Thursday not only marked the first day of training camp for the Denver Broncos, it also marked new head coach Vance Joseph‘s first training camp as a head coach in the NFL.
Despite it only being the first day, the way Joseph runs a practice caught the eye of his players.
“It was cool, Coach Joseph did something different which I had never done before and we got right into red zone today, which I think was really smart to save guys’ legs,” quarterback Trevor Siemian said of Joesph’s first training camp practice. “I think guys responded to it really well. That was a little further ahead in the installs, which was good too, so you get guys thinking at the same time. I think it was a really productive day.”
If there’s one thing that stood out on Thursday, it’s that Vance Joseph likes to do things quickly. The practice, scheduled to end at noon, ended around 11 a.m.
“The tempo was good and what we had scheduled we finished,” Joseph said following Thursday morning’s practice. “It was more about going fast and being clean, and it was that.”
The fact that practice was shorter than anticipated certainly didn’t go unnoticed, but for veteran cornerback Aqib Talib, it didn’t really matter.
“I just go by the script,” Talib said on Thursday. “Coach [Joseph] runs the show, we just go by the script. Our day isn’t over yet. We don’t get off work until 8 o’clock.”
If the Broncos can come in and get their work done in a shorter amount of time than scheduled, there shouldn’t be any problems. According to Talib, despite the shorter practice, this year’s camp already has a different feel to it than last year’s, and the feeling isn’t so much different as it is regular.
“It’s regular,” Talib said. “Last year it wasn’t regular. We came back lackadaisical. This year, it’s regular. It’s that anticipating the first game of the year.”
Talib isn’t the only Bronco that feels this way. It appears as if the feeling is mutual throughout the secondary.
“I definitely feel we came out with a better spark this year for sure,” safety T.J. Ward said following Thursday morning’s practice. “You can definitely tell that this team is on a mission. It’s the way we practice, and it’s carried over from OTAs and minicamp.”
Short practice or not, the fire is back in the belly of the Broncos after an off year. According to Talib, that off year is what re-lit their fire.
“We feel like we’re the best,’ Talib said. “We don’t even go to the dance. We don’t even go to the tournament. That definitely motivates us. That’s why we all had a great offseason. That’s why we’re all here early. Everyone made their weight. Everyone made their conditioning test. That’s why we pushed ourselves this offseason, so we can get into the tournament.”
