Mile High Report
Optimism was high a year ago, but a rookie QB is always an unknown. This season the team knows it can be good and is playing with that mindset.
Sean Payton noted last week during minicamp that he “likes where we’re at right now” but certainly isn’t satisfied.
Specifically, he’d like the team to get on a roll sooner.
AKA, Week 1.
“Any team really that’s been worth their salt has put a string of wins together,” he noted. “We need to start faster. [The] last two years we haven’t, but I like where we’re at right now.”
In Payton’s first year with the Broncos, he had a quarterback with reputational talent in Russ Wilson but not a good fit for his offense. Hence the bumps early and often, despite some highlight-reel stuff in the middle.
And last season, Bo Nix’s learning curve was quick and impressive. But the 0-2 start certainly put the team on its heels from the jump.
Payton — and his players — would like to be the ones putting the pressure on teams early this time around. And the head coach believes his team has a good self-awareness of where they stand among teams in the league and certainly the AFC West. He didn’t say what that awareness was, but if I were guessing, I’d say the Broncos understand they have talent, they have good coaching and they have confidence that they can win.
But they also have to prove it.
Garett Bolles pointed that out when talking to the press last week.
“I think we made the playoffs for a reason because of the games that we did win and the win streaks that we did have,” he said, pointing to “win streaks” both years under Payton. “The first year we went on a six-game win streak. Last year we went on a four, five game win streak. Who knows what we can do this year?”
The key, Bolles hinted, is listening to their coach(es).
“I think we just have to stay calm and composed. Just focus on the game and attack each opponent the same way,” he added. “The way that we study, the way that we gameplan, the way that we do things.”
Bolles, who never has a bad word to say about his teammates and coaches, reiterated his praise for the current regime.
“[Payton] works the hell out of us, that’s for sure,” he said, adding that practicing uncomfortable situations has been why the Broncos were able to start winning close games.
“A couple of years ago, we weren’t winning those close games,” Bolles added. “We were losing by three, four, five, seven points. Those are the games you have to win in this league. The mistakes that we used to make and the mistakes that we don’t make right now is the difference. I think it’s just all about the culture we have here, the players we have here and the mindset that we have...
