A few seconds of silence spoke volumes about Garett Bolles

The media room at Broncos headquarters was silent for 3.33 seconds Monday.

It felt like 33 minutes.

Vic Fangio had just been asked about whether he could get Garett Bolles to play with the same confidence as rookie tight end Noah Fant, who shook off three dropped passes in Week 7 against the Chiefs to find a groove to where he now leads all rookie tight ends in receiving yards.

Fangio paused.

A quick, soft “Hmmm” passed from Fangio’s lips as he pondered his response.

Awaiting Fangio’s reply, one could call to mind the words of popular culture’s wisest 8-year-old, Lisa Simpson, when her father, noted layabout Homer, asked, “Am I just a little bit overweight?”

Silence followed Homer’s query.

“Forgive us, Dad, but it takes time to properly sugarcoat a response,” came Lisa’s eventual reply.

Fangio, however, only doled out a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine of his assessment go down.

“I think that Garett kind of plays with more confidence than you think — and maybe than is warranted,” Fangio said. “He didn’t play too bad yesterday.

“Again, he’s a young player still, especially in light of his limited background in football before he got here. It’s our job to maximize and make sure we’re doing everything possible to develop him. If the guy has talent, we want to maximize every opportunity to develop it.”

Certainly, confidence is not warranted in the wake of yet another game pockmarked by penalties — in this case, two in a three-snap span.

Both were clear calls. On the false start, which turned second-and-6 into second-and-11, Bolles flinched, in a moment that was caught by the CBS cameras.

After an incompletion came third-and-11. Olivier Vernon rushed at Bolles, who retreated to gain position. Vernon then used his leverage with his arms to shake Bolles and turn inside as Brandon Allen prepared to throw down the right sideline in the general direction of Diontae Spencer. The pass was overthrown, but as Vernon turned inside, Bolles used his right arm to obstruct Vernon’s right arm.

“Holding, offense, No. 72,” announced referee Bill Vinovich a moment later.

Broncos fans have become conditioned to booing those words, so the subsequent reaction of exasperation was no surprise, even though the Browns declined the penalty.

That took Bolles’ season-long total of holding penalties to an NFL-worst 10 — six of which were accepted.

What’s worse is that he is conceding more pressures. Pro Football Focus credited him with five pressures allowed Sunday, taking his total the last three weeks to a league-high 15.

No other Bronco has been credited by PFF with more than five pressures allowed in the last three weeks.

As long as Ja’Wuan James struggles with injury woes, the Broncos must start Elijah Wilkinson, and lack viable reinforcements at offensive tackle. Bolles will remain the left tackle.

But the brief moment of silence spoke volumes. Bolles isn’t where the Broncos need him to go, and with just seven games remaining before an offseason decision as to his fifth-year option, he’s running out of time to change the narrative and reverse the trend.