ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Wednesday was red zone day at Centura Training Center.
The Broncos held their first red-zone drills of training camp and plan to do the same on Thursday.
“We went through the Top 10 teams last year, both offensively and defensively, in the red zone,” Payton said after practice. “It’s a pretty important and special situation in our game. Good red-zone teams typically are in the playoffs. I would say the emphasis was a little more pass-driven and not run-driven today in those two team periods.”
Payton upgraded the Broncos’ offensive line in the offseason, and that could be the key to red zone success this season.
“The challenge is obviously your space is limited,” Payton said. “Defenses do a good job of utilizing that to their advantage. You get a little more coverage, and everything happens a tick quicker. The ball has to be precise. You don’t want anything floating on you. I said earlier—you have to be pretty efficient running the ball to be good in that area.”
After another red-zone practice on Thursday, the Broncos’ first unpadded practice since Saturday, they’ll put the pads back on for two-minute work on Friday.
But now we’re getting ahead of ourselves, so here’s what went down during Wednesday’s practice…
Participation report
- OLB Frank Clark returned to the practice field as a full participant after missing the past two practices.
- LB Jonas Griffith, who was injured on Tuesday, was absent on Wednesday. Head coach Sean Payton didn’t have an update on Griffith after practice.
- CB Riley Moss will miss approximately four weeks following surgery for and injury “like a sports hernia,” according to Sean Payton.
- RB Javonte Williams took his first off day as he recovers from a torn ACL. He told NFL Network’s James Palmer on Tuesday that the plan is for him to participate in two practices and then sit out the third during camp.
Russell struggles
Russell Wilson struggled again on Wednesday, with his first two-interception day of camp.
The first interception came on his first throw of team drills. Brandon Johnson ran a crossing route, with K’Waun Williams a step in front of him and Damarri Mathis a step behind him. Johnson had gained a half-step of separation toward the sideline, but Justin Simmons was waiting over the top. Wilson tried to fit the ball into the tight window, but it sailed on him and went straight into Simmons’ hands. Simmons now has three interceptions off of Wilson in five open training camp practices, and he tipped another one to Caden Sterns.
“He’s the player we knew he was back when we had to play against him,” head coach Sean Payton said of Simmons after practice. “He’s certainly smart, he’s got really good length and good ball skills. He can block PATs.”
(The PAT comment is a reference to Simmons’ block against the Saints, whom Payton was coaching at the time, which Will Parks returned for a score.)
The second interception came in deep red zone drills. Media had an obstructed view of the play, but K’Waun Williams picked off a ball intended for Courtland Sutton. It was Wilson’s fifth interception in five practices. Williams had already batted a ball away on a slot blitz in an earlier red zone drill.
“He’s had a good camp,” Payton said of Williams after practice. “He’s got good ball skills. You see his speed, and he’s got really good range. I think he plays well deep and some guys have trouble with the ball deep, but he’s someone that I think is very comfortable going from low to high, and vice versa. I think he stood out.”
The couple of passes prior to the interception didn’t go much better. Wilson tried to hit Courtland Sutton, who was stopped about five yards downfield, but Simmons flew in and contested the catch, which Sutton probably could have made. The next throw was to Jerry Jeudy, who had created separation toward the sideline, but Wilson lasered a ball that he probably could have lobbed, which gave Jeudy little time to adjust when the ball was a step behind him. Jeudy probably should have made the catch anyway.
The low point for Wilson was when his protection handled a blitz perfectly, but Wilson got happy feet in the pocket. He tried to escape, turning himself perpendicular to the field, before lobbing a backward pass to Semaje Perine about seven yards behind the line of scrimmage.
Wilson made a couple of plays in the first red zone period. He rolled out to the left after being flushed out of the pocket by a pass rush, which was strong all day, and hit an open Courtland Sutton on the sideline for a 15-yard gain. PJ Mustipher would have hit Wilson hard as he threw in a game situation. Wilson followed that play up with a great scramble up the middle for a double-digit gain.
Once again, though, Wilson’s mistakes outnumbered his B-plus-or-better plays,
It’s worth remembering that the offense is new and will probably take time to click. Maybe in a game situation, Wilson would have thrown the ball away instead of trying to jam it into Johnson and letting Simmons intercept it. Even more importantly, Sean Payton isn’t trying to put Wilson in good situations right now like he would during the season. The Broncos’ offense isn’t game-planning for the defense, it’s trying to install the full playbook.
“We may not run (a play) if we were playing Denver’s defense, but it is in the installation schedule,” Payton said after practice. “Throughout this training camp and preseason, you begin to see some things that we are doing well. There are a few things that maybe you don’t feel as comfortable about. You are constantly building up that memory bank of what you are seeing and how we are executing it.”
A dominant day from Denver’s offense would provide comfort, but the real test is on Sept. 12 against the Raiders, and reading too much into what happens between now and then may or may not set expectations correctly.
Payton doesn’t seem concerned about Wilson’s two-interception day.
“Yeah, no big whoop. He’s doing fine.”
One-on-ones
The Broncos ran one-on-ones between the receivers and defensive backs for the second consecutive practice on Wednesday.
The offense has a big advantage in the drill—the quarterback doesn’t face pressure and the defender has no help—so wins for the offense are the status quo and wins for the defense are big plays.
Here are some notes:
- Ja’Quan McMillian played perfect coverage on Brandon Johnson up the sideline but Johnson lept to bring in the contested catch for a big gain. McMillian was in good position against Montrell Washington but the receiver was able to make the catch in the end zone.
- Jalen Virgil made a similar play against Faion Hicks but wasn’t able to get his feet down in bounds.
- Delonte Hood shut down a deep route from Kendall Hinton.
- Jerry Jeudy picked up a few yards with a short route against Pat Surtain.
- Courtland Sutton beat Damarri Mathis on a slant. Jeudy beat Mathis on a stop route for 15 yards. Sutton also created a small window against Surtain on an out route but Russell Wilson missed it. Surtain probably would have gotten a hand in to knock the ball away.
Taylor Grimes scores
Undrafted receiver Taylor Grimes has been a consistent performer throughout camp, but he finally had his marquee moment on Wednesday.
The Broncos did their first red zone work of practice in the final two team periods but didn’t score a touchdown until the very end of the day. Grimes separated from Faion Hicks in the left side of the end zone—I couldn’t see the route because the bench was in the way—and Ben DiNucci hit him for the score. Grimes punted the ball in celebration.
While this is the play that carries the most weight, it might not be his most impressive of the day. Grimes stacked Essang Bassey in one-on-ones with a half-step of vertical separation and patiently stuttered inside before breaking outside, creating a massive amount of space. He caught the easy pass and continued upfield.
He also beat Justin Simmons in one-on-ones with a shallow post, but Simmons gave him a large cushion, which made his job easier.
Throw in a big gain on a jet sweep—credit Albert Okquegbunam for his best block of camp—and Grimes had a massive day.
The undrafted rookie slot receiver could be working his way onto the coaches’ radar with his surprisingly-polished route running.
Jahleel McLaughlin shows off his burst
Evaluating running backs in training camp isn’t easy, since teams rarely tackle to the ground. (Although PJ Mustipher tackled Tyler Badie in the backfield on Wednesday.) But undrafted running back Jahleel McLaughlin has looked like he belongs in the NFL throughout camp, with more eye-catching runs than any other Broncos back.
McLaughlin’s best run of the day was probably when Will Sherman, Henry Byrd and Kyle Fuller created a massive hole in the middle of the line, and McLaughlin took advantage. But it isn’t any given play that stands out as much as when McLaughlin shifts gears and bursts past defenders on a play-to-play basis.
Marvin Mims catches punts
As Marvin Mims continues to work his way slowly into training camp, he caught punts with Montrell Washington during special teams drills on Wednesday. They were the only two players to get the opportunity.
The Broncos didn’t hold real punt team drills—neither returner actually returned the punts, they only caught them—but Mims still impressed. He showed off his ability to catch with his hands, without letting the ball get into his chest.
The Broncos have used a number of other punt returners during camp, but Mims seems to be firmly in the mix for the job this season.
Final notes
- Adam Trautman and Chris Manhertz combined for a great block on Frank Clark that set the edge for a jet sweep to Jerry Jeudy.
- Ben Powers had a fantastic block on Tyler Lancaster, slamming the nose tackle into the ground.
- Greg Dulcich separated from PJ Locke on a crossing route for a decent gain. He may be the most targeted pass-catcher through the first week of camp.
- Tyler Badie misread a zone run and tried to bounce it outside. He would have been tackled for no gain or a loss.
- Chris Allen and Jordan Jackson combined for a pressure that forced a throwaway.
- Adam Trautman caught a 25-yard pass up the seam. Trautman also caught a crosser on a bootleg, but would’ve been popped by Devon Key just after he caught the ball.
- Elijah Garcia burned a lineman for a run stuff of Jahleel McLaughlin. Garcia also batted a ball in red zone drills.
- Justin Strnad, Nik Bonitto and Jonathan Harris combined for a Tyler Badie toss to the weak side.
- Lil’Jordan Humphrey found a gap on the sideline and Ben DiNucci hit him for a 30-yard gain. Tremon Smith probably should have been in coverage.
- Marcus Haynes got the edge to bottle up a run in the backfield during red zone drills.
- Ja’Quan McMillian almost downed a punt at the one-yard line but the ball bounced off his hands and into the end zone.
