Mile High Report
The Broncos returned to their practice field today after their 30-9 victory over the 49ers in the preseason opener. Today’s practice was a non-padded ramp-up practice before they have a padded practice tomorrow and another joint practice with the Cardinals on Thursday.
In today’s news and notes, we have Bo Nix and the first-team offense continuing to struggle(still too early to panic), Payton praises rookie running back R.J. Harvey, A.T. Perry is removed from the PUP, Bonitto misses practice (he’s fine), news and notes, more injury updates, tweets from camp, quotes, and more!
The Broncos’ first-team offense had a disappointing performance during the second half of the joint practice on Thursday, and that continued through their game on Saturday. After a solid showing during the 7-on-7 period, Nix and the first-team offense did not have their best day during the move-the-ball team drills.
The first team drill featured the defense blitzing, and Jonathon Cooper and Alex Singleton quickly getting into the backfield and pressuring Nix. Cooper would continue to get into the backfield and just disrupt every play. In the next team period, it was a red zone drill, and on the first play, Nix missed Sutton, who was well covered by Riley Moss. In a later play, Cooper beat Frank Crum, and Nix had to throw the ball away, and Nix would miss Franklin, who was well covered by McMillian.
In the final move the ball period, the Broncos were down three points and had to drive down the field to either win the game or attempt the game-tying field goal. On the first play, Nix hit Adam Trautman for 15 yards and would later hit Franklin for a decent gain, and he would get out of bounds. They’re now in field goal range, and he would hit Marvin Mims for a 5-yard gain and got out of bounds. We’re not at a 3rd and 5 with 23 seconds left with a 47-yard or so field goal, but unfortunately for Nix, he would throw an interception in the end zone. On this play, Nix rolled out of the pocket and threw a jump ball to wide receiver Michael Bandy with McMillian in coverage, and he went up and made the easy interception. (Thanks to the guys at DNVR for detailing what happened during these drives)
This was a poor decision by Nix and, frankly, an out-of-character one. The offense was in field goal range, and he didn’t need to attempt such an aggressive throw at that moment. It ended what was turning into a much-needed positive moment for the Broncos’ offense.
We have to keep in mind, this is just one practice, one bad decision, and Nix should learn and grow from this. Not what you want to see after how the offense looked in the preseason, but it’s still August 12th, and we have a long way to go. A padded practice tomorrow, a joint practice on Thursday, and...
