The Denver Broncos were back on the practice field on Tuesday, just days after their preseason opening win against the San Francisco 49ers. While the Arizona Cardinals are coming to town on Thursday, the Broncos focus remains on themselves and cleaning up some things in all three phases of the game that will be necessary come the regular season.

Denver Broncos focus on cleaning up miscues as training camp continues

Much of the media game is reacting or overreacting to everything that takes place in a practice or in a game setting, but that outside noise means very little to Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos, who are conscious about the small details they’ll need to improve on before the regular season arrives.

Payton touched on the starting offense and defense from Saturday’s game against the 49ers, after having time to review the film from last Thursday’s joint practice and the game.

“I think defensively, the first drive obviously you don’t want to see a score,” Payton said. “The third-down play was a significant play that led to that touchdown. We bounced back pretty quickly. Offensively, we’ll clean some things up. Overall, there were a lot of positives overall grading the week. What I mean by that is Thursday’s practice was pretty long, maybe a little longer than I would’ve liked, and then the turnaround and then the game on Saturday. There were a number of things when we put the film on that we felt we did really well situationally. Then there were a handful of things that we didn’t do as well. We need to get our alignments cleaned up on offense. There was a penalty thrown. I’m glad it happens in a joint practice. You don’t want it to happen in Week 10 in a game that matters. Clearly for us, there was plenty to coach off of, and there were a lot of reps to coach off of.”

Keep in mind, Payton and the Broncos aren’t running the schemes they will at the complexity we’ll see deeper into the regular season in these joint practices or preseason games. A lot of what we see is vanilla versions of some of the team’s fundamental philosophies, at least offensively.

While we can acknowledge the Broncos’ starting offense looked sluggish, the issues are correctable, and that’s why you play in the preseason — both as players and as coaches.

This week is another opportunity to refine those areas with more joint practice reps against a different look and front, compared to what Bo Nix and the Broncos offense have faced all throughout camp.

Broncos cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine progressing in second season

The young depth surrounding this Broncos’ team this year is a notable strength that will be utilized throughout the year. At cornerback specifically, the Broncos are seeing second-year player Kris Abrams-Draine progressing forward with his on-field production and confidence.

All throughout training camp, he’s looked the part — coming up in run support and taking appropriate angles to not allow a rusher or receiver to get outside of his contain. In the passing game, he’s coming up and making plays on the football, covering different route concepts efficiently and because of that, he’s developed more confidence.

“He’s smart, he has really good ball skills,” Payton said. “He’s one of those players that, someone brought it up at the beginning of training camp, the tail end of last year his play and his confidence… You can have a stretch of four weeks, and all of a sudden that can carry over into the next year. He’s someone that prefers to play off and keep the ball in front, break on the ball. I like his ball skills, and I like between the ears. He’s very, very smart.”

After Saturday’s preseason game against the 49ers, his stock rose, highlighting the strength of Denver’s cornerback depth, which is a great problem to have right now. One of the best traits a defensive back can have is the ability to play without having to think much, and he’ll be a player to watch for a second consecutive week as the team prepares for its lone home preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Broncos news and notes from practice

  • Outside linebacker Nik Bonitto was not dressed for practice today and observed before heading inside. Payton said he anticipates Bonitto will practice on Wednesday.
  • Inside linebackers Dre Greenlaw (quad) and Alex Singleton (finger) were back at practice on Tuesday. Greenlaw was present for team stretch and individual period, while Singleton was a full-go participant for the first time since having surgery on his finger.
  • Wide receiver A.T. Perry (knee) returned to practice for team stretch and individual period for the first time this camp.