Broncos Minicamp Observations: That Pass Rush Summit must have paid off

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Vic Fangio saved the best for last.

On Tuesday, the Broncos began their mandatory minicamp.

Not only is it the only mandatory part of the offseason, but all three days are open to the media to see exactly where the Broncos stand before they take their five-week summer break until training camp heats up in the middle of July.

As always, BSN Denver was on hand, following the team as they began practice outside, then moved inside due to a blaring storm horn and then back outside to wrap up practice.

Here’s what happened on the field and where the team stands oh so close to the end of the offseason conditioning program.

AN EVEN BETTER VON

Practice was “terror Tuesday,” at least that’s the way Von Miller acted.

No. 58 didn’t make practice enjoyable for his offensive tackle teammates, or quarterbacks for that matter, as he practically lived deep in the pocket all day long.

During a three-play sequence, Von had what would have been two sacks. The first would have been an easy takedown of Flacco as he was barely, if at all, touched. Following an overthrow the next play, Miller—the founder and organizer of the now annual pass rush summit—put a ridiculous inside spin move on the right tackle, placing him right in the heart and sole of the 6-foot-6 quarterback.

Later in practice, Miller likely would have had a signature Von strip sacks as his hand was in prime position to swat the ball out of Flacco’s hand just before releasing a bullet. In a game, the opposing quarterback would have been searching the ground for the ball, not looking at his pass sail through the air.

“We’re just trying to get him to do a little bit of the technique things a little bit better—From pass rush to dropping to run plays,” Fangio said, trying to get the most out of his best player, as he has done all offseason. “He’s done a good job of embracing that, and I’ve seen improvement from him.”

The only time Miller was beat was in pass coverage when Courtland Sutton flew by him on a flat route to the right side for minimal gain.

“I’ve been around a lot of good guys on defense for most of my career, man. You guys know—Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, just to name a couple, and there’s plenty more. And he’s just another one of those guys,” Flacco said after practice. “He is special.”

“The things that he can do to get around the edge. I think some of the things Vic’s going to have him do on the defense, it’s really impressive what he can do. How he’s built. I don’t want to talk too much about him because I don’t want to come off as Mr. Von Miller hype man.”

Thankfully for Mr. Von Miller hype man, aka the Broncos’ quarterback, the star pass rusher wasn’t allowed to hit the quarterback.

But it wasn’t just Von, either.

With the second unit, DeMarcus Walker was getting into the backfield, accounting for at least one, if not two would-be sacks from the inside of the line.

On the third unit, undrafted rookie free agent Malik Reed was also making his name known, getting into the backfield, and even causing a sack from the outside.

Will Parks got into the action, too, as he found a gap in the offensive line and flew into the backfield during a team period. In a game, the play would have likely ended up with a flattened quarterback 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

JOE’S HOSE

Cannon, hose, rocket, gun, whatever you want to call it, Joe Flacco has an undeniably huge arm, even at the ripe age of 34-years old.

“He still has a big arm, the ball comes out of his hand with a lot of liveliness to it,” Fangio said after practice. “It’s a very catchable ball. I think the guys like playing with him and I’ve been happy with Joe.”

Flacco’s ball was sure lively on Tuesday.

“Today, he rolled out and had a play action rollout to the right and threw the ball from the opposite 20 to the opposite 15. I don’t know how far that is, but he threw the ball far,” Von said with a laugh, recapping the longest pass of the day.

Unfortunately, the Broncos did not pick up 65 yards on the play as Brendan Langley somehow outran the deep shot.

“He can throw the ball 80 yards easy. He threw 80 yards across the field. He’s looking like a Super Bowl MVP to me,” Miller, a Super Bowl MVP himself, said about another Super Bowl MVP.

According to Flacco, 65 yards is a piece of cake. In fact, if pressed, he could “comfortably” get the ball into the end zone if he was backed up on his own 30-yard line.

“I hope I don’t have to throw the ball too, too far. Hopefully 50 yards downfield, you won’t push it down much further than that,” Flacco said, not recounting multiple plays this offseason in which he’s let it fly further than 50 yards. “I would think with the air up here you actually can get it a few more yards further here.”

While Joe’s cannon has been on display this offseason, including Tuesday’s moon shot, it was his easy cheese that was his staple to open up mandatory minicamp.

It began on the first pass of the day when he dropped a floater into the Devontae Booker’s bread basket in the end zone, just out-throwing Josey Jewell’s coverage, but leaving plenty of room for Booker to corral it before the back of the end zone. Unfortunately, the loaf must have been too buttery for Booker as it went right through his hands.

Two periods later, Flacco laid a dime in stride to Noah Fant on the right sideline, floating the ball to the speedy tight end 30 yards downfield.

The rest of the day, avoiding massive pressure, the veteran signal caller took what the defense gave him, opting for the easy, wise options short and in the middle of the field.

On the final hurry-up team period, Flacco had six completions. The first three were to Jeff Heuerman, the next two were to Booker, and the final was to Royce Freeman. No wonder tight ends and running backs have thrived working with Flacco in the past.

After practice, Flacco said he was just taking what the defense was giving him.

“I think Joe’s had a really good offseason,” Fangio said, evaluating the quarterbacks.

On Tuesday, Fangio hit that evaluation on the head.

As for the young gun, Fangio also nailed his evaluation.

“I think he’s slowly making strides,” Fangio said on second-round pick Drew Lock. “And I don’t mean slowly as a negative, I think he’s getting a little bit better every day… I think Drew’s slowly getting better, which he’s got a major undertaking here of number one learning a new offense and number two playing under center more. Just getting the speed of the NFL game. Come training camp, once we get the pads on, it will amp up even more.”

On Tuesday, Lock put the sidearm cannon on display, making multiple bullet passes on the run from the unconventional angle.

As the head coach said, Lock continued to make strides and didn’t put the ball in harm’s way. While darts were flying all over the field from No. 3, he had areas of improvement, specifically with touch passes.

Lock slightly overthrew Fant in the back left corner of the end zone by putting the ball on a rope instead of lobbing it for his receiver to run under.

But Lock also delivered the highlight of the day—in the most unconventional way.

Scrambling at full speed from his own end zone, Lock and cornerback Trey Johnson collided five yards downfield. But it wasn’t the defender that laid the hit—it was Drew Lock.

Johnson took a Lock lowered shoulder all the way to the ground, causing the sideline to erupt.

THE BEST NEWS YET

Von Miller playing to a new level is great. Joe Flacco looking like the best quarterback the Broncos have had in years is fantastic.

But the most important news from the first day of mandatory minicamp revolved around the injured, or not so injured, players.

After practice, Fangio said Emmanuel Sanders, Jake Butt and Phillip Lindsay are all doing the “same” as they have in the past in regards to their rehab.

“When I say same, they’re all doing good,” Fangio gladly clarified.

For the first time since tearing his ACL last year, Butt was running routes in individual drills—an extremely positive step in his rehab process.

Lindsay, while he didn’t do any more than he has in recent weeks, took a massive step in his recovery as he wasn’t wearing a brace on his surgically repaired wrist. The Pro Bowler not only participated in individual drills, but he held the ball with his right wrist as he partook in those drills. Additionally, he hit the Jugs machine after practice to catch some balls.

Sanders has still not officially done more than warming up—other than running full speed on the sidelines—but Vic said he thinks his top receiver will “be back earlier than people think,” although he prefaced that by saying he’s no doctor.

During the 15-yard “get off” portion of warmups, Sanders was the fastest among his group of 30-or-so teammates.

The best injury news on the day actually was on the field as Ron Leary and Ja’Wuan James heavily participated in every portion of the team’s practice.

“Well Ron’s been out here partaking,” Fangio said matter-of-factly when asked how the offensive lineman was recovering from his torn Achilles.

James missed a significant amount of practice last Wednesday as he tweaked his hip working out over the weekend, but that concern was greatly diminished on Tuesday as he was back in the fold.

“Everybody’s the same, doing good, and in Ron’s case, actually partaking,” Fangio said.

ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS:

• On Tuesday, it was announced that Von Miller will receive the 2019 Jefferson Award for Outstanding Public Service in Sports on June 18 in Washington DC for his tremendous work in the community over the years, specifically with Von’s Vision.
• Todd Davis was not at practice as his wife went into labor and is expected to give birth on Tuesday. Joe Jones stepped in for him on defense.
• Receiver Aaron Burbridge continually made plays in the receiving game on Tuesday, hauling in pass after pass.
• Billy Winn blew up multiple run plays, getting into the backfield before the running back had time to make a move.
• Fangio ended the practice in a throwback fashion with good old fashioned wind sprints.
• For the first time in his Broncos career, Fangio changed up his wardrobe. Instead of the full gray sweatsuit, the head coach rolled with a gray crewneck Broncos sweatshirt and khaki shorts. Big news.
• The Broncos hosted more than 50 active-duty military members for their practice on Tuesday. Many players, and Fangio, met with them after practice, but during practice, Derek Wolfe went over and gave every single one of them a high five.
• Former University of Colorado defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt was at practice again on Tuesday, but Fangio downplayed any potential role he may play on the coaching staff. “He’s here observing. His wife kicked him out of the house,” Fangio said with a chuckle.