Broncos Training Camp Observations: Hello, offense!

 

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Eighth time’s a charm?

Better late than never?

At long last?

Finally?

Friday marked the first practice of camp in which the Denver Broncos offense flashed some explosiveness and efficiency, an extremely welcome sight for anyone who has been following to this point.

Here’s what went down.

Feel the Rhythm

With both Ja’Wuan James (calf) and Ron Leary (rest) on the shelf for Friday’s practice, one media member turned to me before the seesion began and said, “Chalk up another ‘L’ for the offense.”

Early in practice, that comment appeared to be prophetic, as the offense continued to look out of sync. On the first play of 11-on-11 work, Josey Jewell knocked Garett Bolles on his rump, helping to blow up a run play. Shortly after that, Courtland Sutton had a dropped pass, and pressure in the backfield was everpresent. It looked like we were in for more of the same.

Everything changed, though, when Vic Fangio pitted the first-team offense up against the seoncd-team defense. As Zac wrote about yesterday, it was this period in that practice that may have been the most concerning moment in all of camp, as the offense did next to nothing.

Friday was a different story, though.

In the first play lined up against the twos, Flacco dropped back on a play-action pass and unleashed a bomb to Sutton on a deep post. With the ball thrown a hair too far, Sutton laid out full-extension with his arms outstretched and hauled in the pass. In most cases, a player normally wouldn’t put his body on the line like that in camp, but they desperately needed that one.

It was the first true connection on a long ball all camp, and it just may have jumpstared the entire offense.

On the very next play, Flacco hit brand new wide receiver Nick Williams in the middle of the field for a 20-yard gain. Right after that, the quarterback unleashed one over the middle to Juwann Winfree who went to the ground to snag it for 15.

It may have been against the twos, but a perfect series is a perfect series, and it was precisely what they needed.

In the next set for the offense, this time against the first-team defense, Flacco rolled the momentum over. Working in a two-minute drill situation, No. 5 got hot.

Flacco to Sutton.

Flacco to Patrick.

Flacco to McKnight.

Counting the period before, it was six straight completions for the veteran before be was forced to spike a blown-up screen pass. But then he was back off to the races.

Flacco to Fumagalli.

Flacco to McKnight.

Flacco to McKnight again.

When all was said and done, the offense moved the ball 60 yards in two minutes as the QB went 6-for-7.

Finally.

As the practice went on, while the success wasn’t quite as obvious, the offensive rhythm remained evident.

“I thought it was a little better operation than it has been and that was good to see,” said head coach Vic Fangio. “Hopefully when I go look at it, it’s a good play by them and not a crappy play by the defense.”

Asked directly if it was the best practice of camp for the offense, Fangio said with a laugh, “According to you guys it was,” before admitting, “It probably was.”

Chalk up the first win of camp for the offense.

McKnight in Shining Armour

If you were paying close attention in the first segment of the observations, you may have noticed that rookie receiver Kelvin McKnight Jr. was running with the first-team offense.

With DaeSean Hamilton nursing a hamstring injury, it’s been McKnight who has been called upon to step into his role as the slot receiver, and the product of Samford University has taken full advantage of the opportunity.

Throughout his two days with the ones, it’s been obvious that McKnight has the trust of Joe Flacco. The 5-foot-8, 185-pound receiver has been one of, if not the leadeing receiver in terms of receptions across the two practices, including one first-down catch on Friday in a do-or-die fourth-down situation.

“He told me ‘good job’ on a couple of things,” McKnight said of Flacco. “He likes my spots on the field… Coach threw me in there, and I just went out to do what I do best—make plays, get open and do my job.”

With the Broncos short on guys at the slot position, McKnight could carve his way onto the roster with more solid play from inside and some flash as a returner.

Snap Update

As it’s become a top concern of traning camp, it’s now necessary to give an update on how things went for Connor McGovern snapping the ball to Joe Flacco in the shotgun.

Unfortunately for the new center, it was yet another shaky day.

On top of yet another snap that never got off the ground, there was another that sent Flacco so far off of his spot and out of his rhythm that he was forced to throw the ball away immediately.

Asked if there’s anything he can do to improve things, Vic Fangio didn’t have any specifics to offer.

“We have to keep practicing because we can have nine other offensive players having the best down of their life, and if we can’t get the snap, it’s wasted… I thought it was a little better today in comparison to yesterday where we had kind of an epidemic of them. Today, we kind of had a few of them. We can’t have any.”

Through eight practices, there has yet to be a day without a bad snap.

Other Notes

• With James and Leary out, Elijah Wilkinson stepped in at right tackle while Jake Brendel stepped in at right guard.
  • Brendel is a fourth-year player out of UCLA who made three starts in three years with the Miami Dolphins.
  • Neither player stood out negatively, a compliment for two backups on the OL.
• It appeared as if Kevin Hogan did not know there were any receivers on the field other than Juwann Winfree, as he targeted Winfree time and time again. While they didn’t connect every time, it was clear that Hogan has big-time trust in the rookie.
• In his first practice as a Bronco, new receiver Nick Williams got reps with the first-team offense and made multiple catches.
• Noah Fant continues to look more and more comfortable every day.
• The following players did not practice as the Broncos list of injuries continues to mount: River Cracraft, DaeSean Hamilton, Todd Davis, Ron Leary, Jake Butt, Jake Rodgers, Ja’Wuan James, Dakota Watson, Bug Howard.
• Saturday’s practice will take place at Broncos Stadium at Mile High, and Vic Fangio is hoping for a crowd of 50,000.
  • Despite the venue, the practice will not change in structure.