ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - The Broncos’ eighth practice of training camp looked a lot more like a game day dress rehearsal, and Denver’s defense treated it that way.
Saturday brought the most scrimmage-style session of camp so far, and even with several veterans getting rest, the defense set the tone early and never really let go. It handled both the passing game and the run game well throughout the day, then finished strong in the kind of late sequence that usually tells you plenty about where a team stands.
In the tight red zone, Vance Joseph’s defense stuffed Davis Webb’s offense on five straight snaps before eventually surrendering two touchdowns. Then came the final move-the-ball period, with Bo Nix and the offense trailing 24-20, 1:22 left on the clock and the ball at their own 38-yard line.
They needed a touchdown. Nix drove Denver all the way to the defense’s 15-yard line, but on fourth-and-10 with one second remaining, the final pass fell incomplete.
The defense won the period.
The play of the day - and maybe the play of camp so far - belonged to Pat Bryant. Webb has already tagged him with a new nickname, “Patty Ice,” and Bryant backed it up in style.
Under immediate pressure in the red zone, Nix lofted a ball toward the back of the end zone. Bryant battled through double coverage from Ja’Quan McMillian and Jahdae Barron, hauled it in, got both toes down and secured the touchdown.
He popped up and sent the ball sky high in celebration.
Denver’s offense didn’t have its cleanest day, but rookie running back Jonah Coleman gave it some juice. Coleman showed patience and good vision on runs between the tackles, and his best moment came when he powered into the end zone against the first-team defense in the tight red zone. Quinn Meinerz was part of the action there as well.
There was also a brief injury scare late in practice when Enyi Uwazurike walked off with a trainer minutes before the session ended. Afterward, Joseph spoke highly of the defensive lineman’s camp, especially what he’s done over the last two days, but no update was provided after practice.
With Wil Lutz in Canton, Ohio for Drew Brees’ Hall-of-Fame ceremony, the Broncos also had to improvise at kicker. This was the first look at who might handle emergency duties, and it wasn’t punter Jeremy Crawshaw.
Darren Rizzi made it clear after practice that Crawshaw is a punter, not a kicker. Instead, safety Brandon Jones got the opportunity thanks to his soccer background and went 3-for-4 on kicks from 30 to 40 yards.
Rizzi said afterward that Jones is one of Denver’s options for the emergency kicker role, not the only one.
A handful of Broncos were out because of rest days and injuries, while Jaylen Waddle did not practice but did take a positive step in his recovery. He was at practice for the first time without a sleeve on his leg and was jogging without a limp.
Joseph also had praise for Nix, saying his deep ball has been “off the charts” in camp. He added that Riley Moss is on track for a really good year and said he doesn’t believe takeaways will be a problem for Denver’s defense this season.
On the offensive side, Webb said he would “like to be on the field” this year to call plays, though he and Sean Payton are still talking through that plan.
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Players did not sound rattled by Payton's absence, and they had good things to say about Joseph's command of the session and the way he kept things steady. For a team trying to build rhythm and evaluate depth at the same time, that kind of continuity matters even more when the injury list is growing and every practice rep carries a little extra weight. [Read more 🡒]