Good morning, Broncos Country!
One of the more intriguing storylines coming out of this offseason and preseason wasn’t about a player.
It was that there’d be a new voice in Bo Nix’s ear.
The voice of Denver’s new offensive play caller – Davis Webb.
Since it was announced that the offensive coordinator would take over play calling duties for Sean Payton this season there’s been a lot of attention paid to how it’s going.
If you’re wondering, it’s going well.
“[It was] about like I thought from practice. Just very smooth getting in and
out of the huddle,” said quarterback Bo Nix after his first game with Webb in his ear. “[He] put us in good situations, and then it’s our job to go out there and execute. Nothing crazy. It was about like I thought, and I’m excited to see how the season goes.”
Nix noted that taking direction from Webb now instead of Payton is “obviously different” but it’s also in line with his development as a quarterback.
“Sean [Payton] did a really good job my first couple years not distracting me with different things, and not being extra and just giving me the play,” Nix said. “He would give me a few reminders if I needed them, but really it was just the play, and he kept me in it and it was very beneficial for me as a young kid getting in the league.”
But the chemistry Nix is developing with Webb appears to be solid.
“Davis understands where I’m at on my level, and he can also push me, give me a little bit more, and also be a little extra at times,” Nix said. “He’s always going to be the guy that sends me a joke [in the huddle] every once in a while and sort of keeps it lighthearted. Just as serious as this game is, it can also be fun at the same time.”
Even Payton, who still reserves the right to interject his thoughts on the offensive scheme, admits the transition has gone well.
“It was smooth, it was good,” he said. “Communication process was good. No issues. It was all clean.”
Guard Quinn Meinerz, who spent chunks of the offseason working with Webb, noted that even though it’s the same offense, there are new wrinkles here and there.
“It’s not like a complete overhaul of the offense, but there are a lot of new fun elements, new wrinkles, new stuff to it,” Meinerz said.
Tight end Adam Trautman pointed to the energy that Webb is bringing to the offense as well.
“He is a little ball of energy out there honestly, and it’s pretty fun,” Trautman said. “It’s cool to get into meetings and just watch him talk about concepts, scheme, everything as a whole.
For Webb, the transition hasn’t seemed like a big deal at all, talking like a veteran OC after the first preseason win against the Falcons
“We’re trying to clean up some details, but I love the way we came out. Six plays, go get a touchdown,” he said. “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.”
That didn’t work out too well in the preseason loss to the Packers, but the good news is that Nix looked good in his series, and the chemistry Webb has developed with Nix the past two seasons as his QB coach has transitioned well with his new role.
For Nix, the transition has been easy.
“Honestly I feel like we picked up right where we left off. I feel like Davis is doing a really good job of communicating with me and not overcommunicating, but just give me a few things here and there, reminders, little things about a play, like, ‘Hey, don’t forget this. Hey, remember you have this,” Nix said after the first week of training camp. “It’s been really good.”
