With no preseason games this summer, the Broncos might hold a practice or two at Empower Field at Mile High to give young players a better feel of what it’s like to play in an NFL game.
“We may practice a time or two at the stadium to get them adjusted to being in a big stadium, an NFL stadium, although it would be empty,” coach Vic Fangio said on July 28. “A lot of those guys — all of them — you can’t evaluate them totally until it’s live action. Who can tackle, who’s willing to tackle and who can break tackles, it will be an adjustment for everybody.”
Denver’s young offense would have benefited from preseason games but the Broncos will have to make do without them, just like every other team.
“I always remember as a rookie it was important for me to see other helmets and not just Bronco helmets, but to see other helmets to get used to and realize, hey, they are now in the NFL,” general manager John Elway said on July 28. “With our young team, that doesn’t help us.
“I was hoping for a couple preseason games just because we are so young on the offensive side to get to see somebody else. We’re going to have to deal with it. Today’s world is adjusting, so we’ll adjust to that.”
Instead of preseason, Denver will have a longer-than-usual training camp leading up to a season-opening clash against the Titans on Sept. 14.
[vertical-gallery id=645295]