ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — On Wednesday, during the Denver Broncos‘ seventh practice of training camp, first-round quarterback Bo Nix had arguably his best practice as a Bronco.
So, naturally, the media asked Sean Payton about the rookie’s impressive day minutes after practice ended.
But instead of hyping up his first-round quarterback, the head coach immediately turned to another player who caught his eye even more.
“Look the guy that jumped out was Josh Reynolds. He had three or four catches that were something else,” Payton said, when asked about Nix. “I’ll have a chance to look at the film and then see how each one of those quarterbacks did. We had a heavy emphasis on third down. We had two periods devoted exclusively to third down, as well as a pretty good portion of the walk through.”
The head coach didn’t need to look at the tape to know Reynolds balled on Wednesday.
In fact, on just the third play of practice, Reynolds got things started. The veteran receiver had a step on Pat Surtain II on a deep-in route and caught the first-down pass from Nix.
“He is long and he’s smart,” Payton said about the 6-foot-3 receiver. “There’s some versatility. I see him as an outside-in player, more outside than in. His length, you saw it. His catch radius is just bigger.”
In the next team period of practice, Reynolds displayed his massive catch radius.
As Nix stepped up in the pocket, he fired a pass to Reynolds on the left sideline. With 5-foot-10 Ja’Quan McMillian draped all over Reynolds, Nix put the pass over the slot cornerback’s grasp and the lengthy receiver used his long wingspan to catch the high pass before going out of bounds.
Those two completions happened to be two of Nix’s best completions on the day. Reynolds ended practice by helping Zach Wilson too.
Looking down field on third down, Wilson tossed a 50-50 ball down the left sideline despite smothering coverage from Levi Wallace. With the veteran cornerback in great position to knock down the pass, if not intercept it, Reynolds snagged the ball over the cornerback and came down with it for a 25-yard completion.
If it had happened during a game, it would have been on SportsCenter’s Top 10.
Reynolds was the Broncos’ biggest offseason addition in the receiver room as they signed him to a two-year, $9 million deal after his two-plus years with the Detroit Lions.
Payton didn’t call his friend and mentee Dan Campbell to ask about Reynolds because they had their own insight about the receiver from Detroit on their staff.
“I have ‘Johnny Mo’ [Pass Game Coordinator John Morton] here, and remember Johnny just finished coaching him in Detroit,” Payton explained after Wednesday’s practice. “So I kind of had—I didn’t need to call Dan, but that’s something I would have done if not for having one of his coaches here.”
When Morton talked to Payton about Reynolds before signing him, the pass game coordinator gave him a thumbs up.
“It was good, it was really good,” Payton said about Morton’s evaluation of the veteran receiver. “He is a tough player. He has range. You saw today there were a number of 50-50 balls that he ended up with. We had a good, clear vision for him and I’m glad we have him.”
In a crowded receiver room, Reynolds brings a nearly unmatched veteran presence, size and catch radius that will get him on the field early and often in Payton’s offense in Denver.
For all of the details from Day 7 of Broncos Camp, click here.
