaningful roles this fall.

    “You have a lot of guys that are still on their rookie deal, just got drafted or (undrafted) free agents,” Sutton said. “(We have) a team full of hungry dogs.”

    Denver’s wide receivers room is filled with young players who have the potential to make an impact. After the Broncos traded wideout Jerry Jeudy to the Cleveland Browns in March, Marvin Mims Jr. has a chance to be a second option in the passing game. Denver also has rookies Troy Franklin and Devaughn Vele, both of whom could command significant playing time, depending on how they perform during training camp and preseason games.

    At running back, the one-two punch of Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine might not be guaranteed. The Broncos drafted former Notre Dame standout Audric Estime — who has been sidelined due to a knee procedure — and is viewed by Payton as a first- and second-down running back. Meanwhile, Jaleel McLaughlin and undrafted rookie Blake Watson have spent the offseason program displaying the receiving traits that Payton desires from running backs.

    With Greg Dulcich continuing to work his way back from injury, there’s an opportunity for tight end Lucas Krull to show the coaching staff that he can potentially be the pass-catching threat that the Broncos desperately need at the position.

    “It felt different this year in a good way,” Payton said of the competition level within the team.

    While there might be an emphasis on the Broncos developing their young talent, Sutton said the mid-career veterans have something to prove as well. Wide receiver Tim Patrick, who restructured the final year of his contract, is hoping to show that he can still be a reliable asset in Denver’s wide receivers room despite having back-to-back season-ending injuries — and despite the team drafting Vele, who has similar traits.

    [ad_2]

    Ryan McFadden

    Source link

  • Injured Broncos OL Bolles, CB Darby out for year

    Injured Broncos OL Bolles, CB Darby out for year

    [ad_1]

    ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — An ugly loss Thursday night to the Indianapolis Colts turned even uglier Friday morning for the Denver Broncos as coach Nathaniel Hackett said left tackle Garett Bolles (leg/ankle) and cornerback Ronald Darby (knee) will miss the remainder of the season.

    In the span of four days — Sunday’s loss to the Las Vegas Raiders and Thursday’s loss to the Colts — the Broncos have seen running back Javonte Williams, Bolles and Darby each suffer season-ending injuries.

    Bolles suffered a fractured lower right leg with just over three minutes remaining in regulation of the 12-9 overtime loss to the Colts. The Broncos were not optimistic about the sixth-year tackle’s short-term prognosis when he was examined by the medical staff.

    He was taken for additional tests Friday morning and the need for surgery to repair the fracture was confirmed. Bolles has been one of the team’s more durable players, having started from his first game as a rookie in 2016 when he was the first-round-draft pick. He has missed just four games in his career (three last season — two with an ankle injury and another on the COVID-19/reserve list).

    Darby, who had ACL surgery in 2018 when he was with the Philadelphia Eagles, suffered his injury just before halftime. Wide receiver Tim Patrick, who led the team in touchdown catches last year, suffered a season-ending knee injury in training camp to go with Williams’ injury this past Sunday, so the Broncos (2-3) have suffered significant losses at the top of the depth chart over five games.

    Outside linebacker Randy Gregory also suffered meniscus damage in his knee against the Raiders and will miss several weeks.

    “Injuries are things as a coach, I can’t control,” Hackett said. “They’re long-term things. I can only go to the drawing board and grind, and try to find ways to put people in good positions and the new guys are going to have to go in there. We have to find a way to make them successful.”

    Hackett said Friday since the Broncos have additional time before their next game — Monday night Oct. 17 against the Los Angeles Chargers — the offensive staff will discuss who will replace Bolles. Calvin Anderson finished the game Thursday, but Billy Turner, a free agent signee who has yet to play this season (knee injury), is an option and is closing in on a return to the lineup.

    Hackett said Turner could have played against the Colts, but because it was a short prep week, Turner was inactive.

    Rookie Damarri Mathis, a fifth-round pick in April’s draft, played in Darby’s spot in the second half Thursday.

    Hackett also said linebacker Josey Jewell was week-to-week’ with a sprained knee he suffered against the Colts and outside linebacker Baron Browning would be day-to-day with a sprained wrist.

    [ad_2]

    Source link