There has been a lot of hand wringing over the Denver Broncos offense and Bo Nix in particular, but the coaching staff has no lost faith in him at all. Offensive coordinator Davis Webb came out and defending him hard this week and even said he feels like Nix is about to go on a bit of a run.
DNVR Spots posted this clip of Webb’s comments:
I’m kind of feeling it too. Nix has started slow in every season he’s been in the NFL and right about this time is when he gets a little hot for a stretch. It would
be perfect timing if he did because they could seriously close the gap on the Kansas City Chiefs with wins this week and next week.
Broncos daily recap
Scouting the Enemy: Arizona Cardinals
The Denver Broncos battle the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Here is a deeper look at their Week 7 opponent.
The Broncos offense needs more from Bo Nix
Denver’s found ways to win, but the offense needs more consistency and production from Nix to reach its potential.
Potent quotables
Sean Payton
Opening statement
“A little breezy today, but good Friday work. Any questions?”
On how OLB Jonathon Cooper looked in practice this week
“Good, good. The good news with the current protocol is they can stay in shape, and train, and all those things where eight or 10 years ago it was different. So that’s benefited him.”
On if he would like to see QB Bo Nix run more
“I think you have to be careful about that. There are certain on-the-move plays, but I think some of that can happen organically. A lot of that happens with back-to-the-quarterback defense. It’s a little bit different when eyes are to the quarterback. So when you get the man combinations or the match stuff… It’s not on my Top-10 list of things that we’re working on.”
On why he keeps a fullback on the roster
“I think this: it’s real simple. Those teams that don’t, they have an ‘F’ tight end that would do the same things, maybe a bigger stature, play special teams. So let’s just hypothetically say we didn’t have a fullback. [TE] Nate Adkins would fit in a lot of those ‘F’ roles. So when you see more tight ends, there’s one of them usually on each roster that’s doing fullback things. So a lot of it’s just roster building. I kind of prefer having that true ‘F’, but the right one, not at the expense of the better one.”
On why FB Adam Prentice’s snap count has decreased from last season
“I think it depends on what we’re trying to get each week. We talk about, are we wanting their base defense or are we wanting their sub defense? So that can impact his role in the gameplan, but that makes sense though.”
On the Cardinals retiring Pro Football Hall of Fame WR Larry Fitzgerald Jr.’s number on Sunday
“He was amazing. Fortunately I was able to spend some time with him at the [Pro Football] Hall of Fame. There are so many things that he represented that are right. So consistent, competitive. It was an amazing statistic, I never knew they kept track of it. He had more tackles—maybe that’s not a good stat—but he had more tackles than dropped passes. He was smart, tough, reliable. He knew then that he was going to be at this game and gave me a hard time about it. Tremendous player. Really, really good.”
On if the extra rest has helped DL Zach Allen
“It’s always that balance with those interior guys when you’re in a rotation. The game ends, and I always first thing on Monday, I’m always looking at the pitch count and then special teams. How many plays? Usually it’s the backup quarterback or the backup lineman that might have the… But how many plays? it’s purposeful with his energy and the way he plays, and so it helps to have depth.”
On if the extra rest has helped DL Zach Allen take a leap as a run defender
“His tape has been fantastic. He’s really, really athletic at the snap, and so I’m glad he’s ours.”
On managing the return of a veteran who has missed several weeks compared with a rookie
“I think the first thing would be injury, no injury, experience. I’m always mindful of anyone’s first game back if it’s been past a month, call it the pitch count. That would be the big difference. These players that are returning off of reserve/injured or just making sure that we’re keeping track of, ‘What’s the goal before we play? What do we see pitch-count wise?’ Then paying attention to it.”
On if CB Pat Surtain II will play this week
“We’ll see, we’ll see, we’ll see. We’re not announcing starting lineups now.”
On the key to stringing wins together
“I think there are some similarities and differences, but I think that 4-2 mark a year ago, we’d come off of a real good defensive effort in London. It just can’t be a yo-yo. Any team that I can think of, there are runs. I think more importantly, the last thing I just said to them was, ‘We have to be ascending, improving.’ I think they understand that.”
On what has enabled the team to embrace a next-man-up mentality
“Fair enough. I think depth at certain positions, like corner for instance. It’s one thing to say next man up, but having developed guys and having that depth in key areas. It is an attrition league. You hope that your offseason, how you’ve prepared, you’re reducing your injuries. Yet with the rosters the way they are, it’s very likely. So I’m pleased that we’ve got that depth.”
On how he prepares backups to step in for injured players while keeping them healthy
“When we have practice, you’ll see let’s say a team period. The front line [goes], but then very quickly in that team period, you’ll see other guys that might have to play that are getting reps. That would be part of the weekly process.”
On if CB Ja’Quan McMillian went undrafted because teams didn’t view him as an outside corner
“Yes, that’s a good question. It’s a great question. We can think of just a long line of players that have all these other things that are important to playing well. He’s playing at a real high level now. So his instincts, all those things that you’re looking for, especially within the framework of our defense. A lot of times you say, ‘Who’s the nickel? What type of structure do they run?’ You’ve seen some bigger Buffalo nickel teams of late, but each defense has a certain thing they’re looking for. The ball kind of finds him. That’s a good trait. He endears himself to his teammates too, so he’s a great get.”
On what he’s seen from QB Bo Nix’s mindset this week
“Just queue Monday’s presser, queue Wednesday’s presser and we’ll go to Friday. I think all of us feel like we have to be moving in that forward needle.”
On if he saw what he wanted from RB Jonah Coleman this week
“Oh yes.”
On the skills third-down backs have to balance with catching the ball and pass protection
“It’s a great question because you want to make sure it’s not one or the other. A lot of it depends on who they might be blocking. I remember the old 49ers teams, [ILB Patrick] Willis and [ILB Navarro] Bowman. [Former Saints RB] Sproles was our third-down, two-minute back. We never wanted that matchup. There was one two-minute play where he ended up on one of the two of them, and he was fantastic, but if I asked him to do that twice, it would’ve been hard. We consider all of that as to not only third down, but drop back. That’s a real big self-scout thing, if [RB] RJ [Harvey] is in, if [RB] J.K. [Dobbins] is in. Whoever the back is in, we have to pay attention there.”
On how RB RJ Harvey has performed
“He’s made some big plays for us, screens. [Offensive Coordinator] Davis [Webb] just pulled up last week… He’s instinctive. I like his progress for early part of Year 2.”
On if the Cardinals present more defensive fronts
“Our defense, we see a base-look, kind of an Okie structure. There’ll be some similarities. Then they have a nickel package, a dime. Their penny—and we have a penny too—it can be a little blurry. One of the important notes this week was, ‘Communication, ID.’ Usually there’s someone in the huddle that’s looking, and [QB] Bo [Nix] is stepping into the huddle. They’re saying, ‘Nickel, nickel,’ or, ‘Base, base.’ Then I’ll a lot of times say, ‘Hey Bo, this is base defense here.’ So when we’re game planning, if you’re wanting to run a play against their base defense, there are certain things in order to know you’re getting base. There’s no 100 percent. That’s an important thing this week. To answer your question, yes.”
On if the team has looked forward to next week against the Chiefs at all
“Not even… The first thing I thought about was, ‘Who do we play next week?’ It has to be. I’m trying to not be cliché. It has to be the focus. You come back after the weekend and you’re like, ‘All right, we have a three-game stretch. Here it is. Here’s Arizona. Let’s focus on Arizona.’ These guys are smart enough that they understand enough of our league. These guys (Arizona) just came off a real impressive win against the Rams. We get so focused in on… When you have the schedule like we do in the NFL with 17 games, I couldn’t tell you after the bye. I have no clue. I know where we’re going at some point; I just don’t know when.”
On the Cardinals beating the Rams last week by only scoring field goals
“It doesn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing to be effective. That’s a good offense they played. So both defenses played well. That play at the end of the game, they get the big pass completion, personal foul. Then all of the sudden, just from here to there. How many times have we seen it with the new kickoff? Two plays away from field goal range. It was a good win.”
On the key to not overlooking any opponents
“I think a little bit gets back to who you’re bringing in the building. The make up and the guys that are smart. They understand how this league works. So that experience, that make up certainly helps me when we’re focusing on this game.”
On how he is able to motivate the team and find a message that resonates
“Each week’s different. It’s a fair question. You learn to understand what’s important and then what’s not important relative to… When you’re a young coach, you’re talking about everything, and when you talk about everything, pretty soon you’re not really covering anything because you’ve hit everything. What you learn maybe with a little bit of experience is what to ignore, even with your team as you prepare. But very in touch to the challenges today, and the challenges within each week. I would say I think about that race all the time. What’s going to be this week’s theme? What’s going to be… All of that. Probably too much sometimes, but your mind races relative to what’s necessary for this win.”
On an example of doing too much with motivation and preparation
“I’m trying to give an example. It’s Friday. We’re going to watch tape. There will be something maybe that you’ll identify and tomorrow bring something up. Last year playing the Giants, we put a route in we thought we needed end of game, and holy cow, [WR Courtland] Sutton ends up catching it. We kick a field goal. When something like that happens to you, you’re like, ‘All right, what am I missing this week?’ In other words, there’s just countless times where I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but shutting off sometimes is difficult.”
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