ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Drop. Drop. Drop.
Through the first week of Broncos training camp, the football has been on the ground early and often, left and right, day in and day out.
“It’s very unacceptable,” Courtland Sutton, the team’s self-proclaimed No. 1 receiver, said after another drop-filled practice on Wednesday afternoon. “Drops at our position are unacceptable at any level.”
“We understand what’s expected of us. When everyone just continues to say, ‘Oh that’s unacceptable. That’s unacceptable.’ We know that. As soon as it hits our hands and hits the ground, we know that’s unacceptable. We don’t want to drop it… Thank you all for reminding us.”
Courtland clearly doesn’t want to hear it. He gets it. He knows.
Vic Fangio’s already had to address the issue in the public, simply saying the group needed to catch more passes off the jugs machine and from the quarterbacks. The receivers have likely heard it time and time again from their coach, Zach Azzanni.
But there’s one more person who isn’t just going to gloss over the all-important.
“I’m trying to talk to these young guys,” Emmanuel Sanders, the veteran of the receiving corps, said after practice Wednesday as many of the younger receivers caught passes from the jugs machine just yards away. “We’ve got a young group. It’s probably the youngest group—it is the youngest group I’ve been around. No one is over 25, and I’m 32. We’ve got a very young group.”
In fact, outside of Emmanuel Sanders, with River Cracraft sidelined due to an oblique injury, not one receiver on the field Wednesday has had three full training camps in their career. Talk about young.
“I’m just trying to get these guys right,” Sanders said. “They are trying to make a roster. There’s a lot of pressure out here, believe it or not. I know sitting on the sideline it looks easy like, ‘Oh my grandma could have made that catch,’ but it’s just a lot harder than you think. They are just trying to get acclimated with that.
“I’m pushing for those guys,” he added. “We’ve still got 30 more days of camp so hopefully, we can turn that around and stop putting balls on the ground.”
As the veteran that doesn’t get caught up in the rush of training camp, Sanders’ message to the young group must be to take a deep breath, slow down and be themselves, right?
“Nah, nah. I’m not that kind of guy,” he said with a big, growing smile. “I’m more like, ‘get your shit together.’”
“At the end of the day, we’re all blessed to be able to play this game and so it’s all about putting everything together and going out and being a baller. I tell them all the time, ‘You’re here for a reason. Be who you were in college because what you did in college got you here. Just let all of the nerves go and understand if it’s meant for you, it’s meant for you.’”
And be a baller like Emmanuel, of course.
One player that has shined through the first six practice of camp is undrafted rookie Trinity Benson out of East Central.
At 6-foot, 180 pounds, No. 2 was initially profiled as a speedster. But he’s quickly proven he’s a do-it-all receiver.
“TB’s been doing well. He’s explosive. He’s fast,” Sanders said, referring to Denver’s undrafted receiver, not Tom Brady. “I told him the other day, he reminds me of myself when I was a rookie. He has long speed. He has good hands. He’s got a lot of upside to him.”
Outside of a drop on Wednesday, Benson’s listened to Emmanuel’s sound advice, got his stuff together, been a baller, let his nerves go and, most importantly, held onto the ball.
This isn’t peewee, high school or college anymore. In the NFL, the most simple, and honest, way to limit drops is simply taking care of business. And Emmanuel isn’t afraid to shoot it straight with the youngins.
