ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The highlight of the Denver Broncos ' scrimmage Saturday wasn't another sack by Jonah Ellis or pinpoint pass from quarterback Bo Nix. It was a solid kicking performance by safety Brandon Jones.
The seventh-year pro made three of four field goal attempts with starting kicker Wil Lutz in New Orleans along with coach Sean Payton for Drew Brees' Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
“You have to have a contingency. We've seen it happen
in other games across the league,” special teams coach Darren Rizzi said.
Jones nailed two kicks straight on from about 35 yards, although the process was slow, then moved to the left hash from about 40 and missed one wide left before making his final kick to the roars of teammates and the 1,200 fans in the stands.
“Yeah, so I didn't kick in high school or college,” Jones said. “I just have some history in playing soccer.”
One day he jokingly told Rizzi if he ever needed an emergency kicker, he was his guy.
“Then he called my bluff and put me to the test one day, I think it was last year,” Jones said. “And I made an extra point and apparently there is a lot of guys on the team that can also kick, but I got the opportunity today and went 3 for 4, so that's not bad.”
Not only did Jones never kick a football until the NFL, but he hardly kicked a soccer ball in high school.
“I played some club soccer. I stopped in high school because I'm like, ‘Let’s be real. I'm a football player,'” Jones said. “But I've always told people, whenever I get done player, I'd like to go through a tryout with an MLS team. I think I need to be humbled. I need them to be like, ‘You’re not that good.' But yeah, once we get there, we'll see.”
Jones said he's made a 50-yarder in practice before.
That was off a contraption that holds the ball in place. On Saturday, punter Jeremy Crawshaw was his holder.
“That caught me off guard. And Will usually holds for me, so everything was new today,” Jones said. “So, I didn't know what to expect.”
Jones hasn't gone so far as to get a special kicking cleat.
“No, no and they were surprised that I spat before practice,” Jones said. “And they were like, ‘You’re going to kick spatted?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, why not?’"
Spatting up in football means wrapping athletic tape around the ankles and over the top of the cleats to lock the shoe and ankle together for extra stability.
“It was all good, but I will say, when the crowd started chatting my name, I got really nervous and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m about to shank this,'" Jones said. "But thankfully it went in."
Does he think he'd get butterflies if he had to kick in a game?
“I think it depends on the situation,” Jones said. “If we're winning by a lot, no big deal. Hopefully, I don't think it would ever come down to like a game-time thing where I would need to make it in. If it comes down to that, man, y'all just pray for me.”
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