Training Camp Takes: Von Miller's success comes at Elijah Wilkinson’s expense

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos’ first padded practice of camp, on Monday, was “just OK,” according to Vic Fangio.

It was clear on Tuesday, the defense got Fangio’s message loud and clear. That wasn’t good news for the Broncos’ offense.

Here’s what went down during the Broncos’ fourth practice of training camp on Tuesday.

SUPER-BOWL-MVP FORM

Von Miller’s new approach to the 2020 offseason and season stole the headlines at the start of training camp. On Tuesday, it was clear the grind he went through in the offseason is translating to the field.

“I think he had a good day today for the most part,” Fangio said after Tuesday’s practice. “I thought he did good.”

Good was an understatement for Von’s performance on Tuesday. But compliments aren’t the easiest to earn from Fangio, especially in regards to Miller. Simply put, the Super Bowl 50 MVP took over practice.

Lined up against Elijah Wilkinson most of the day, Miller was in Drew Lock’s face over and over and over again. In the run game, Von was also dominant recording at least one tackle for a loss.

But Von displayed why he’s one of the highest-paid pass rushers in the game on Tuesday.

The first pressure Miller had would have been a disaster for an opposing quarterback in a game. After exploding off the line and getting the edge on Wilkinson, Von and Bradley Chubb were on a crash-course to sandwich Lock in the backfield.

Following the golden rule of never touching the quarterback, they both veered off course, mildly colliding with each other instead. But Von was just heating up.

On the following series, Von took over. After a Melvin Gordon shotgun run, Lock had three consecutive dropbacks. The first was a play-action pass. There was no time for the run fake to develop with No. 58 in the backfield. Sack.

The next play, Von shot out of a cannon, leaving no time for Drew to read the defense. With the way Lock was positioned in the backfield, it could have easily been a strip-sack for Miller. If not, however, it was at least a sack.

On the final play of the series, there was also pressure from the right side (read below).

Von applied pressure many more times during Tuesday’s practice, not allowing Lock to have any time to get in a downfield rhythm in the passing game. Miller did jump offsides once but followed it up with one of the sacks mentioned above.

“I think Von’s in good shape. He’s a little heavier than he’s been in the past, but not drastically,” Fangio said, elaborating on the new Von Miller. “I think he’s worked hard in the offseason to get his body where he wants to get and where he feels it needs to be. I think it’s shown in dividends already on the practice field.”

Coming off an eight-sack season — the worst output of his career while playing in a majority of the games — Von said he took a different approach to his offseason prep to have a better year in 2020. On Tuesday, it was certainly evident on the field.

CONCERN AT RIGHT TACKLE

Von Miller’s dominant day didn’t come without a cost. Unfortunately for Elijah Wilkinson, he had to go up against No. 58 for the majority of the day. And that made it a very long day for the right tackle.

As mentioned above, Miller consistently beat Wilkinson on the outside, not allowing Drew to have any time in the pocket.

One of the offensive plays of the day was near the end of practice when the offense was working in the red zone. Lock threw a strike to Courtland Sutton in the back of the end zone and Sutton was able to secure the ball and get his toes inbounds. But that play would have never happened in a real game as Malik Reed beat Wilkinson to the edge and allowed what would have been a sack.

After a potential strip-sack (as detailed above), Wilkinson literally gave up a strip-sack. This time it was courtesy of Dre’Mont Jones working against Wilkinson on the outside. The second-year defensive lineman pushed the right tackle close enough to Lock for Jones to get his hand on the ball and knock it out of Drew’s hand just before he threw it.

On another pass in the red zone, Lock was forced to sling the ball to Sutton for a short gain because of pressure from the right side.

Of the six first-team series during practice, Wilkinson allowed pressure in five of them.

To be fair to Wilkinson, he had to go against Von freaking Miller for most of practice. Additionally, Wilkinson wasn’t even supposed to be playing right tackle before Ja’Wuan James opted out. But this is the reality the Broncos are in.

During the Broncos’ first practice of camp, Jake Rodgers split time with Wilkinson at right tackle. Since, it’s been Elijah. The Broncos did sign long-time starting right tackle Demar Dotson last week, but he is still learning the offense and working with the backups.

When asked about the tackles after practice, Fangio said “They have to do a good job of blocking.”

We need to as an O-line, and tackle is a part of the O-line, build a good fort for the quarterback to throw from,” Fangio continued. “We can’t have cracks or leaks in the fort that apply pressure. It’s an entire unit’s operation. There are times where it becomes one-on-one for anyone of them at any time. They’ve got to able to uphold their end of the bargain and be able to block the guy they’re blocking one-on-one.”

The job for Fangio, Mike Munchak and the rest of the coaching staff will be to determine if the Broncos have a better option at right tackle, or if Wilkinson’s struggles on Tuesday were more about a fired-up defense, led by Von Miller.

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Trending Up

• Austin Schlottman: For a second-straight day, and the third time in four practices during camp, Schlottman got the nod to work at center with Drew Lock. Patrick Morris has only received one day with the starters, with Lloyd Cushenberry still waiting to make his first-team debut.
• Melvin Gordon: Despite missing the player-organized offseason workouts, Gordon is quickly developing chemistry with Lock in the passing game. Especially with all of the pressure in Lock’s face, Gordon has become a favorite target of Lock’s. The new running back is also reading holes well in the running game.
• Jerry Jeudy: As he should be, the Broncos’ first-round pick is now a staple in the Broncos’ first-team offense alongside Sutton.
• De’Vante Bausby: Bausby continues to make plays throughout camp. On Tuesday, the play-making cornerback picked off Jeff Driskel down the right side. Bausby was step-for-step with Tyrie Cleveland the entire time.

Trending Down

• Phillip Lindsay: Everyone has a down day during camp and Tuesday it was Phil’s turn. Lindsay had a ball from Lock on the left flat go straight through his hands after last week saying he would catch every ball thrown his direction. Additionally, and more shocking, Lindsay had a rare fumble on a run up the middle. There’s no need to panic. No. 30 was still heavily featured throughout practice.
• Austin Schlottman: Wait, wasn’t Schlottman trending up? Yes, he certainly was, but that was before the ball was snapped. On the first pass play, Schlottman was bullied by Mike Purcell off the jump. Purcell blew right by Schlottman and into Lock’s lap. Schlottman had an opportunity to separate himself in the center competition today but didn’t run away with it.

INJURY AND AVAILABILITY NOTES

• Austin Fort was the only Bronco to not practice in at least some capacity. He’ll miss four-to-eight weeks after having an arthroscopic procedure on his knee.
• Juwann Winfree took a positive step back to practice on Tuesday as he was with the team and wearing pads for the entirety of practice. He was very limited in practice, however, as he did not appear to take any team reps. He’s day-to-day with a groin injury.
• The Broncos do not have a single player on the COVID-19 list.

PLAY OF THE DAY

On a day dominated by the defense, it wouldn’t be fair to not give the play of the day to the defense. But the offense did have a magnificent play, so why limit it to one.

Offense: Despite having weapons spread outside, including Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy and Noah Fant, Drew Lock looked to his running back out of the backfield, Melvin Gordon, in the red zone.

Taking a wheel route out of the backfield, Gordon was smothered by Alexander Johnson in coverage down the right sideline. Lock didn’t care. Drew put the ball over Gordon’s shoulder, just passed the outstretched arm of Johnson right into Gordon’s hand. Melvin secured the ball with his right hand on his way to the ground, not even using his left hand to make the catch. Touchdown.

Defense: The final throw of practice was fitting for how the day went. Lock attempted to zip a ball into tight coverage on a crossing route in the right flat. Justin Simmons swatted the ball, causing it to fly away from the intended receiver and in the vicinity of A.J. Bouye.

The veteran corner made the diving interception in the end zone. Of course, the offense said Bouye was out of bounds, while the defense said he got his body in. After practice, Bouye said they would review the tape, but he knows he was in.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

• Tuesday’s practice was all about rotation among the Broncos’ receivers. While Sutton and Jeudy were staples with Lock for most of practice, many backup receivers got their shot with the first-team offense.
• One of those backups, undrafted rookie Kendall Hinton, had an impressive day, catching multiple passes and turning them upfield, although his production did not come with the first-team unit.
• K.J. Hamler began to see time with the first-team unit on Tuesday. Although it was limited, it was a sign he’s working his way up.
• LeVante Bellamy continues to see a significant amount of action with the backups in what could be a competition with Royce Freeman for Denver’s third running back spot.
• Troy Fumagalli had multiple catches on the day. He’s fighting for a roster spot in a crowded tight end room.
• Isaac Yiadom had an impressive pass breakup during 7-on-7s. He was on Tim Patrick’s hip deep down the left sideline and made a play on the ball to force the incompletion.
• Alijah Holder had an interception after Tyrie Cleveland lost his footing.
• There was a bigger emphasis on the run game during Tuesday’s practice to get “callused to playing NFL football,” according to Fangio.