Editor’s note: Welcome into one of many, many BSN Denver observation pieces to come this offseason. A fan favorite in the past, these stories will be posted after each and every training camp practice. Who is standing out, who is lagging behind and who is looking like the favorite in each of the position battles? Those questions and many more will be answered right here.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — It’s officially game week at Denver Broncos Headquarters. Oh, what a glorious sentence.

This one is an odd game week, though, because the team is not yet finished with their macro approach to training camp, meaning it won’t be until the very end of the week that they begin to take a micro approach towards their matchup with the Minnesota Vikings.

With that being said, there seemed to be a different intensity on the field on Tuesday afternoon, especially from the defense.

BSN Denver was on hand for the entirety of the Broncos ninth practice of training camp, here’s what we saw.

Pressure Point

So much of the buzz this training camp has surrounded the offense, and rightfully so. Not only has the ‘O’ been making big-time plays every day, but they are also much easier to talk about because of the stark contrast between this year’s group and last year’s group.

The offensive hype has been so strong that some of the defense has been overshadowed, leaving fans to ask questions like, “What’s up with Von Miller?” Or “Should we be worried that we haven’t heard much about Bradley Chubb?”

On Tuesday, it seemed as if the pass rush corps had a prepared statement to those questions.

From the very first snap of the team period in practice, Von Miller set the tone for the defense, putting pressure on Case Keenum and forcing an incompletion. On the next play, Miller was there again, putting himself in position for what could have potentially been a sack had the action been live.

After that was when Oprah arrived—You get a sack! You get a sack! You get a sack!

It started in the second 11-on-11 period, when Bradley Chubb absolutely blew by Garret Bolles for what would have been a blindside hit on Keenum. Bolles was visibly upset after the play and may have been under the impression that he had outside help from a back. Nonetheless, the floodgates opened after that.

During a period in which defensive coordinator Joe Woods sent five pass rushers repeatedly, Case Keenum’s life became a living hell in the pocket, and while he did do a nice job of getting out of there and making a few plays, the defense dominated the period.

Chubb had a would-be sack and got held on another play. Miller had a sack and a pressure. Darian Stewart had a sack and a pressure. It seemed Keenum’s only option was the quick game, either lobbing it over the oncoming rush to a back or throwing a quick slant over the middle.

“That’s not even a glimpse of it,” Chubb said after practice when asked if that was a preview of what to expect from the pass rush. “We didn’t even have all of us on the field at the same time, so I feel like when we’re all on the field at the same time, it’s going to be special.”

After practice Vance Joseph shed some light on the thought behind the period and why the offense has so much trouble.

“They struggled a lot,” head coach Vance Joseph said of the offense during the period. “That’s why we do it. It’s a team pass period. [Bill Musgrave] has been great at calling really good plays versus our defense for the first week-and-a-half. Today, we called five-man pressures against our pressure package; we want our offense to have the ability to block pressure without maxing up all the time. We want to get four guys out. We can always block the back or the tight end and get three guys out with three wides—or get two guys out with two backs and two tight ends—but to be effective in the pass game, you ant three and four guys out.”

Translation: It was supposed to be very hard for the offense, and it was.

A good example of what Joseph is referring to is the Broncos’ matchup with the Chargers to open the season last year. While keeping both their tight ends—Hunter Henry and Antonio Gates—back to block on almost every play, in fear of the Broncos’ pass rush, the Chargers were hardly able to get anything going in the passing game.

When all was said and done, Los Angeles only tallied 192 yards in the air for the entire game, with most of them coming while the team was attempting to stage a comeback from a 17-point, fourth-quarter deficit. Their tight ends, who had torched the Broncos the year before, combined for two catches for 17 yards.

That is what the Broncos are trying to avoid. For now, it seems they still need the help.

Cooler Heads

Never in my life have I seen a camp with so few dust-ups, skirmishes, tussles, whatever you want to call them.

Through nine practices now, the Broncos have yet to have anything more than two very brief shoving matches. Two years ago, with—for some reason—James Ferentz at the center of many fights, it seemed the orange jerseys and white jerseys were clashing damn near every day.

Last year, we saw multiple scuffles in the trenches, on top of a couple between the wide receivers and defensive backs.

This year, almost nothing.

There was one play today where Andy Janovich picked up a Jamal Carter blitz, and the two remained engaged until well after the play. When Janovich shoved Carter at the end, I thought to myself, “Here we go,” but Carter just smiled and ran back to the defensive side of things.

It all goes back to the new dynamic between the offense and defense that has the Orange & Blue looking like a cohesive team once again.

“We’ve really made it a point to keep each other healthy,” safety Justin Simmons said after practice. “Like I said, it’s hot out here, emotions run high, especially when you’re trying to play physical ball. But I think, for the most part, the team, the leaders on the team have a great job of policing each other. Like, ‘Hey we get it, he pushed you after the play. He did this, he did that, whatever.’ The leaders have done a great job on breaking that up and focusing on what’s more important, and that’s being together as a team and focusing on the season.”

Play of the Day

Courtland Sutton, again.

The end.

Just kidding… about the “the end” part, not the Courtland Sutton part.

Just when you thought he couldn’t find a new way to impress us, he did.

After hitting his desired depth on a comeback route—about 15 yards down the field—Sutton hit the brakes in front of Bradley Roby and hauled in a strike from Case Keenum.

As Roby approached Sutton and broke down to make the quote-unquote tackle, the rookie receiver turned his left shoulder as if that was the way he was going, sending Roby in that direction, before spinning back to his right, leaving the corner frozen as he waltzed 10 more yards into the end zone for the touchdown.

The best way to describe it was a classic Hakeem Olajuwon “Dream Shake.”

One can only hope that the former SMU basketball player, who grew up just an hour outside of Houston, picked up the move watching “The Dream” himself.

Injury and Availability Notes

• Ron Leary (knee) and Adam Gotsis (ankle) were both back out on the field after missing Sunday’s scrimmage
• Matt Paradis walked off the field with a trainer after the conclusion of practice, but was just dealing with a sickness.
• Philly Brown (concussion) was a full participant in practice for the first time since suffering a head injury in the weight room.
• Jeff Heuerman (knee) and Tramaine Brock (hamstring) both missed practice, again.
  • Brock worked on the sidelines with the training staff while Heuerman was still not out on the field.
• Su’a Cravens (knee) missed practice once again.
• Troy Fumagalli missed practice with a “slight groin strain,” according to Joseph.

Other Notes

• While many folks probably rolled their eyes at the sight of Isaiah McKenzie atop the depth chart at punt returner, it would only be fair to point out that he has not yet dropped a punt, by our count, all camp. If you were watching camp not knowing about last season, you would say he’s been the best of the group.
• Josey Jewell got a healthy helping work with the first team on the practice. He’s adapted nicely since coming back from a slight hamstring injury.
• Demaryius Thomas had another nice practice as he continues to build chemistry with Keenum.
• Jeff Holland, Paul Boyette and Stansley Maponga all had sacks with the second and third teams during the pressure period.