What to know about Broncos training camp, Day 2: Bo Nix’s plan to ‘peak’

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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos spent much of their second practice of training camp Saturday with a focus on red zone scenarios. The session concluded the team’s first week of work after reporting on Tuesday. Players will have Sunday off before returning Monday for the first of six consecutive practices. Monday’s practice will be the Broncos’ first in pads.

Let’s dive right into what you need to know:

Quick snaps

• Third-year linebacker Drew Sanders suffered an apparent lower-body injury during the second of three team periods and had to be carted off the field. Once the cart parked in front of the doors to the locker room, Sanders wrapped his arms around two trainers who supported his weight as the linebacker made his way inside.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton had no update on Sanders’ status immediately after practice, but he said the injury was not to the player’s Achilles tendon. Sanders, a 2023 third-round pick, suffered an Achilles injury last offseason that limited him to only five games, including the playoffs, and 20 defensive snaps. Sanders played a big role in Denver’s defense during this offseason program, as presumed starters Dre Greenlaw and Alex Singleton completed rehab from injuries. He has worked exclusively at inside linebacker since the end of last season after spending time there and on the edge during his rookie season in 2023.

“We don’t have any information yet,” Payton said. “We’ll give it to you once we (have it.) It’s not his Achilles. But I want to wait for the MRI.”

• Broncos quarterback Bo Nix had a rocky start to 11-on-11 work. After completing a short flare to Marvin Mims Jr., he was chased out of the pocket following pressure from John Franklin-Myers and was forced to throw the ball away. He was then nearly intercepted by cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine after an apparent miscommunication on a route with wide receiver Devaughn Vele.

Later, though, Nix maneuvered in the pocket and found Mims on a crossing route for a first down. He then launched a perfect fade ball in the corner of the end zone for rookie wide receiver Pat Bryant, who grabbed the ball at its high point before Abrams-Draine made a nifty play to swipe the ball away.

Speaking to reporters for the first time in camp after Saturday’s practice, Nix said his body feels refreshed. He took time off from throwing the football following a marathon stretch that began with training camp for his final college season and ran into the playoffs of his rookie year, with NFL Draft prep sandwiched in between. One topic of Nix’s offseason meeting with Drew Brees, which was revealed by Payton earlier this week, was about how to optimize his schedule leading up to and during the season.

The intentional approach left Nix building a process that sounds like something out of a marathon training plan.

“I feel pretty good, and I like the spot that I’m in,” Nix said. “We work really hard for my training. We work really hard scheduling what the season is going to look like. Even right now, I’m not, I would say, peaking yet. I want to peak in the playoffs and close to the end of the season. Right now, you’re in a build-up and a slow, steady rise in pace. It’s kind of like a mountain. You want to start early and get into the season. Once you get to the playoffs, championship time, you’re peaking. Then, you can take your time off.”

Offensive standouts

• This is where we apply the necessary caveats about anything that has to do with running the ball. Without pads, and without a defense’s ability to tackle — and thus a ball-carrier’s opportunity to break said tackles — it’s unwise to derive too much from rushing periods during the early parts of camp.

Still, running back RJ Harvey stood out in his opportunities Saturday. During one red zone period, he took the ball on a stretch play toward the sideline and burst into the end zone, nearly bowling safety Brandon Jones over in the process. On a goal-to-go play later in the practice, Harvey used a nice jump cut to avoid any contact and waltzed into the end zone.

The Broncos are routinely shuffling Harvey and fellow running backs JK Dobbins, Jaleel McLaughlin, Audric Estimé, Tyler Badie and Blake Watson throughout practice. A better illustration of their progress will come after they throw on pads come Monday and then during a joint practice — and a preseason game to follow — with the San Francisco 49ers the following week.

“It’s a position you guys will see as quickly as I will,” Payton said. “They all have different strengths. I’m anxious to see — we’ve kind of seen Dobbins on film in the pro game — but a lot of these guys have small resumés. I’m anxious to see how those guys perform.”

The real tests are to come, but Harvey has looked the part so far.

• Trent Sherfield Sr., the veteran wide receiver the Broncos signed in free agency in large part because of his experience on special teams, has been a frequent target of Denver’s quarterbacks in camp, picking up where he left off during the team’s offseason program. Sherfield has routinely created space over the middle and has shown sure hands in traffic.

“He’s tough, and he can run,” Payton said of Sherfield, who is playing for his sixth different team as he enters his eighth season in the NFL. “The other thing he can do is block. We’ve always had a handful of receivers who can run and stretch the field. When you get one who can do that and then block also, you can set up play-action. It marries well with the run game. He’s pretty competitive.”

Defensive standouts

• Brandon Jones, the sixth-year safety, said after practice that he’s never been on a defense with as much depth as this Broncos unit has. That seems particularly true among Denver’s front seven. Saturday’s standout: rookie defensive lineman Sai’vion Jones. His burst off the line of scrimmage was evident as he used a quick swim move to pressure quarterback Sam Ehlinger and force an incompletion during one of the red zone periods. Jones is pushing for Year 1 playing time in a reserve role, where the Broncos also have some experience with Jordan Jackson and Eyioma Uwazurike.

• Abrams-Draine had a second pass deflection in addition to his breakup against Bryant in the end zone. Linebacker Levelle Bailey, who had an interception and a pass break-up during Friday’s practice, continued to show chops in coverage when he broke up a pass near the sideline intended for Badie. Second-year cornerback Riley Moss also made a quick break to disrupt a Nix pass during the second team period and had another deflection later in practice.

Play of the day

During the opening seven-on-seven period, undrafted rookie wide receiver Kyrese Rowan dove into the back of the end zone and appeared to drag his knee in bounds to complete a touchdown reception from Ehlinger, the third-string quarterback. Rowan caught a second touchdown from Ehlinger on a well-run corner route a few plays later. The depth down the roster at wide receiver has been one of the intriguing subplots of camp in its early days. On Friday, it was Jerjuan Newton making a trio of impressive grabs, including one amid double coverage.

Quotable

“A lot of times, as a rookie, you just don’t want to look like an idiot. Now, you can go out there and look a lot better than an idiot.” — Nix

The Broncos’ young quarterback knows a year of experience doesn’t guarantee him anything heading into an all-important Year 2. It was the “fear of not being ready,” he said, that drove his intense and competitive preparation during the offseason. But Nix said it is nice not to be bogged down by having to learn the breadth of the offense or simpler things like where to stretch.

“I’m excited for Year 2 and excited for this football team,” he said. “I like where we’re at right now.”

Attendance report

Veteran right tackle Mike McGlinchey missed his third consecutive practice, but he was on the field during warmups with a compression sleeve on his right leg. Payton previously said McGlinchey should be able to return to practice by Monday.

(Photo: Isaiah J. Downing / Imagn Images)

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