Tag: Broncos preseason

WATCH: Dianna Russini and Chase Daniel interview Broncos coach Sean Payton

Chase Daniel and Dianna Russini recently spoke with Broncos coach Sean Payton on their ‘Scoop City’ podcast. Watch the full interview here.

Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton spoke with The Athletic‘s Dianna Russini and Chase Daniel last week for a new episode of their “Scoop City” podcast.

Daniel is a former NFL quarterback who was a backup with the New Orleans Saints from 2009-2012 and in 2017, so he has an existing relationship with Payton. Thanks to that relationship, Daniel is granted access that isn’t typically given to members of the media.

Daniel sat in on a team meeting last Thursday before the team’s joint practice with the Green Bay Packers and he also sat in on a quarterback meeting. One of Daniel’s takeaways from those meetings is that quarterbacks coach Davis Webb will become an NFL head coach in the future.

You can watch the full podcast episode below, with the Payton interview beginning at the 17:10 mark:

A few notes:

  • Payton told a story he has told many times about how he liked that quarterback Bo Nix only had football items in his backpack at his pro day. Nix threw 82 passes at his pro day and 81 were “exactly on the right [correct] shoulder.” After watching 16 throws, Payton told general manager George Paton, “This is the guy.” Payton likes Nix’s ability to play in a “dirty pocket” and make off-schedule throws. Philip Rivers worked with Nix this spring and gave him a positive review to Payton.
  • Payton had Paton call the New York Jets when they were on the clock with pick No. 11 to stall and find out if anyone was attempting to trade up above Denver for Nix. Paton also called the Las Vegas Raiders at pick No. 13 to ask if they wanted to move up to gauge if they were targeting a quarterback.
  • Payton spoke highly about third-string QB Zach Wilson and told him, “My job is to make you millions, either with us or another team.”
  • Two weeks ago, Payton had the team’s three QBs give him their favorite plays from previous stops and they put them in the offense. He’s keeping tack of which play performs the best. Payton’s offense is evolving over time and he’s not locked into his 2006 playbook.
  • Payton is excited about the additions of defensive linemen John Franklin-Myers and Malcolm Roach and he’s pleased with how defensive line is playing this summer. Payton described the Broncos as “young and hungry.” He said the two great allies of a young quarterback are a good defense and strong running game, and he believes Denver will have both in 2024.
  • Payton told the story of how he got a Michael Jordan shoe sponsorship from the former NBA star.

Payton is entering his second year with the Broncos after going 8-9 last fall. His all-time head coach record is 160-98. He won seven division titles and one Super Bowl with the Saints before landing in Denver last year.

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PFF releases grades from Broncos’ second preseason game

Tim Patrick (89.0 on offense) and Andre Smith (95.4 on defense) were the Broncos’ highest-graded players in Week 2 of NFL preseason.

The Denver Broncos dominated the Green Bay Packers 27-2 in their second preseason game of the summer on Sunday night. Pro Football Focus released their player grades from that victory on Monday.

On offense, quarterback Bo Nix had the best overall grade among quarterbacks (85.8) and the best passing grade (89.8). Aiding by a rushing touchdown, Jarrett Stidham had a better running grade (63.3) than Nix (59.4) but a worse passing grade (59.3). Zach Wilson wasn’t able to make much of an impact with cleanup duties (45.7 overall).

Nix was PFF’s highest-graded rookie quarterback of the week.

At running back, Tyler Badie had a short sample size (one carry and one catch), but his touchdown helped him secure the best grade (77.6) among Denver’s RBs. Up next was Javonte Williams (66.4). Audric Estime (79.9) was given the best pass-blocking grade, which is not surprising:

Tim Patrick (89.0) was the team’s best wide receiver on the night and the best offensive player overall.

On defense, linebackers Andre Smith (95.4) and Justin Strnad (91.5) posted the best overall grades, followed by safety Keidron Smith (91.1). Not far behind were pass rushers Nik Bonitto (89.6) and Jonah Elliss (85.9).

Elliss posted another sack and a hurry that led to another interception, just as he did in Denver’s preseason opener last week. He was PFF’s highest-graded rookie edge defender in Week 2.

The team’s lowest-graded defender was pass rusher Thomas Incoom (35.4).

On special teams, punter Riley Dixon was given a slight edge (60.0) over Trenton Gill (59.3). One of Gill’s three punts was shanked, but he made up for it later in the game with a 62-yard boot. The punter competition might go down to the wire.

You can view more grades on the paid version of PFF’s website.

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Brian Baldinger likes what he’s seen from Broncos QB Bo Nix

“Bo Nix, the starting quarterback Week 1 for these Denver Broncos.” Brian Baldinger has seen enough to name a QB1.

Brian Baldinger is a Boliever.

The NFL Network analyst took to Twitter/X during Sunday’s preseason game between the Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers to declare Bo Nix the starting quarterback.

“Here’s Bo Nix on a little rollout right here,” Baldinger says in his video. “Tim Patrick over the middle — [the] right read, two drives, two scores. Bo Nix, the starting quarterback Week 1 for these Denver Broncos.”

Sean Payton, of course, holds the actual authority to name Bo Nix the starter, but he’s not doing so, at least not just yet. Payton could announce a starter before the Broncos return to practice on Wednesday, but the coach was not willing to make a declaration after Sunday’s preseason game.

“I’m not announcing any starting quarterback tonight,” Payton said on Sunday. “I’ll let you guys know when the time comes.”

Nix went 8-of-9 passing for 80 yards with one touchdown and no turnovers in a 27-2 win over the Packers. He certainly looks like Denver’s QB1.

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P.J. Locke and Courtland Sutton had the cutest moments of preseason

Courtland Sutton and P.J. Locke delivered two of the cutest moments of preseason before the Broncos’ game against the Packers on Sunday.

The Denver Broncos handled business on the field against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night with a 27-2 victory at home.

Broncos players also had a night to remember off the field.

During pregame warmups, Denver safety P.J. Locke was joined by his son on the field, and his helmet was a perfect fit:

Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton also had a cute moment, posing for a photo with a seven-month-old baby when he came out of the tunnel after halftime. Goldie’s going to love the resulting photo and video when she’s older:

Football is family, as the NFL likes to say. Those two videos were definitely two of the top highlights from Denver’s preseason opener on Sunday.

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Unfortunately, Broncos’ 27-2 win over Packers was not a scorigami

Unfortunately, the Broncos’ 27-2 preseason win over the Packers on Sunday night was not a scorigami.

The Denver Broncos made NFL history with two scorigamis last season (including one they would like to forget).

The Broncos had another uncommon final score when they defeated the Green Bay Packers 27-2 in Week 2 of NFL preseason on Sunday night. While uncommon, it was not unique. No scorigami.

That score has happened once before in the NFL when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Chicago Cardinals 27-2 on Dec. 22, 1957.

“Scorigami” is a term coined by Jon Bois to describe a final score that has never happened before in NFL history. Unfortunately, the victory over Green Bay did not meet that criteria.

After humbling the Packers last week, the Broncos are now set to host the Arizona Cardinals in their preseason finale this week.

Following the final week of preseason action, Denver will have until Aug. 27 to trim the squad from 91 players down to a 53-man roster. We will track all of the team’s roster cuts on Broncos Wire.

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Everybody absolutely loved Tim Patrick’s comeback performance

Tim Patrick missed all of 2022 with a torn ACL and all of 2023 with a torn Achilles. He’s now healthy again and back to making big plays!

Tim Patrick has had quite a journey over the last three years.

The veteran Denver Broncos wide receiver tore his ACL early in 2022 during training camp and missed that entire season. After rehabbing and getting back on the field in 2023, Patrick tore his Achilles at camp and missed all of last season.

After back-to-back serious injuries, Patrick rehabbed again and got back on the field this summer. He looked like his old self on Sunday night, hauling in four receptions for 30 yards and a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers.

“Players were excited in there for him,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said after the game. “He had a big smile on his face. … [W]hen you have one of those injuries, it’s quiet, it’s lonely, everything goes on, it’s difficult. When you have it for two — you can really go back historically and then try to find players that have been out for two years and it’s tough. It’s a long time in this sport. So when he has a moment like that or when he has a practice where you see him getting back to form, it’s encouraging.”

Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix threw to Patrick four times and the 30-year-old receiver hauled in each of those targets.

“[I’m] happy for him,” Nix said after the game. “Obviously, he’s been through a lot. It’s not easy to overcome the things that he has, and then to get out there and be able to contribute like he did tonight was just really cool to see. He’s a gamer. He does a really good job when his number is called. It was good to see him in the end zone.”

By all accounts, Patrick is beloved by his teammates, and they were thrilled to see him making plays again on Sunday night.

“I can’t speak highly enough of Tim as a person and as a player,” quarterback Jarrett Stidham said. “He’s a veteran, he works his tail off, the last two years have obviously been tough for him, but to see him come back and be able to do the things he’s done, and he had a great game tonight, was open pretty much the entire time he was out there, and I couldn’t be more excited for him for sure.”

Even former teammates chimed in on social media:

Courtland Sutton, who has been teammates with Patrick his entire seven-year career, said you could feel the excitement after Sunday’s touchdown.

“Man, I was so happy for him,” Sutton said. “I could have celebrated with him the rest of the game if I could. I was just so happy to see him be able to get in the end zone. He’s been working his butt off, you guys probably know it just as well.

“The journey he’s been on the last couple of years and to see him get in the end zone, see the excitement — you could almost feel the juice of him. He’s over here trying to be all cool, but you could feel the juice and how excited he was to get back into the end zone and be out there and play this game that he’s worked so hard to enjoy.”

Before back-to-back injuries, Patrick totaled 164 receptions for 1,476 yards and 11 touchdowns from 2020-2021. Now healthy again, he’ll aim to win the No. 2 receiver job across from Sutton. Sunday was a step in the right direction, but Patrick is not content with a feel-good preseason performance.

“Obviously, I’m happy,” Patrick said after the game. “[But] I have a higher standard of myself. Just trying to be a better story. So, it’s a step in the right direction. But once I get these camp legs to go away, I’ll be better.

“Like I said, I just have a higher standard for myself. And obviously, I want to go out during the preseason and making plays, but what’s most important is making plays when the season starts and getting wins. Not just making plays and losing but getting wins.”

The Broncos defeated the Packers 27-2 on Sunday night, but preseason scores obviously don’t matter for standings. The real action begins in September and it looks like Patrick will be ready to help Denver make some noise when it counts.

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Matt LaFleur says Broncos humbled Packers this week

“[A]fter kind of getting humbled the other day in practice, and then to have it happen again, [that’s] not where we want to be.”

The Denver Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers with ease in Week 2 of NFL preseason, defeating their cross-conference foe 27-2 at home.

It must be noted, of course, that the Broncos built a 10-0 first-quarter lead with their starters playing against the Packers’ backups. But even Denver’s backups outplayed their opposition later in the game.

Both teams also played their starters in a joint practice scrimmage last week, and the Broncos also came out on top in that duel. After two “losses” in Denver, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said his team was humbled.

“Well, that was a long night,” LaFleur said after Sunday’s game. “Certainly, I think I was hoping that our guys would come out with more strain, effort, and grit after kind of getting humbled the other day in practice, and then to have it happen again, not where we want to be.

“I think it’s a good lesson for our guys in terms of, it doesn’t matter who’s out there, if you don’t put your best foot forward each and every time you go out on that field, these things happen to you. We’re going to have to regroup, take a long hard look in the mirror, and you’ve got to get better. We need that urgency from everybody.”

The game undoubtedly could have had a different feel if both teams played similar personnel. Broncos coach Sean Payton wanted more reps for his starters, though, and they performed well against the players across from them.

“We can’t control that,” Payton said when asked about the Packers not playing their starters. “We were able to control it on Friday when they did. We’ve got to worry about our team and what our plan was. Our plan — after the practice that we had … I felt like a month ago I had an idea and that changed after we finished because we got a lot of reps on Friday. We kind of stuck to last week’s pitch count if you will.

“Normally that second preseason game I’d like to get in the high 20s [of reps] with the ones and I think we were short of that, but I felt like we certainly had plenty of snaps on Friday. Matt didn’t start his players, I get it, but we did.”

The Broncos out-gained the Packers 263-168 in net yards and Green Bay’s offense was limited to 3.7 yards per pass attempt (Denver averaged 6.7).

“[I] just want to see more fight from our guys, that was frustrating, the lack of ability to move the football, both at the running game and in the passing game,” LaFleur said. “We definitely just have got to reevaluate and take a long hard look at everybody.”

Sure, it’s only preseason, but dominating a game matters for confidence. It was a convincing win for the Broncos and an ugly result for Green Bay.

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WATCH: Highlights from Broncos’ 27-2 win over Packers

It’s always fun to wake up after a Broncos victory! Here are the highlights from last night’s win.

The Denver Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers 27-2 in their preseason home opener on Sunday night. Check out highlights from the win below, courtesy of the NFL’s official YouTube page:

Up next for the Broncos is a preseason finale against the Arizona Cardinals on Aug. 25. After that, Denver will have until Aug. 27 to trim the squad from 91 players down to a 53-man roster.

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Broncos defeat Packers 27-2 in second preseason game

The Broncos defeated the Packers 27-2 in Week 2 of NFL preseason on Sunday night.

The Denver Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers 27-2 in Week 2 of NFL preseason at Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday night.

The Packers rested most of their starters, but the Broncos opted to play starters for the first two series of the game on both sides of the ball.

Denver rookie quarterback Bo Nix threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to running back Javonte Williams on the team’s opening drive, but the play was called back because Nix stepped over the line of scrimmage before his throw. That penalty left Denver with a 4th-and-7 at Green Bay’s 18-yard line and the Broncos opted for a 37-yard Wil Lutz field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

On his second series, Nix led an 11-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown pass to Tim Patrick to increase the lead to 10-0. Nix finished the game 8-of-9 passing for 80 yards, one touchdown pass and no turnovers. He also rushed three times for 12 yards.

Nix exited the game after two drives and Jarrett Stidham took over with the second-string offense. Following a Keidron Smith interception that set up Denver with good field position, Stidham rushed for a nine-yard touchdown to give the Broncos a 17-0 lead going into halftime.

In the second half, Stidham had a pass batted at the line of scrimmage and then intercepted by the Packers. Stidham finished the game 7-of-11 passing for 65 yards with nine rushing yards, one score and one turnover.

Zach Wilson took over later in the third quarter after Jonah Elliss recorded a strip-sack. That fumble was recovered by Denver and led to a 39-yard Lutz field goal to make it 20-0 late in the third quarter.

After being backed up by an Alex Forsyth holding penalty, the Broncos surrendered their first and only points of the night when Wilson was sacked in his own end zone for a safety, 20-2.

Later in the fourth quarter, Wilson connected on a seven-yard screen pass to running back Tyler Badie for a touchdown to extend the lead to 27-2, which ended up being the final score.

Up next for the Broncos is a preseason finale against the Arizona Cardinals on Aug. 25. After that, Denver will have until Aug. 27 to trim the roster from 91 players down to 53. Broncos coach Sean Payton said last week there are about 9-10 players on the roster bubble.

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Broncos’ stadium trolls Russell Wilson with Steelers ‘highlights’

The Broncos showed Steelers-Bills “highlights” at their stadium featuring a Russell Wilson sack. Surely a coincidence! 

During their game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night, the Denver Broncos showed highlights from other preseason games on their video board.

For the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Buffalo Bills highlights, the staff at Empower Field at Mile High chose a play showing Russell Wilson getting sacked. Surely a coincidence!

Broncos fans booed Wilson’s appearance on the video board. It’s hard to blame them — Wilson received a five-year, $242 million contract from Denver and then went 11-19 as a starter over two seasons. He was sacked 100 times in 30 games with the Broncos and three times in his Pittsburgh debut on Saturday night.

Denver coach Sean Payton benched Wilson with two games remaining in the 2023 season and replaced him with Jarrett Stidham. Wilson was then released this spring, creating the largest dead money salary cap hit in NFL history ($83 million).

Stidham completed with rookie Bo Nix to replace Wilson this spring (and it looks like Nix will win the job). Wilson, meanwhile, is set to return to Denver when the Broncos host the Steelers in Week 2 this fall. Judging from the reception of Sunday’s “highlights,” fans probably won’t give Wilson a warm welcome when he returns on Sept. 15.

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