The Denver Broncos wrapped up Tuesday’s practice, the second day of acclimating to the pads being on. For the Broncos offense, not much went well for them as the defense set the tone.

Denver Broncos defense brings the heat on Day 6 of training camp

After the Broncos defense won the day on Monday in the first day of pads, the offense didn’t have much success on Tuesday as the defense ramped things up even more.

Outside linebacker Nik Bonitto left practice before any of the full team periods with an apparent lower body injury, but other players at that position saw more snaps and helped contribute to a dominant day.

In the 9-on-7 period in which Bonitto suffered the injury, Jonathon Cooper and Justin Strnad blew up an RJ Harvey run. Eyioma Uwazurike crashed into the backfield on a J.K. Dobbins rushing attempt and blew the play up, followed by Zach Allen stuffing Harvey on the next play for a loss in the backfield.

The defensive line set the tone for Tuesday’s practice. In the Broncos’ first team period of the day, Allen tagged Bo Nix in the pocket before Nix was able to take off and scramble.

On the next play, Allen and Cooper blew up a Dobbins run in the backfield. On the third play from scrimmage, Jonah Elliss came screaming off the edge for what would have been a sack.

The defensive energy was contagious — Que Robinson tagged Jarrett Stidham on his first snap under center. Rookie defensive lineman Tyler Onyedim shot through the A-gap and stuffed a run play intended for Jonah Coleman. The only big play for Denver’s offense in the first team period came from Sam Ehlinger, who connected with a wide-open Lucas Krull for a big catch-and-run and a dot two plays later to wide receiver Cameron Ross near the sideline for a solid pickup.

Nix and the offense attempted to bounce back in the second overall team period with Dobbins rattling off a solid run to start the series. On the next play, Nix found Jaylen Waddle for a 20+ yard gain with Patrick Surtain II working against him in coverage. Waddle’s speed and yard-after-the-catch ability have been on display quite a bit throughout the first six days of camp.

With some momentum, Nix attempted a downfield shot to Troy Franklin, who was being covered by Riley Moss, but it fell incomplete. To close out the second team series for Nix and the first offense, Nix threw a nice pass to the outside to Waddle, but PS2 ended up bringing his ball-side hand through to force it incomplete.

Not only did players like Jonah Elliss, Que Robinson, Jonathon Cooper, Drew Sanders, and Johnny Walker Jr. have moments where they created pressures, but linebacker Alex Singleton came free on a play during Denver’s third-team period of the day for what would have been a clean sack.

After practice, safety Talanoa Hufanga walked by us and mentioned that our post-practice reports should read that the defense won the day. He’ll get no arguments here.

Wednesday’s practice with be Day 7 of Broncos Camp, and the ramp up period with the pads on is officially over. It will be full go tomorrow morning.