The Denver Broncos last official training camp practice wrapped up on Wednesday, and fans were treated to an exciting practice on their final day of attendance.
Denver Broncos wrap up training camp as Jaylen Waddle makes play of the day
Everybody in Broncos Country is excited to see Jaylen Waddle in a real meaningful game here soon, but fans got a little bit of an appetizer for what they can expect from Denver’s big offseason acquisition.
During one of the Broncos first team periods of the day against the defense, Bo Nix uncorked a 55-60 yard spiral deep downfield to Waddle, who got behind his former Alabama teammate Patrick Surtain II for a touchdown. Surtain is fast, but Waddle kicked things into an extra gear as he tracked the football perfectly over his shoulder en route to the end zone.
That’s been talked about all offseason, even from Surtain, regarding Waddle’s ability to catch a pass at five yards and take it to the house, or to get downfield for a score.
That was one of the many plays from a standout day for Nix and the offense. Several plays after the Waddle score, Nix connected twice in a row with tight end Evan Engram, with the second connection going for a touchdown after Engram caught a pass in a tight spot as safety Brandon Jones attempted to dive for it, leading to a catch and run up the sideline untouched.
After yesterday’s tussle, as Sean Payton called it, Wednesday’s practice was ultra competitive, but not chippy. At the end of practice, the Broncos ran a two-minute, end-of-half drill with 58 seconds remaining on the game clock, score tied at 0-0, with the Broncos offense starting out on their own 27-yard line with one timeout.
Nix connected quickly with Waddle for an eight-yard gain before directing a pass in the dirt that wasn’t going to be there in time before the pressure got home — smart play by Nix because it stopped the clock versus taking a sack. Denver’s third play saw Nix connect with Trautman for about a seven-yard gain, leading to the offense calling their only remaining timeout with 33 seconds left.
Coming out of the timeout, Nix connected with RJ Harvey for a catch-and-run of eight yards, and the offense rushed to the line quickly with time winding down. Bo fired a nice shot to Courtland Sutton down the middle of the field that put them in easy chip-shot field goal range with around 10 seconds. The offense sprinted downfield to get set to spike the ball, but the official wasn’t able to get there to reset the ball, and it appeared as if Quinn Meinerz slipped with one second remaining.
“It’s twofold,” Payton said. “Everyone’s fast and still and then that umpire just needs to touch it. So the traffic for him with that guard and his ability to get to that ball and get out, it’ll be good film to look at. Now we have a different crew here. We’ve got to be careful defensively that we don’t get caught trying to… they will whistle a delay in a heartbeat. So I’m anxious to watch the film, but there’s that cutoff with the clock and then the yards. Sometimes it’s impossible, but that was a, ‘Down, down.’ Then it’s a sprint and gets set. How fast can we do that and get the ball on the ground?”
The defense got the last laugh, but today’s practice was one of the best competitive periods of the day that featured a lot of third- and fourth-down scenario-based moments that Payton wanted to put the team in.
Broncos camp news and notes from Wednesday
Not Dressed: Outside linebacker Drew Sanders.
Side Field: Marvin Mims (full pads), Luke Wattenberg (full pads), Nick Gargiulo (PUP), Michael Bandy (jersey and ballcap), Sanders.
Mims and Wattenberg each participated in position-specific individual drills, but not any team-specific drills.
Due to his injury, Wattenberg hasn’t taken a single team rep in pads. I asked Payton after practice whether there was any concern with the lack of physical team reps for him as he builds his way back up to returning to team drills ahead of Week 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
“One of his strengths is that he’s exceptionally instinctive and smart, so that transition back to fully healthy is going to be important as opposed to hurrying back,” Payton said. “From today, we’ve got a lot of time still.”
They have plenty of time right now, and Wattenberg looks close, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I wasn’t anxious about the lack of camp-specific reps before the regular season takes place.
Denver’s center depth has been tested all camp and is still looking murky, but all of that goes away when Wattenberg is back, and Forsyth too. Forsyth was back at practice today with a helmet and jersey, but not in pads; he ended up going to do rehab work on the side field.
Key Plays Of The Day: Cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine intercepted Sam Ehlinger during one of the Broncos team periods. Outside linebacker Que Robinson had a pick-six off of Jarrett Stidham in one of the team periods, as it appeared Stidham was hit by one of his own linemen who got pushed back into him as he threw.
Running back RJ Harvey had a wide-open touchdown catch against the defense. Wide receiver Kyre Duplessis hauled in three straight catches for a first down during one of the team periods.
Next up: the Broncos will host the Green Bay Packers for preseason game No. 2.
