The Broncos returned to the practice field today for their first scheduled practice since their preseason opening victory over the Atlanta Falcons. It was a non-padded practice that was closed to the public due to some damage to the bleachers from this past weekend’s storms in the area, so updates are a little thin.
On the injury front, we have some excellent news with players like Jaylen Waddle, Marvin Mims, JK Dobbins, Luke Wattenberg, Alex Forsyth, Alex Palczewski, and others returning to practice in some capacity. They also escaped the preseason opener mostly healthy, with edge rusher Drew Sanders and linebacker Levelle Bailey(broken leg) being the only new additions to the injury report.
Today’s practice report has the Broncos getting healthy, with multiple key starters returning to practice. Payton continues to be impressed with rookie running back Jonah Coleman. RJ Harvey says the Broncos’ backs want to be the best running back room in the NFL: injury updates, news and notes, tweets from camp, quotes, and more!
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Broncos are getting healthy
The story of the day was the good news on the injury front! Star wide receiver Jaylen Waddle returned to practice, as did starting center Luke Wattenberg, running back JK Dobbins, and others. During the week of six straight practices, the Broncos got a little banged up; however, the majority of them were not serious, and now they’re all getting healthy at the right time.
The only major injuries thus far have been to reserve defensive lineman Matt Henningsen, reserve center Michael Dieter, and reserve linebacker Levelle Bailey. All three are expected to miss most, if not all, of the regular season. Outside of that, the team has been dealing with minor soft tissue injuries, which is something Head Coach Sean Payton wants to nip in the bud before it becomes a bigger problem.
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Since Payton took over the Broncos, they went from being one of the most injured teams in the NFL with lengthy injury reports and many players on the injured reserve to being one of the healthier teams in the entire league. A lot of that is due to Beau Lowery, who is their strength and conditioning coach. Now they have a state-of-the-art training facility to use, so the Broncos should be getting the best treatments available and hopefully are once again one of the healthier teams in the NFL.
Sean Payton was impressed by RB Jonah Coleman
One of the big storylines coming out of the Broncos preseason opener was the play of rookie running back Jonah Coleman. The talented rookie saw just four carries, but that was enough to showcase the talent that has been turning heads all of training camp and ignite the hype around him moving forward.
After practice, head coach Sean Payton was asked about Coleman’s ability to break tackles and his contact balance. Payton told reporters he has “good balance” and is an elusive runner for his size and has good short-area quickness.
“Yes, he had good balance, a real good elusive runner for his size. I would say good short-area quickness and good balance, and the other night we had a few good examples of that.”
Coleman’s powerful running shouldn’t be a surprise. He’s shorter, but a compact and stronger running back who had a physical play style at Washington in college. What did stand out to me was his burst and short-area quickness. His biggest knock coming out was that he lacked speed and only had one true gear. While he may not have an elite second gear, he displayed good short-area burst that will play just fine in the NFL. Pair that with his vision and physical play style, he could be a handful for NFL defenses.
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As I mentioned, Coleman only saw four carries, but that was enough for Sean Payton, who came away impressed with the Broncos rookie back
“I kind of felt like… We knew what the roles were going to be like and then there was a point, I think he had two or three carries and [I thought], ‘All right, I’ve seen enough here.’ So it’s just your instincts relative to the evening and who’s playing. I didn’t need to see additional evidence of what I’ve been seeing for three weeks. So we do the three phases, but then we do within each phase who are the potential early outs in each phase and all of that.”
There was no reason to waste those bullets in the preseason opener. Coleman got some work; they liked what they saw, and pulled him from taking unnecessary hits. In Arizona, the Cardinals gave first-round rookie running back Jeremiyah Love 14 touches in their first preseason game, and he’s now dealing with an ankle sprain. Limit the carries and avoid injury.
RJ Harvey says the Broncos RBs want to be the best running back room in the NFL
Second-year running back RJ Harvey met with the media today and told reporters that their running back room has some lofty goals this upcoming season. He told reporters that “We want to be the best running back room in the nation, in all of the NFL”.
If all goes well, the Broncos could have one of the better running back rooms in the NFL. When healthy, JK Dobbins is a top back in the NFL and was among the league leaders in rushing before his injury last season. RJ Harvey had 12 total touchdowns last season, and rookie Jonah Coleman looks like a future starter. If all three can stay healthy and play up to their potential, the Broncos could have a three-headed attack in their backfield.
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Harvey told reporters that “I feel like every running back in the room brings something to the table” and believes they will continue to grow and make each other better
“I feel like every running back in the room brings something to the table. We go out there and compete each and every day and make each other better. I love the room that we have, and each day we’re just going to continue to grow and continue to make each other better.”
He’s not wrong. JK Dobbins is a patient and productive running back who has the potential to top 1,000 yards if he stays healthy. Harvey is a home run threat whenever he touches the ball and could have a big impact as a pass catcher. Meanwhile, Coleman looks like a future starter who can run between the tackles and contribute on third downs as a pass blocker and/or a pass catcher.
It’s a deep room, and hopefully, the Broncos can have a strong and consistent rushing attack this season.
Injury Report
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LB Levelle Bailey did not practice due to a broken leg – HC Sean Payton told reporters it is too early to determine if he will be able to return this season
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Edge rusher Drew Sanders did not practice today, but was present and worked on the side field
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Broncos had several players return to practice today, including WR Jaylen Waddle, WR/KR Marvin Mims, centers Luke Wattenberg and Alex Forsyth, OL Alex Palczewski, TE Nate Adkins, UDFA edge rusher Dasan McCullough, and LB Jordan Turner
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Marvin Mims, Drew Sanders, Michael Bandy, and Luke Wattenberg were spotted on the side field during portions of practice
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News and Notes
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Today’s practice was non-padded, but Head Coach Sean Payton told reporters they will have “two good practices” this week (Tuesday and Wednesday), both of which should be padded
Tweets from Camp
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Quotes
HC Sean Payton on if the tape from Friday night’s game matched his initial impressions
“It was good. It was good in a lot of areas. I thought the intent, the focus was good overall. We had some things operationally that you want to make sure you correct. There’s enough on there to coach off of where there are some techniques we can clean up, but I thought overall for the first time out it was good.”
HC Sean Payton on ILB Karene Reid‘s dive on CB Jahdae Barron‘s pick-six
“We showed it the other day. We were getting our hands on a few balls. Even [CB] Riley [Moss]’s, there was an underneath tip from one of the D-linemen. So just the ball disruption’s important and it can happen on any play like that, especially when you’re looking at… Here’s a red zone possession and just do the math, but that was a good clip of film.”
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HC Sean Payton on WR Courtland Sutton’s ability to use his body
“I think it’s been a strength of his before, even early in his career, you guys were here. When you’re his size, there are going to be traffic catches and one of the things that he does well is position himself in areas where it’s a nice target for the QB. I prefer bigger receivers like that for that reason. I think it’s a game that’s played in close quarters, and so the catch radius for the QB throwing it to him is larger.”
HC Sean Payton on the most challenging part of the learning curve for a rookie inside linebacker
“It’s kind of like the tight end. You have the run fits, you have the pass game, you have the calls. If you’re calling the defense, you’ve kind of got quite a bit and you’re hoping that that’s a position that instinctually… They’re not going to pick it up right away, but they learn quickly. Yes, there’s quite a bit, and then down and distance and what we’re trying to do with each defensive play call. So there is a curve that… There’s a lot on their plate, but that’s part of playing that position.”
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On winning eight consecutive preseason games and the competitive mindset he instills
“Now part of that is maybe a little bit of a byproduct of… Look we’re playing. They’re keeping score, so if they’re keeping score, we want to win. Now we want to evaluate our players as well, but if you’re in there, there’s kind of a standard. I think it’s part of an overall goal of how you approach everything.”
DL Zach Allen on the defense’s ability to force turnovers showing up in the first preseason game
“Yes, it’s definitely encouraging. We played a really good football team, and they played their starters for the most part. When it happens, it’s exciting and obviously we have to just keep working it every day and hopefully it translates into the regular season.”
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DL Zach Allen on experimenting with technique throughout camp
“I think definitely out here there’s probably more experimentation. We definitely want to keep a couple of things under your hat for the regular season, but if the basics are working in the preseason games, especially if you’re going against starters, it’s huge. So there’s definitely some good stuff on that tape to take away from. That was a good offensive line. You have two really good guards, so [I was] kind of excited just to go against somebody different and it was good. There’s still a lot more work to do and [we] just have to take it day by day.”
RB RJ Harvey on the biggest differences he has noticed entering his second season
“I feel like this year I feel way more comfortable. Coming from college last year, we had a lot of one word play calls and coming to the NFL is way different. So I feel way more comfortable, I’m not thinking as much when I’m on the field now. Yes, I feel a lot more comfortable.”
