ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As the Broncos took the field for the final week of OTAs on Wednesday, all eyes shifted away from the quarterbacks for a brief moment.

The attention was all on No. 25, as Chris Harris took the field with a big smile for the first time since his contract dispute was settled on Tuesday afternoon. You’s be smiling too if you just got what equates to a $3 million bonus.

With what felt like a finally-complete team out there on the field, BSN Denver was on hand for the entirety of the practice. Here’s what we learned.

Mr. Red Zone

There are two areas in which Joe Flacco is most clearly an upgrade over what the Broncos had at quarterback last season.

The first is in short-yardage situations, where in 2018, Flacco converted 87.5% of his throws into first downs, the best mark in the NFL.

Conversely, Case Keenum converted just 26.7%  of those opportunities into first downs, good enough for 33rd in the league.

The other is in the red zone, and this is where Flacco flexed his prowess on Wednesday.

Last season, with Flacco at the helm, the Baltimore Ravens set an NFL record by starting the season with 12 consecutive touchdowns in their first 12 trips into the red zone, including a three-for-three day against the Broncos. Six of those touchdowns came on Flacco throws.

On the season, Flacco finished with 10 touchdowns to one interception in the red zone in just nine games. Pro-rated across a sixteen-game season, that comes out to 18 touchdowns and two interceptions.

Conversely, Keenum posted 11 touchdowns and four interceptions in the red zone in 16 games last season.

During practice on Wednesday, Flacco showed why he is so effective in that area. During a drill from the five-yard line going in, Flacco put on a display.

In his first attempt, Flacco dropped back, hit his back foot and unleashed a laser into a tight window for Jeff Heuerman, who made the catch for a TD.

On his second attempt, Flacco made the play of the day, rolling right away from pressure and letting go of a feathery throw to the very back corner of the end zone, where Courtland Sutton tapped his toes for another TD.

On the third attempt, Flacco found Troy Fumagalli right on the goal line to complete his three-for-three clinic.

With red-zone issues plaguing the Broncos offense for three years now, the red-zone efficiency, even if just in an OTA practice, should come as a welcome revelation.

Fumigating the offense

If your eyebrows went up in the last section when you read about Troy Fumagalli, I don’t blame you. Fumagalli became a bit of an afterthought last season when he got what can be chalked up as a redshirt year due to a sports hernia he was dealing with since before the draft.

The now-second-year player got bumped even further into the back of minds when the Broncos used their first-round pick on Iowa tight end Noah Fant and gave Jeff Heuerman a new contract.

On Wednesday, though, Fumagalli gave those on hand a reminder that he is, in fact, still in the building.

On the very first play of the day, with Flacco flushed out of the pocket by Von Miller, it was Fumagalli who he found on the run coming across the middle.

Later in the day, it was the touchdown during red-zone work.

Then in the final drill of practice, Flacco once again found No. 84 on two different throws in pressure situations.

The Wisconsin product clearly has a knack for finding the holes in a defense and for Flacco, who loves his tight ends, that is a very valuable tool.

While conventional wisdom would tell you Denver is only going to carry three tight ends into the season, don’t count Fumagalli out of that mix.

Parks Place

Well, hello, Will Parks, it’s nice to see you!

For the first few months of the offseason, by no fault of his own, it has seemed like Will Parks was invisible to the new coaching staff. Whether by design or coincidence, up until Wednesday, Parks had not been mentioned once by the coaching staff to the media.

Additionally, he had received almost no snaps with the first team.

All of that changed on Wednesday, starting on the field.

Working extensively with the top unit, Parks was all over the place for the defense, finding himself in the mix on a plethora of plays.

The play of the day for the fourth-year safety came when he jumped a comeback route in the middle of the field intended for wide receiver Tim Patrick, taking it the other way for the first OTA interception of Flacco and inciting a defensive eruption.

After practice, Parks finally got his mention.

“Will is having a good offseason for us,” head coach Vic Fangio said. “I feel good about Will. I think he can play either safety position. We’re teaching him that way. I think he’s doing well. How it all sorts out, that remains to be seen.”

Despite the cryptic last sentence, that comment about him being able to play both positions is critical as we know how Fangio values versatility.

We spoke exclusively with Parks after practice, look for that story later in the week.

Other observations

• While not yet participating in anything that requires him to use his injured hand, Phillip Lindsay was involved in footwork drills and looked extremely smooth, flexing the best footwork of the bunch.
• While he was held back by the coaching staff, Chris Harris came in and looked solid in limited work.
• Brendan Langley continues to look smooth at wide receiver, making multiple nice catches on the day.
• Ron Leary got the start at right guard on the practice, showing more progress in his recovery from an Achilles tear.
• DaeSean Hamilton continues to look like a favorite target for Joe Flacco early.
• Kevin Hogan had his best day so far. Consistent, nothing mind-blowing.
• Drew Lock’s day was pretty quiet. He did have what could have been the throw of the day, heaving one up for Noah Fant to make a play on it, but Fant saw it glance off of his right hand. Though it would have been a tough catch, he was visibly upset he didn’t come down with it.
  • Later, facing the first team defense, Lock threw a strike to Juwann Winfree who got open in front of Chris Harris Jr.
• Kareem Jackson got a lot of work at corner for the first time.
• The Broncos secondary looks completely different with Harris out there. Far more intimidating.
• Juwann Winfree seems to be building trust as a favorite of the second, third and fourth quarterbacks.