What we learned at Broncos camp today: Russell Wilson's offense wins another practice

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The end of Week 2 of Broncos Camp is upon us.

On Saturday, the team provided one of the most intense practices to date in front of the most electric crowd of camp. More than 4,700 fans packed onto the hill at UCHealth Training Center to check out practice, as did former Broncos Brandon Marshall and Adam “Pacman” Jones.

And, for the second time in camp and the second day in a row, the offense was victorious.

Who won the day: Offense

For the first time in training camp, the Broncos ran one-on-ones with the wide receivers and defensive backs on Saturday. Within a few reps, we saw exactly why head coach Nathaniel Hackett has avoided them to this point: the offense has a massive advantage over the defense.

Outside of Pat Surtain, just about every defensive back lost in the drill. Even Justin Simmons was left in the dust by Eric Saubert.

While the one-on-ones were probably a waste of time, they may have given the offense a little bit of momentum heading into the 11-on-11 periods of practice.

On the first play, Javonte Williams cut back and got the edge of the defense where he was left all alone with Surtain. In a real game scenario, Surtain probably makes the tackle but Williams was left with nothing but green grass if he could get away.

On the next play, Montrell Washington ran a post and Albert Okwuegbunam snuck in behind him with a wheel route. Russell Wilson hit him on the sideline for a gain of about 25 yards.

The defense made a couple of plays too—Ronald Darby broke up a pass to Albert Okwuegbunam across the middle, Baron Browning recovered a dropped snap, and Justin Simmons almost got under a deflected pass for an interception—but for the most part Saturday was a big win for the offense.

“[We’re] just coming together as a whole and becoming more consistent,” center Lloyd Cushenberry said after practice. “We’re coming here with more focus and really just eliminating the mental errors—the false starts and those little things. The coaches are always telling us we have to learn how not to lose games before we know how to win. If we can eliminate those errors, we’ll be fine.”

While the learning is never done, the installation of the offensive scheme is.

“There’s no new stuff,” head coach Nathaniel Hackett said. “They just get to go out there and play football.”

Okwuegbunam made a couple of catches.

Trey Quinn caught a contested touchdown.

Kendall Hinton caught a 15-yard out, his best play of camp.

New rookie running back and Colorado native Max Borghi made a couple of plays, too. One was a stretch run on his first carry that he ran for a double-digit gain. Another was a touchdown in short-yardage work.

The practice ended with a short-clock drill. The offense got the ball with about 1:45 left at their own 25. It was the end of the first half, so any points would be considered a success.

Brandon Johnson made the big play, a 35-yarder past Ronald Darby, to get into field goal range. He made another catch a couple plays later to convert a third-down. Russell Wilson tried to hit Andrew Beck in the back of the end zone as time ran down, but the offense had to settle for a short field goal.

Play of the day

Brett Rypien hit Montrell Washington for a touchdown on an out route in short-yardage work. Washington gained a hair of separation past Ja’Quan McMillian and laid out to grab the ball at the front right pylon. Easily the best catch so far in camp.

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Jerry Jeudy – The 23-year-old receiver started camp slowly but came up big on a couple of occasions on Saturday. First, he caught a ball on the sideline 25 yards downfield on an over route. Then, he scored on a deep ball past Essang Bassey.

Brandon Johnson – The undrafted free agent wide receiver out of UCF made a couple of plays on Saturday, including a 35-yard catch on a ball from Russell Wilson in the move-the ball drill. He’s one of many wide receivers getting run with the first unit.

Montrell Washington – This wasn’t Washington’s best day but it was another good one. He made the grab of camp on a diving touchdown from Brett Rypien.

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Ronald Darby – The 28-year-old cornerback has had a solid camp to this point but he struggled on Saturday. Jerry Jeudy got him for a long touchdown. Brandon Johnson picked up 35 yards against him, too. There’s no reason to panic since this is the first time we’ve seen him struggle.

Essang Bassey – The 23-year-old cornerback also struggled, while filling in for K’Waun Williams in the slot. He’s been picked on during camp, probably because the rest of the secondary has been so stout.

Injury report

• Netane Muti didn’t participate in Saturday’s practice. He is being evaluated for a knee injury, according to Nathaniel Hackett.
• Courtland Sutton missed a few reps as the team checked on his foot, but he returned to practice.
• Kendall Hinton and Caden Sterns both returned to practice after missing most of the week.

Existing injuries

• D.J. Jones did not practice.
• Tyrie Cleveland doesn’t have a timetable to return after being hit in the throat during Monday’s practice.
• Randy Gregory, Billy Turner and Tom Compton on the PUP.
• Both Tim Patrick and Damarea Crockett have been placed on the injured reserve after tearing their ACLs.