The Denver Broncos offense and rookie quarterback Bo Nix had a good performance as the team wrapped up their seventh day of training camp and their third day in full pads. In what ways did Nix look comfortable commanding the offense, and who were some players he benefitted from on the day?

Denver Broncos offense, Bo Nix mostly sharp on Day 7 of camp

Wednesday’s practice in Dove Valley saw Nix get all of the reps with the starting offense, and while he’s gotten this opportunity before in previous practices, he looked extremely comfortable and in command.

The Broncos rookie had himself a day, connecting with Josh Reynolds several times on the afternoon for big completions as the first-team offense made plays in the passing game. Protection from the offensive line held up consistently as Nix had time to navigate the pocket, go through his progressions, and deliver the ball quickly — something he did consistently on the afternoon.

“Look I thought overall, I’m sure there are going to be some plays we look at that were… It was mostly third down,” Broncos head coach Sean Payton said. “A lot of the work was third down. Yes, we’ll see the tape and evaluate it. I thought overall pretty well. There are clips and plays where you’re going to look at and correct, and then there are others where you’re going to say, ‘Hey—’ but I do have to watch the film because I’m looking at so much. He ran with the ones, and I like his progress.”

Third and short, third and medium, and third and long situations were the theme for Denver’s offensive and defensive units on the day, in what was a considerably longer practice than any previous session so far.

Reynolds, as we mentioned before, was a key standout on the day, hauling in passes from Nix and Zach Wilson, who ran with the second-team offense on the afternoon.

“Look the guy that jumped out was Josh Reynolds,” Payton said. “He had three or four catches that were something else. I’ll have a chance to look at the film and then see how each one of those quarterbacks did. We had a heavy emphasis on third down. We had two periods devoted exclusively to third down, as well as a pretty good portion of the walk through. So yes, that’s where we’re at.”

Perhaps Reynolds will find himself as a third-down weapon for whoever wins the starting job this upcoming season.

Broncos notes and standouts

The Denver Broncos saw one player suffer a major injury early on in practice with veteran swing player Quinn Bailey getting carted off with an air cast on his ankle. He got rolled up on during one of the plays that were being run during a walkthrough and ultimately suffered a fractured ankle.

He’ll likely miss the entire season, which is a big blow, considering Payton viewed him as their sixth offensive lineman in the jumbo package.

After the injury, the offensive line group gathered off to the side to take a knee where they prayed for Bailey.

“It’s one of their teammates that they’re working with,” Payton said. “He’s a tremendous teammate and a guy that all he does is work his tail off. The progress he made a year ago, and then all of a sudden—we were just discussing the roster the other day, and he was easily for us lineman [No.] 6 and someone who was going to be involved in the game plan in jumbo. It’s tough to see that from one of their peers.”

Outside linebacker Nik Bonitto returned to practice after missing on Tuesday. Safety Caden Sterns continues to stack days after being activated off of the PUP list. Defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers was excused for personal reasons for the second day in a row after a death in the family.

Standouts from Wednesday
Aside from Reynolds, Nix and their big days, wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey continued his streak of having several catches on the day from all three QBs. In Denver’s second team period of the day, he hauled in a deep pass across the middle of the field from Jarrett Stidham, and another one from Wilson in the final team period.

Second-year cornerback Art Green had a great play in the second-to-last play from scrimmage on the afternoon, staying stride for stride with Humphrey in his hip pocket deep up the sideline, knocking the pass away incomplete.

Tight end Lucas Krull had a great play in pass protection on Wednesday, blowing up Thomas Incoom, who had an initial clear path to sacking Stidham. Incoom went to get near Stidham, but Krull came from the backside for a massive pancake block that allowed Stidham to find Devaughn Vele 15-20 yards down the left sideline for a big gain.

Three straight days of pads helped the Denver Broncos get better, but they’ll take the pads off for Thursday’s practice as the CBA restricts the number of padded contact days the team is allowed.

Practice kicks off once again at 10 a.m.