Sean Payton shares the plan for the retractable roof on the Broncos’ new stadium

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Sean Payton remembers the first game at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium.

“It ages me because the first game in this current stadium, I was with the Giants as a young assistant,” Payton said on Wednesday.

Exactly 24 years later, Payton is the head coach of the Denver Broncos, a position he may hold for the final game at Empower Field.

Broncos owners Greg Penner and Carrie Walton Penner announced Tuesday that they have chosen Burnham Yard as their preferred site for a new stadium. They plan to open the stadium for the 2031 season.

“Our goal is to be here to participate in that new vision,” Payton said. “I think it’s great for the city.”

The decision to keep the Broncos in Denver instead of moving them to an outlying suburb was a popular one. The Broncos have been in Denver for their entire 66-year history, so a move would have been a break from tradition.

The more controversial decision was to include a retractable roof. Payton wanted to quell those concerns.

“The one thing I kept reading was we’re used to the snow and the elements,” Payton said. “I’m not going to speak for Greg and Carrie, but those will all exist.”

Payton, who coached 16 seasons for the New Orleans Saints inside a dome, appreciates the value of playing football outside.

“There’s a sterileness sometimes if you chose to go with the roof,” Payton said. “I think that there’s an advantage for the home team.”

The goal is to play outdoor football in Denver, but you can’t attract a Super Bowl to Denver in February unless there is a roof. A Final Four couldn’t be played outdoors either, of course. The roof gives the Broncos the ability to host major sporting events, but Payton is convinced it won’t change the environment for Broncos home games.

And he’s as convinced as ever that the current ownership is right for the Broncos.

“I think that it’s just been real clean,” Payton said. “Both of them are great communicators. Both of them think outside the box all the time, and I kind of think that same way.”

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Injury Report

The Broncos added a new name to the injury report: John Franklin-Myers.

Payton didn’t give an update on his veteran defensive lineman, who played in Sunday’s game. Maybe Franklin-Myers was given a veteran rest day. Maybe the injury is more serious.

The biggest question marks coming into the week were the statuses of tight end Evan Engram and linebacker Dre Greenlaw. Engram, who left Sunday’s game with a calf injury, was a limited participant on Wednesday. Greenlaw missed all of last week’s practices and still has not returned.

“Nothing to update you on,” Payton said of Greenlaw. “Progress is going well.”

Broncos

Colts

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Notes

• Cornerback Pat Surtain II, who was targeted once on Sunday and broke up the pass, spoke about what it’s like to have so few opportunities. “I think it is tough throughout the game, you always think that every play that they are going to throw your way. You are never going to go through a play and be lax and think like, ‘OK, they’re going to avoid me, this and that.’ I feel like as long as I’m doing my job the right way and causing pressure on the offense and locking down my side, I think that makes my job easier in a way. I never go in with the mindset that I will never get tested. When those opportunities come, I know that I have to make a play because the few amount of times that they tested me, I realized it’s all or nothing right here because I may not see a throw throughout the rest of the game. I think it’s all about being sharp, being locked in and understanding your assignment.”
  
  
• Wide receiver Courtland Sutton was captured giving his gloves to an excited girl on Sunday as he walked off the field after the win. “In those times… I’m hardly on Twitter [because] there is a lot of negative stuff that is on that app. Someone sent it to me, so I got the chance to see it and just tweeted, ‘Heartwarming,’ because that was genuinely what it was. To be able to take a step back from what we do and go back and have that conversation with that inner kid. When I was that age, and I had the opportunity to be at a game and to be able to get anything—a wristband, a headband, glove, cleat or anything—you treasure it forever. To be able to be a bright spot in little Pola’s day, it was a cool thing to be a part of. Sometimes, we don’t think much of it, but when you take a step back and you take a look at that impact it could be having on the person you are having that moment with, it’s super special. I never take it for granted. I’m always grateful whenever I get the chance to share a moment like that.”
  
  
• The Broncos want to rotate their defensive line more this season, to keep everybody fresh. That means a lot of Jordan Jackson and Eyioma Uwazurike, whom Payton applauded for their efforts against the Titans. “They did really well. We had a good rotation. We talked at the start of the season of making sure that we weren’t going to look back on a certain game—especially inside—with 90 percent. I thought the plan and the rotation were really good. Those guys played well.”