BSN Exclusive: How Phillip Lindsay used his injury recovery to improve his game in a unique way

DENVER — It’s mid-January, and a light snow is falling in the parking lot of Six Zero Strength & Fitness, just a mile West of the Denver Broncos facility.

Outside the ramp entrance to the massive gym sits a group of hand-me-down cars with things like “SENIORS 2019” painted on the back windows and one brand new Jeep with a black paint job, black rims and blacked-out windows.

Inside, the sound of weights clanking plays the perfect accompaniment to words of encouragement from young athletes working on their respective craft.

In the corner of the warehouse-like facility rests a small cluster of offices, and inside one of the doors, a group of clients is packed onto a couch and around the one table in the room, with all of their seats turned toward a projector screen.

As gym owner Matt McChesney sets up the film, a group of high school football players chat about the latest happenings in school, and in the back corner a new kid sparks up a conversation with the smallest guy in the room.

“So, where do you play?” He asks, presumably expecting to hear a high school.

“I, uh, play for the Broncos,” responds a 5-foot-8, 190-pound rock of a human.

The room laughs.

“That’s Phillip F***ing Lindsay,” says McChesney. “That an NFL Pro Bowler.”

While he might have the biggest arms of the group, the reason Lindsay is the smallest guy in the room is because he’s surrounded by linemen. That’s McChesney’s specialty, considering he played on both sides of the line in the NFL.

So, as the head honcho finally gets the film rolling, it’s not backs we’re watching, it’s the big-uglies up front.

As he quizzes the youngins on the intricacies of the play, he also quizzes Lindsay.

“If they come out in Under, Sam Stack, Strong Safety force, Cover-2 Man and both the corners are on the other side of the field, and you’re running into a Sam Stack look, but it’s an under front, and you have a 2i, and your frontside defensive end is a four-technique instead of a five-technique, do we really want to run into that look?”

“Where’s the cutback?”

“How is that going to impact our frontside push?”

The young back aces the test and a few more after that, while also asking questions of both McChesney and some of the younger players in the room.

After about 90 minutes of this, the film study comes to an end, and while the linemen go to lift, Lindsay—who is still nursing a broken wrist—heads out to his brand new Jeep, unable to jump in on the workout.

This same scene, or something similar, played out multiple times a week for Lindsay this offseason. While dealing with his recovery from wrist surgery, the University of Colorado product who burst on the scene as a rookie turned over many rocks looking for ways to improve himself outside of the physical spectrum.

“You can always learn about different players and different positions,” Lindsay told BSN Denver this week. “I really wanted to get familiar with the offensive line and understand more about the offensive line.”

“You have to improve every year, you can’t stay the same,” he added. “If you stay the same, you aren’t getting better, and people are going to catch up with you. So I have to always find ways to stay on top of my game so I can be the one on top, that’s what it comes down to.”

According to McChesney, Lindsay took to understanding the line “like a fish to water,” learning the intricacies of what certain fronts mean and what the location of the three-technique will tell you, in addition to what you can learn from the safety alignment and so on.

“You can tell how much he cares,” he said. “He really, really did a good job with it.”

Of course, a lot of the work the two did was focused on the Broncos’ new running scheme, and more specifically, the cutback run, a staple of many great Broncos offenses.

When done the right way, the cutback run in a zone-blocking scheme can be devastating, and a player like Lindsay, who has an innate ability to change direction on a dime, is perfectly cut out for it.

But the style requires patience, and a great understanding of when to go with the flow of the play and when to take it back the other way. The back’s vision is tested greatly.

“So much of Terrell Davis’ success was because he knew when to cutback. He studied the cutback,” said McChesney. “Good cutback runners like TD, and Ahman Green, and Eric Dickerson, are guys that push frontside and then can put one foot in the ground and go.”

“These guys study cutback lanes,” he added. “If you understand fronts, how they’re attacking you and what the alignments are telling you pre-snap—which they always tell you something—you’re going to know exactly where to cutback and how the linebackers are going to flow.”

As the two studied film from the 2018 49ers to the ’98 Broncos, Lindsay was able to “start piecing things together,” in his words, and when the project was over, the second-year player was locked in.

“By the end of our time this offseason, Phil had it down like a book,” says McChesney. “I really think he has a better understanding of what he’s looking at.”

As early as the very first practice of training camp, it was clear that Lindsay was comfortable in the new scheme, flashing a big run through a cutback lane within the first few minutes of 11-on-11 drills.

The work is paying off.

“I feel like I’m adjusting a lot more within the play,” Lindsay said. “I want to learn as much as I can and understand the Xs and Os… I just want to continue to grow every game and every practice.”

The NFL is all about punches and counter punches. Lindsay threw a big ‘ol right hook when he arrived on the scene, and while some of it had to with an inept offense around him, the rookie was hit with a counter towards the end of the season.

What separates the goods from the greats is what happens next. Do you have another jab or an uppercut in your arsenal or are you a one-trick pony?

Phillip Lindsay spent his whole offseason in the ring, and he’s got a whole new combo ready for 2019.