Good morning, Broncos Country!
Pat Bryant is having himself a training camp.
The second-year Denver Broncos receiver is mentioned as one of the standout players from the media covering the practices on a daily basis. In fact, Bryant made the play of the day on Saturday.
To have Bryant consistently showing up and showing out at this stage is huge for him, the offense, and the Broncos.
“I feel like that’s how you are successful in this league, focusing on that consistency,” Bryant said to the media on Friday after practice. “Honestly
coming out here every day, working on my craft. As a receiver, you have to catch the ball, so I do that as much as I can.”
We all know the top two receivers in Denver are Jaylen Waddle and Courtland Sutton. But there was question as to who would step into the No. 3 spot. Whether it was Bryant, Mavin Mims or Troy Franklin, those were the three guys vying to take that role.
At this point, it’s Bryant. As defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said on Saturday after practice, Bryant is the “complete package.”
But this will also drive rest of the receivers in that competition to up their game to keep pace with Bryant.
“It’s healthy competition is what we like to call it,” he said to the media. “At the end of the day, everybody’s job is on the line, but to come out here and compete, push each other, make sure everybody’s doing their job, helping each other out when it’s needed. At the end of the day, we all have the same goal: let’s go out there and win.”
Even Broncos head coach Sean Payton has noticed Bryant’s consistent and strong play.
“(I’m) really pleased with how he’s doing,” Payton said to the media earleir this week. “He’s just one of those congested ball catchers. His feet stay on the ground. So when receivers catch the ball with their feet on the ground, they’re usually pretty good run after the catch. You don’t see him skipping in the air or jumping. That means he has a lot of confidence in catching this thing the right way.
“I think in college in that final year (at Illinois), I think he had three walk-off touchdowns. Like literally last play of the game in-cuts where he caught it and didn’t … He was full stride when he caught it. If you’re breaking stride for a catch, there’s that tick of a second everyone gets a little bit of leverage on you. He’s extremely smart. He’s doing really well.”
There is still a long ways to go for Bryant and the offense. But the fact the young receiver is making the strides he is at this point in his second year is a positive sign. To have a strong No. 3 wide out in this offense for Bo Nix will only make that unit better and harder to defend.
“Just going into Year 2 in the offense, I feel like I kind of understand things a little bit differently,” Bryant said to the media. “Then just my ability last year, I played just about every position, so it kind of helped me going into this year. Whenever a guy’s tired during camp, I’ll go out there and take a rep because at the end of the day, I know my job being Year 2 in this offense.”
