The Denver Broncos inside linebacker position has dealt with some bumps and bruises this offseason and at the start of training camp, and they suffered a scare during Thursday’s practice.

Denver Broncos LB Dre Greenlaw exits Thursday’s practice

Dre Greenlaw is as good as advertised when you watch him practice. He’s made an immediate impact defensively in practice, but he exited Thursday’s practice after pulling up during a competitive one-on-one period.

He was covering J.K. Dobbins on a route when he slightly pulled up while getting in phase. Greenlaw walked slowly after it occurred, and was on the field for at least five minutes after he scare before he jogged into the locker room.

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Fortunately for the Broncos, the belief is that he’ll be fine, according to head coach Sean Payton.

“No, I think he’s fine,” Payton said. “In the one-on-one period, he felt it got tight, a different area, and so we’ll know more. We’ll go ahead and have all the precautionary work done, but I think he’ll be all right.”

Obviously, the Broncos’ approach with Greenlaw will be important considering the quad injury he suffered back in April workouts, and this scare during Thursday’s practice. The goal is to get him and this group to the regular season after they lost Drew Sanders for a prolonged period of time at the start of camp, and with Alex Singleton set to return next week after having finger surgery.

Bo Nix, Broncos offense shine during Thursday’s practice

After facing a dominant Broncos defense on Wednesday, Bo Nix and the Broncos offense controlled the narrative during Thursday’s practice, which focused on red zone and third down.

In 7-on-7, Nix threw touchdown passes to Marvin Mims and Caleb Lohner. His throw to Mims was perfectly placed high and to the outside, where Mims was able to secure it and get both feet in bounds.

During the Broncos’ final team period of the day in the red zone, Nix found Courtland Sutton and rookie running back for touchdowns with well-placed throws. On the first play, Nix attempted to find Sutton, but Patrick Surtain II played the hip pocket of Denver’s newly extended receiver and knocked it away.

But the play of the day goes to rookie wide receiver Pat Bryant, who hauled in an impressive downfield catch of about 20-25 yards from Nix, tracking the football and securing the catch despite having a linebacker trailing behind him in coverage.

Aside from those plays, Nix’s comfortable connection with Evan Engram has been on display and was another theme from Thursday’s practice.

In terms of the running back position, Audric Estime has stacked together three straight impressive days as he competes for a role/roster spot. Payton acknowledged Estime’s work the last few days as well as second-year running back Blake Watson, who had some impressive runs on Wednesday and Thursday.

The overall body of work of the rushers behind J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey will determine the route the team takes when they eventually assemble their 53-man roster.

“They had a real good day yesterday,” Payton said. “Good question. I mean look, a lot will go into it. How many are you keeping? Practice squad? [RB Tyler] Badie had some real good work. And obviously [RB] Jaleel [McLaughlin], so I think I said this at the start of camp from experience, a lot of that stuff will sort itself out and I think I said this, when we finish playing New Orleans, we’ll have a better idea of how that’s going and you’ll have seen more evidence in the games, the joint practices. All of this stuff matters. Yesterday was one of the better days for some of those guys, and you brought up two of them, and [RB] Blake [Watson] had two or three exceptional runs. [RB] Audric [Estime] was stacked a couple of days. So it will be the body of work.”

Broncos news and notes

  • The Broncos placed undrafted rookie free agent linebacker Johnny Walker on injured reserve and signed LB Garrett Nelson.
  • WR Devaughn Vele was back at practice on Thursday after missing Wednesday’s practice.
  • OLB Que Robinson was not at practice for the second consecutive day with an undisclosed injury.
  • Key standouts from Thursday include Bo Nix, Marvin Mims, Caleb Lohner, Pat Bryant, Talanoa Hufanga, Joaquin Davis, Blake Watson, Audric Estime, and Courtney Jackson.
  • The Broncos will hold a ceremony on Friday morning to commemorate the last beam being put into place on the new team facility.