ENGLEWOOD, Colorado — Denver Broncos The training camp ended with a bang.
The Green Bay Packers visited Denver on Friday for a joint practice ahead of the preseason game between the Broncos and the Packers on Sunday.
Practice will be the main event this week, as the Packers will not use most of their regular players during the game. This means Bo Nix will lead the Broncos starters against the Packers reserves.
Even though the Packers came to Denver as Super Bowl contenders and the Broncos were considered one of the three worst teams in the NFL by sportsbooks, it was the home team that won the practice.
The two teams did not have a traditional scrimmage, but did have several periods of competition. Practice ended with a series of two-minute drills, and the Broncos won all five.
This is what you need to know from practice…
Quarterback scoreboard
Friday’s training was difficult to follow.
The Broncos typically give each group — the starters, the backups and the third-stringers — four snaps per period. In other words, if the team plays seven-on-seven and two team periods, each quarterback gets 12 plays.
Friday’s practice was scheduled with the Packers in mind, so the structure changed. The result was a strange schedule.
The regulars got a handful of reps, then the substitutes got a few, then the regulars came back, and finally the substitutes.
Additionally, the Broncos offense played against the Packers defense on one field, while the Denver defense and Green Bay offense played on the other field, so there were two practices going on at the same time.
Bo Nix got a lot of work.
Jarrett Stidham got a fair amount of work.
Zach Wilson couldn’t play much.
The final period was a two-minute drill. Both Stidham and Nix got a chance.
Here’s the situation: The offense has the ball at its own 40-yard line. There is 1:10 left in the game. The defense leads 24-21. Neither team has a timeout.
This is how the quarterbacks fared…
Bo Nix: A
Nix began his drive with a 12-yard strike to Tim Patrick over the middle of the field.
Then he hit Courtland Sutton to reach the 33-yard line.
Then he hit Samaje Perine Run a route further down the field to gain 16 yards.
None of the three receivers managed to get out of the field, meaning the Nix had to throw the ball on the ground after the third pass.
The exercise ended with the ball on the 17-yard line and 19 seconds remaining. It is unclear whether the drive was aborted because head coach Sean Payton had chosen to leave the field and send the game into overtime, or if the coaches had determined in advance that the drill would end if the offense reached the red zone.
“We didn’t finish the exercise – which was fine – and started the next group,” Payton said. “It was good work.”
Nix threw strikes all day. He hit Josh Reynolds for a short touchdown. He hit Phillip Dorsett at the goal line in a narrow window from 12 meters away. He found Michael Bandy over the middle for a four-yard touchdown a few plays later… when Rashan Gary didn’t reach him before he threw the pass.
Nix had a few missed shots but was in good form most of the day, including a 25-yard pass to Sutton across the middle of the field.
Jarrett Stidham: B+
Stidham’s two-minute exercise began with a stick to Marvin Mims at the border that moved the sticks.
In the next game, Stidham found David Sills over the middle for another first down and threw the ball on the ground.
The Broncos had the ball 30 yards from the end zone with 42 seconds left, but Frank Crum False start that led to a 2nd & 15.
Stidham scored on a four-yard gain to Dorsett to start the clock. The Broncos had to rush into a 3rd & 11.
Stidham meets Adam Trautman through the seam for a 26-yard gain. The offense had to throw the ball on the ground.
This time, too, the drill ended when the offense reached the red zone. The ball was at the five-yard line and there were 10 seconds left on the clock, meaning the offense could have attempted a game-winning touchdown before having to settle for a tying field goal.
Stidham wasn’t so good the rest of the practice. He almost intercepted a ball and was safe Anthony Johnson, Jr. in seven-on-seven. In team exercises he had Thomas Yassmin 15 yards of room on the sideline, but Stidham threw the ball too far. He also threw a ball too far to the sideline on 3rd & 7. Later, Stidham dropped a ball from less than 10 yards out behind David Sills in the back of the end zone. Sills probably should have caught it anyway.
Of course, Stidham’s day before the two-minute drill wasn’t all bad. There were also many positive moments, like when he hit Courtland Sutton with a slant pass for a four-yard touchdown.
Zach Wilson: B
As mentioned above, Wilson didn’t get many chances on Friday.
He stepped up and threw a good ball Lucas Krull in the middle of the field. He converted a 3rd & 4th in Troy Franklin.
Since the substitutes did the majority of the work on Sunday, the Broncos and Packers saw no need to give them more work on Friday.
Final GPAs
Average of daily grades.
Jarrett Stidham: 2.92 (B)
Bo Nix: 2.71 (B-)
Zach Wilson: 2.28 (C+)
Denver’s defense wins
While the Broncos offense only managed two attempts in the two-minute drill, the Packers offense managed three.
Why? Because they had extra time after the rides ended so quickly.
Jordan Love led the Packers’ offense against the Broncos’ defense. He scored Josh Jacobs for a one-yard gain on the flat, and the running back got out of bounds to stop the clock.
On the 2nd & 9th, Love tried Romeo Doubs on the sidelines, but Riley Moss was in good coverage and almost intercepted the pass.
On 3rd and 9th, Love threw a ball to Jayden Reed up to the seam Ja’Quan McMillianbut he threw the ball too far and PJ Locke almost picked it up.
Love was tested on the 4th and 9th Pat Surtain II at the border. Love wanted Doubs, but Surtain intercepted the pass and ended the series. It was Surtain’s third breakout of the day.
Sean Clifford was next with the player from the second team.
Clifford ran out of the field on the first play, causing a loss.
He threw a ball to the sideline, which bounced off JL Skinner‘s hands in the second game.
In the third game he tried Reese Taylor deep in the middle of the field and Taylor intercepted it.
With so much time in reserve, the starters entered the field again.
The Packers found their way across the halfway line to the 43-yard line, but faced a 3rd & 4. The Broncos collapsed the pocket for a sack, which I Jonah Elliss. Elliss applied pressure on the next play, and the pass on the fourth attempt was incomplete.
This is an incredible performance by the Broncos defense.
Fight!
Okay, “fight” might be too strong a word, but tempers flared on Friday.
During exercises with the entire team Nick Bonito stormed the edge and hit Zach Tom. He hit Love’s arm as the quarterback threw, causing Loved to throw a pop-up into the middle of the defense that Alex Singleton intercepted.
Touching the quarterback is prohibited, so shoving and fighting broke out and the benches were cleared. Love said after practice that he thought Bonitto shoved Tom into the quarterback, not that Bonitto hit the quarterback himself.
Another heated moment occurred during the punting exercises.
I have not seen Packer Long Snapper Matt Orzech landed on Devon Key—I’d imagine a pancake block—but Orzech refused to get off the Bronco and the shoving ensued again. On the next play, Orzech snapped the ball over his punter’s head for a safety.
Previously, Ja’Quan McMillian caused a stir on the sidelines during punt drills when he held the Packers’ rookie Gunner Kalen King for an extended period of time in front of the Broncos sideline.
Jaire Alexander Courtland gave Sutton a shove on his way back to the huddle after he dunked the ball over the goal post as part of his touchdown celebration.
Notes
- Tim Patrick caught at least three third-down conversions on Friday. He had a quiet training camp, but he was unstoppable in the middle of the field.
- Riley Moss was penalized for pass interference deep in the field. I’m guessing it was a 35-yard penalty.
- Mike McGlinchey had a failure in team exercises.
- Javonte Williams looked solid, although it’s hard to tell when there’s no tackle. He caught a couple of defenders off guard. Alex Singleton also got a solid hit in the hole on Josh Jacobs.
