Day 10 News And Notes From Broncos Camp

Day 10 of Broncos Camp is in the books, and it’s their last real training camp practice of the week before their preseason opener vs. the Falcons on Friday Night. Wednesday’s practice was open to fans initially, but the team announced last week that it will be a closed practice, so offseason rules will be in effect for tomorrow’s practice.

Today’s practice was another padded practice and one that featured second-year wide receiver Pat Bryant. He had a nice touchdown today and earned some praise from Nik Bonitto after practice. Unfortunately, the Broncos are getting a bit thin at center, and we heard from team owner Greg Penner today. He spoke about the stadium, so you will need to stay tuned for that.

In today’s camp report, we have another day, another Pat Bryant update, the Broncos getting thin at center, but Sean Payton isn’t concerned, Penner speaks about the new stadium, news and notes, injury updates, tweets from camp, quotes, and more!

Another day, another Pat Bryant update

Another camp practice with Broncos second-year wide receiver Pat Bryant being a standout player. He caught a 15-or-so-yard touchdown pass and was frequently targeted by quarterback Bo Nix throughout the practice.

He has really separated himself from the competition. Mims flashed early, but has been sidelined lately due to a soft tissue injury, while Troy Franklin has failed to be mentioned much at all. Meanwhile, Bryant is flashing every day and seems like someone who will be featured in the offense.

After practice, Broncos star pass rusher Nik Bonitto was asked which player on offense has stood out to him so far during camp, and he told reporters none other than Pat Bryant.

“He’s a guy who literally can do everything on the field when it comes to blocking. I mean, you see he’s making amazing play after amazing play. Every day he’s out here and just his route running and all the things and all the things he does for our offense, man. He’s going to be a player for sure”.

Bryant can do everything on the field and produce when he is out there. This is why, when Kay Adams asked Sean Payton how they were going to keep Bryant off the field, he told her, “We’re not.”

We’re still early in the process, and things can still change, but Bryant has made a strong impression early on, and it seems like the team plans on featuring him this upcoming season.

Broncos are getting thin at center

Starting center Luke Wattenberg hasn’t practiced in over a week, but he does seem close to returning. Backup center Alex Forsyth has missed the past few practices, and now today, third-string center Michael Deiter was carted off the field.

That’s not what you want to see.

Veteran tackle/guard Calvin Throckmorton was snapping the ball to starting quarterback Bo Nix while undrafted rookie Gavin Ortega, who is learning the center position, was working with the second and third teams.

The Broncos are pretty thin at tackle and have their first preseason game in three days; however, Head Coach Sean Payton does not seem all that concerned about it, at least publicly.

When asked about how they’ll handle the center position due to all the injuries, Payton said: “We’ll work through it. We have guys that are flexible. We’ll be fine.” When he was asked if Quinn Meinerz could see time at center, he told reporters, “We’ll see. I think we have enough options”.

Payton did not seem very entertained by these questions, but it is a real concern. Wattenberg is unlikely to play Friday night, Forsyth has missed practice all week, and now Deiter was carted off the field.

That’s not great, Bob!

If Deiter’s injury is serious enough, we could see them place him on the injured reserve or waive him with an injury designation and sign a center to come in for the preseason. If that were to happen, it’ll probably have to be done no later than tomorrow.

Either way, the snapping situation could get interesting on Friday Night with the Broncos down their first, second, and likely third-string center.

Greg Penner speaks

Broncos Owner and CEO Greg Penner met with the media today and was mostly asked about the stadium situation. The plan remains for them to open the new stadium in 2031, but still have several roadblocks in the way before they can finalize that.

Penner was asked about securing approvals for the stadium project, and he told reporters that there’s still a lot of work to do and that their timeline is aggressive, but they cannot do it by themselves.

“Yes, we’re making some progress, especially on the things that are really in our control. You all saw the property that we closed on yesterday which was an important step. Really good progress with our architect and also the master plan. This is a process for some of the other steps that we need a lot of collaboration with different groups whether it be the CBA process, Denver Water relocation, city approvals—there’s still a lot of work to do and the 2031 timeline is aggressive. We can’t do it by ourselves.”

When asked if this process has been more frustrating than expected, Penner said they knew it would be a challenge, but they really want to keep the Broncos stadium in the City of Denver.

“I don’t know that it’s been more frustrating than I thought. We went into this knowing [that] if you’re going to do a project of this scale, and we knew when we started focusing on this site specifically, that it was going to be more challenging, but we also really want to stay in Denver if we can and deliver a stadium in this market that is a vital part of the downtown. But if you’re doing a project in an area like that, it’s just harder. So I think we went in with our eyes wide open about the challenges, and we’ll keep working through it.”

He was also asked about PSLs, which is a hot topic amongst fans and season ticket holders. There was talk that they would be coming to the new stadium, but Penner brushed off that talk and said: “Really the furthest thing from our minds right now”.

“Really, it’s the furthest thing from our minds right now. We’re so focused on… We’ve had so many steps before that as I just mentioned. It’s still a preferred site but it’s not finalized that we’re going to be in that location. Obviously, that’s where we really want to be. So really, we haven’t even gotten to PSLs yet. Our season ticket holders are vital to our organization and we’re going to keep them informed every step of the way once we get there.”

Penner added that season ticket holders are vital to our organization and that they are going to keep them informed every step of the way, once they get to that point.

Injury Report

• OL Nick Gargiulo remains on the PUP due to a knee injury he suffered last season
• TE Caleb Lohner continues to miss practice
• Backup center Alex Forysth missed his second straight practice
• UDFA edge rusher Dasan McCullough continued to miss practice
• WR Jaylen Waddle missed another day of practice due to a soft tissue injury, but was present and moving around alright
• WR Michael Bandy did not practice today
• OL Alex Palczewski was on the side field today and did not participate in practice
• Marvin Mims, Luke Wattenberg, Alex Forsyth, Jaylen Waddle, Michael Bandy, Nate Adkins, and Dasan McCullough were all working on the side field
• RB JK Dobbins did return to practice but did not participate in team drills – A good sign
• Reserve center Michael Deiter has been carted off the field

News and Notes

• The Denver Broncos will wear their throwback uniforms for their Week 6 TNF matchup vs. the reigning Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks – Source
• Veteran Calvin Throckmorton and undrafted rookie Gavin Ortega played center with Wattenberg, Forsyth, and Deiter injured – Guard Quinn Meinerz was seen practicing snaps but expect him to get much work there
• CB Riley Moss had multiple PBUs today and continues his strong camp
• RB Jonah Coleman had some nice blitz pickups today
• UDFA WR Kolbe Katsis had an acrobatic touchdown catch at the end of practice from QB Sam Ehlinger
• Jarrett Stidham threw a touchdown to Lucas Krull during the final move-the-ball period
• Tomorrow’s practice will be closed to the public and have offseason rules, so updates will be limited

Tweets from Camp

Quotes

Owner and CEO Greg Penner on if they have started to plan for the future after QB Bo Nix’s rookie deal

“Not much at this point. Obviously we want [QB] Bo [Nix] here long-term, but we’re really focused on getting ready for this season, putting a competitive team on the field. I’ll leave that to [General Manager] George [Paton] and [Head Coach] Sean [Payton], [they] will have conversations about it, but I’ll leave that up to them to lead.”

Owner and CEO Greg Penner on signing Head Coach Sean Payton to a five-year contract extension

“I’ve been really pleased with what he’s built here, the culture, the performance on the field. It enabled us to line up he and [General Manager] Geroge [Paton]’s contracts now. George has done a fantastic job building this roster. The two of them work together, so I think it positions us in this time where we have a roster, and how we have continuity at the leadership level so we can go after it year-after-year.”

HC Sean Payton on situational work at practice and how much it’s emphasized

“The situational part of the game, there’s like 53 that… A lot of them are two-minute related that come up each week. So it’s knowing how to react, and then knowing how to react defensively, what they’re thinking offensively, what we’re thinking. Each day when we present those, we try to get two or three of them. Then you want to get to a point where they know it cold. The challenge is it might be seven weeks, eight weeks before you hit one of them, but you have to keep practicing. We covered a lot of that today.”

HC Sean Payton on how much he stresses to young players that their special-teams contributions during the preseason could be the difference in making the team

“I think that’s a reoccurring theme. I think they know that. It’s hard for them to truly appreciate coming from college, the gameday roster. Then when you look at it, how thin it is and everyone having to have a role compared to maybe… So it’s not uncommon for guys to become very good special teams players that maybe weren’t necessarily good special-teams players where they were starring at before because the depth and the numbers are different.”

HC Sean Payton on OLB Nik Bonitto’s development

“I think he understands some of the things he does fantastic, he knows he’s going to get some handoffs his way to try to neutralize maybe his pass rush. He’s gotten stronger I think, and I think he’s taken on a little bit more of a leadership role in that room.”
OLB Nik Bonitto on OLB Que Robinson’s development throughout camp

“[OLB] Que [Robinson] is obviously a very talented guy. He’s showing out every day in practice. He has all the tools, and whenever he sets his mind to it, nobody can block him. He’s been playing really well right now, and I’m excited especially to see these next couple of games what he does out there. I know he’s going to put on a show for sure.”

OLB Nik Bonitto on if he talks to other veteran pash rushers about leadership

“Not really from that aspect of it. It’s more of just kind of picking their brain about just the game and things that they see when they rush, in the run game and things like that. When it comes to just leading, I kind of look at the other guys around the team and who has been doing it for a long time, like a [T] Garett Bolles or a [WR] Courtland Sutton and just kind of following what they’re doing and bringing it to my room.”

G Quinn Meinerz on what has impressed him most about the defensive line so far in training camp

“We have a really good front. You have to bring your ‘A’ game every single day. [DT] D.J. [Jones] has been a consistent, solid nose tackle for us. He makes practice difficult. I think they all have individual skills that you have to kind of prep for on a daily basis. [DT Malcolm] Roach is strong and also fast, and the same thing with [DL] Zach Allen. I think everyone’s been talking about ‘Enyi’ (DL Eyioma Uwazurike). He’s really been maturing as a player and getting better. I’ve been seeing his improvement as well. It’s good because then the young guys get to see that the same way the young guys in our room get to see how we practice as an offensive line. It’s just constant iron sharpening iron every single day, and you have to be ready for it because if you don’t, you’re going to get your butt whooped.”

G Quinn Meinerz on the benefits of continuity along the offensive line

“We’re able to get into the level 400 of our offense a lot quicker because we already have a base foundation and fundamentals of how we want to do things. Now we’re looking at efficiencies, now we’re looking at not only winning the block, but being dominant with that block and understanding that there’s an emphasis in the rushing game this year for us. So just constantly grinding in our individual period to make sure that those reps are feeling good, ‘Hey, are my hands good here? Hey, was my hat… Did I give you enough help here?’ There’s always constant little feedback here, and I think what’s most fun is how much smaller the communication’s going to get on the line of scrimmage because when an offensive line’s able to communicate so little, there’s a lot less tells for the defense to be able to pick up on.”