Day 13 of Broncos Camp is complete, and it was the most intense, emotional, and physical practice yet. The pads were back on, and we saw multiple skirmishes and fights, including quarterback Bo Nix getting into it with star pass rusher Nik Bonitto.
It was pretty spicy.
In today’s camp report, we have more about today’s chippy and intense practice and how quarterback Bo Nix loves it. Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph gives some praise to rookie linebacker
Red Murdock; offensive coordinator Davis Webb talks running back rotation and Jonah Coleman, injury updates, news and notes, tweets from camp, quotes, and more!
Chippy and intense practice
Today’s Broncos practice was one of the more intense and physical practices they have had in quite a while. It’s Day 13 of camp; they have been practicing against each other for over 2 weeks, and today, tempers flared in a big way.
It all started early in practice when rookie tight end Justin Joly said something that pissed off the defense, and it quickly became a 4-on-1 defense vs. Joly skirmish. That was broken up, and practice continued. However, moments later, undrafted rookie linebacker Taurean York de-cleated Joly, who was on a crossing route, and the defense went wild.
That happens at times throughout camp, and we move on.
Things got spicier late when Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper collapsed the pocket on quarterback Bo Nix, and for the second time this practice, Nix went down. Thankfully, he was alright, but the Broncos’ starting quarterback was PISSED. Tempers would flare soon after when linebacker Alex Singleton got an INT off Nix, the ball got punched out, and all hell broke loose. We had a pile-up of players; Bonitto was heated, and Nix, still pissed about being knocked down and probably about the INT, pulled star edge rusher Nik Bonitto off the pile by his leg.
Nix was pissed, Bonitto was pissed, and reserve center Calvin Throckmorton emerged from the pile bleeding from his face and would head to the locker room with a trainer holding an ice pack above his eye.
After practice, both Vance Joseph and Davis Webb told reporters that no matter what, you cannot hit the quarterback, which is a well known fact during training camp. Your season depends on Nix, and you don’t want to get him hurt from friendly fire.
“Thought it was good. Obviously, you want competitive periods. It’s been competitive all camp. You know, offense wins, defense wins. You know, guys are getting guys better. Obviously, you can’t cross the line. That’s against the rules. So, you know, practice games. When we’re playing our style of football, you know, it’s aggressive. It’s downhill, but we can’t ever cross the line and hurt our play aggressively when when the quarterback is hit or hits the ground in camp. Do you talk to your guys about Listen, we Coach Payton talks about show to practice from day one and you know, we all know on defense to avoid the quarterback, right? It it gets competitive obviously and guys are rushing to win the down and sometimes they get too close, you know, and we simply remind them, but you know, Bo’s our quarterback and we don’t want anyone near Bo”
Nix spoke to the media after practice and was asked about the events that went down during today’s practice, and he told reporters “I love it”.
“I love it. It’s football. It’s getting me ready for the games coming up, and it’s a physical practice out there played by physical people. It got intense, and we were just really enjoying it and sometimes in the dog days of summer practice gets long and the intensity runs high. “
At the end of the day, Nix shouldn’t be getting touched or going down. It has happened twice this camp, so that’s non-negoitable for me. The rest of it? I love it. Nix has that dog in him and I want to see these two units have that fire in them. Obviously, nobody can get hurt and hopefully Throckmorton merely had a flesh wound, but overall, I like it. Get it out of your system and don’t let it carry over into Wednesday’s practice.
These guys are ready to hit another team.
Rookie LB Red Murdock has the mind and intelligence to call the Broncos’ defense
One of the big winners from the preseason opener was rookie linebacker Red Murdock. He led the team in tackles and showed some promise. The final pick in the draft is far from being irrelevant and earned some big praise from defensive coordinator Vance Joseph after today’s practice.
Joseph told reporters that Murdock did a good job of calling the defense this past week and that he has the mind and intelligence to call the Broncos defense
“His college tape. It’s the draft [evaluation]. He was a smart football player that punched the ball out a lot, and we’ve seen it in practice. To be a Mike [line]backer in this league, it’s more than your physical traits; it’s your mind. That part he has. Now we have to use his mind to make more plays.”
We heard how difficult it is to learn the Broncos defense last season from veteran Dre Greenlaw, so it is impressive that Murdock has this ability. Now, he may not know it fully yet, but this is good progress for the rookie who is looking more and more like a roster lock as we progress through the summer and training camp.
Injury Report
- OL Nick Gargiulo remained on the PUP and did not practice today
- TE Caleb Lohner continued to miss practice
- LB Levelle Bailey suffered a broken leg vs. the Falcons and obviously did not practice today
- Edge rusher Drew Sanders did not practice again today and now has missed two straight practices
- WR Michael Bandy continued to sit out practice
- Backup center Alex Forsyth did not practice today
- Star WR Jaylen Waddle was in full pads today and practiced fully
- WR/KR Marvin Mims was in full pads today but was seen on the side field during team drills
- Veteran RB JK Dobbins was in full pads today
- Starting center Luke Wattenberg was in full pads today but was on the side field for team drills
- Backup offensive lineman Calvin Throckmorton, who has recently been the starting center, left practice after a skirmish involving multiple teammates. He was seen bleeding on his face and holding an ice pack above his eye
News and Notes
- Broncos were back in pads today for the first of two padded training camp practices before their Week 2 preseason game vs. the Green Bay Packers
- Broncos defense dominated the final move-the-ball periods – PBUs by PS2, Brandon Jones, and Ja’Quan McMillian
- LB Alex Singleton had an INT on QB Bo Nix
- WR Courtland Sutton had a deep completion against CB Riley Moss, where he went up and “Moss’d” the Broncos’ starting corner
- QB Jarrett Stidham had a completion to….Frank Crum? Possible ‘Joker’ in the making
- QB Bo Nix had a TD pass to WR Troy Franklin, but he’s lucky it wasn’t an INT due to going right through the hands of CB Ja’Quan McMillian
- UDFA LB Taurean York de-cleated rookie TE Justin Joly
- WR Troy Franklin made a diving catch on a throw from QB Sam Ehlinger – Sounds like it was a good day for him
- UDFA WR Cam Ross was getting targets from QB Bo Nix during team drills, but dropped the ball – He appears to be someone to watch moving forward
- Nix had a 30-yard completion down the sideline to WR Jaylen Waddle
- Rookie DT Tyler Onyedim came in for Zach Allen on a play and had a pressure and a possible sack
Tweets from Camp
Quotes
DC Vance Joseph on the defense forcing two turnovers in the first preseason game
“It was good to see obviously, but our focus again is playing good football: stopping the run, winning third downs, winning red zone. Obviously when you’re playing good football, when those [opportunities] present themselves, let’s take them. Our big focus now is catching the football. We caught two and probably dropped two. I think also too, when you watch the game, the ball’s coming out really fast. That may be a trend for us. Our rush is so good that the ball may come out fast. We had four batted balls, so we have to pivot each season, each game to what takes the ball away. A batted pass for an interception, that’s a huge play for us. So we’re constantly talking about just playing the right way, and that comes with it.”
STs coach Darren Rizzi on his evaluation of the young returners against Atlanta
“I said this postgame. I thought all three of those younger returners between [DB Sean] Fresch [Jr.], [WR] [Kolbe] Katsis, [WR Cameron] Ross, I felt all those guys for Day 1, or I should say Game 1 performance, all showed a little bit of something. I thought good poise by the punt returners, a couple fair catches. We call it a, ‘fair catch poison,’ where you’re kind of up in a crowd, we had a couple of those. Kolbe obviously had the nice kick return that got called back unfortunately. I thought they all showed poise for rookies. Cam Ross is a guy that we really recruited post-draft because we kind of saw something in him as a dual returner. He hasn’t disappointed so far. We’re trying to get him more opportunities. He’s poised back there, he’s experienced, he had a couple touchdowns in college. So I feel like there are a couple of young guys there in that crop that could potentially help us.”
OC Davis Webb on the offense’s performance in the first preseason game
“I think the starters and the second group really finished that first half well, but there were still a few points that were left out, kicking a field goal at the end. ‘Wilie’ (K Wil) Lutz had to bail us out once, and the other time we made him kick like a 50-something-yard field goal. So we hopefully get a little closer, and get more points and allow our pass rushers to go in a real game. So we’re trying to clean up some of those details, but I love the way we came out. Six plays, go get a touchdown. You felt the energy on the sideline kind of go throughout the team. That’s what we want to do, and that was a good start. Now we have to go back-to-back.”
OC Davis Webb on what he wants to see from QB Bo Nix in the second preseason game
“Just a clean operation. He hasn’t played in a while obviously. Just kind of get all the feels back, whether that be pregame warmups, to running out with the team, getting your first completion, getting hit for the first time, getting the first down and hopefully a touchdown. Just feel those emotions, deep breathe it out and then go watch the rest of the guys play.”
QB Bo Nix on Offensive Coordinator Davis Webb’s first game calling plays this preseason
“I really enjoyed it. I thought one, the tempo, the pace of play was great. I thought he did a good job and our offense as a whole did a really good job of going down and scoring. [The] first drive was really cool and it was just good to have my seat in the house. It was good to be over there, sort of get a couple different vantage points and watch the game as it played out and go through my reads on the sideline from a different point of view. I just thought it was a good turnout by us, a good job being physical, running the ball, throwing the ball. We were very balanced, I thought. He did a good job calling it, but we did a good job executing it as well.”
QB Bo Nix on what WR Jaylen Waddle adds to the offense
“It’s been great. He’s an elite player, and he makes our room better. With him out there on the field, just again, [he] adds a different level of explosiveness and just allows other guys to be better. ‘Court’ (WR Courtland Sutton) can be better, Jaylen’s obviously going to make plays. [WR] Pat [Bryant] and [WR] Troy [Franklin], those guys are going to be there and then the rest of the guys are going to fall in line.”
QB Bo Nix on how facing CB Pat Surtain II and OLB Nik Bonitto in practice helps him handle pressure and tight coverage
“It’s great for us in practice. As annoying as it is, it’s great because they’re the best of the best. You’re not going to find two better than them. Like you said in the pass rush, our tackles and our line have to face the best edge rushers and best interior rushers in the game, and they’ve statistically proven that over the last couple of years. So it makes us better upfront and challenges us. I think that’s why we’ve been really good in protection. Then receivers, it makes them better because they have to confront the challenge. Him [CB Pat Surtain II] and [CB] Riley [Moss] do a great job with ‘J-Mac’ (CB JaQuan McMillian). Pretty much everything looks like man with our defense, and so everything’s matched and our guys have to get separation and our guys are constantly having to get open. I think the more you do that, the more reps you get having to go against the best, the better you’re going to be.”
