Mile High Report
The Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals finished up their joint practice session yesterday prior to their second preseason game on Saturday. According to various reports, the Broncos’ first-team offense looked sharp and had one of their best performances as a group all training camp. Additionally, the first-team defense faired well, though struggled on occasion to contain tight end Tre McBride, one of the league’s rising stars at the position.
Overall, yesterday’s efforts should be encouraging news for Broncos Country, but fans who were hoping to see them improve upon their struggles in the preseason opener won’t have a chance tomorrow night. For a variety of factors, Head Coach Sean Payton informed the media that most of the Broncos’ starters would not play against the Cardinals. However, he mentioned a half dozen will get some reps, though they will be quite limited.
“I haven’t had two joint practices before. So neither Jonathan Gannon or myself are going to play the ones. There’ll be a few, there are five, six players that are on an eight-play pitch count that we consider ones,” stated Payton.
That means the Broncos’ backups will get valuable time on the field. Per Payton, there will be two phases for Saturday—a first half group and second half group. With just a few weeks before roster cut downs, every rep matters for the players vying for a roster spot. Each snap the rest of the way out will go a long way toward helping evaluate the players correctly and help them make the best decisions when finalizing their 53-man roster.
Under center to begin the game will be veteran quarterback Jarrett Stidham. Fans are rightfully encouraged about the potential of Bo Nix in his second season, the continued development of Stidham is still important. His strong outing against the San Francisco 49ers and performance throughout training camp should give fans optimism. Yet more reps for him in operating Payton’s offense, which has experienced some changes this offseason, will help him be more prepared in the event the team needs him to play in the months ahead.
Payton also mentioned that cleaning up mistakes is a primary endeavor of theirs tomorrow evening. Although he has been very pleased with the team’s performance over the past month, he knows there is still work to do in rounding out the rough edges before the regular season begins.
“Number 1, cleaning up and progress from mistakes that we’ve seen already. Are those getting cleaned up or is it groundhog day for some players? If that’s the case, then we have a problem. Cleaning up some of the prior mistakes, the operation, and then just watching these guys perform at home,” remarked Payton.
One of the areas he is hoping for more clarity is the running back position. Over the course of the offseason, the Broncos’ head coach has spoken confidently about the unit. You can lock in J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey as the team’s top duo for their 2025 campaign. The rest?...
