ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — When the Broncos gathered for voluntary veteran minicamp, Quinn Meinerz was on hand continuing to learn the intricacies of the outside-zone scheme installed by coach Nathaniel Hackett, offensive coordinator Justin Outten and offensive-line coach Butch Barry.
He was working, and the jockeying for playing time with veterans on the interior — including Graham Glasgow, who Meinerz replaced after a season-ending injury suffered in Week 9 last season against the Dallas Cowboys — was already under way.
“Right now, they are interchangeable at this point,” Outten said last week. “We want to see where they can fit and their ability to play center and snap the ball as a crucial backup. You want to have that in your back pocket. Those guys will kind of bounce around as you’ll see. [It’s] just to see them fit in different spots and direct traffic in playing guard and helping the tackles out as far as the interior stuff. We’re going to keep moving guys around to find the best five.”
That’s part of the adjustment Meinerz has as he finds his footing in a scheme that historically favors smaller, quicker interior linemen.
“It’s running off the ball a lot more,” Meinerz said. “I never did it in high school or college, and even last year it wasn’t as much running off the ball, so, it’s something that I’m working on throughout these practices.
“That’s something I’m really going to need going forward to be successful in this offense — is being able to run off the ball and cut the defenses, and that’s our goal.”
So, to get ready in the months leading up to last week’s camp, he changed his body a bit.
Don’t worry … “The Belly,” the part of his body made famous and viral by his practices at the 2021 Senior Bowl and his offseason and training-camp work last summer, is still there — although it was covered by a blue compression shirt underneath his jersey.
“Well, it’s not hot right now. That’s the way it works,” Meinerz said. “It’s part of what I do. But I don’t like to make it a distraction.”
But it isn’t quite as big as it was last year. In preparation for the scheme shift up front, Meinerz wants to play at a lighter weight than he did as a rookie, when he started nine games and established himself as one of the NFL’s most promising young interior linemen.
“I think with my skill set, I have the ability to do both,” Meinerz said, referring to last year’s scheme and the one being installed by Hackett and his staff. “I had a full season of doing one thing, and now I have to reset a little bit and do another.
“I know that I’m explosive; I know that I’m strong. So, I kind of knew this offense that was coming so, one of my main goals for this offseason was to lose a little bit more weight, really stay down in the 320-325-pound range, because I was pushing 330 at times last year.”
Diligence like that is part of the reason why Hackett is optimistic about Meinerz’s outlook.
“The sky is the limit for him right now,” Hackett said at the NFL Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, Fla. on March 28. “I really like what he does. I still remember when he was coming out — he had the videos in the forest working out. I know he’s working out hard right now. He’s going to be a really good right guard for us.”
And even though the coaches are still figuring out how their interior line will look, Meinerz vows his effort will be the same — whether he keeps his starting slot or he has to be a swing backup once again.
“I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing — and that’s preparing to be the starter,” he said.
