Broncos minicamp Day 2 report: Making progress in the ways that matter

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Was Tuesday’s minicamp practice the final one of the Broncos’ offseason?

“We’ll see,” Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett said. “I have to look at the tape.”

No matter what he decides, Tuesday’s work certainly felt like a solid wrap to the team-organized offseason work that began April 11. The practice ended with a move-the-ball, two-minute period. A game in which assistant coaches from offense and defense tried to catch footballs lofted from the JUGS machine followed.

Hackett said that the competition didn’t mean the end of the offseason — it was “pure competition” with the coaches, he said with a laugh.

But between the game-condition period — at low contact, of course — and the intensity that bubbled over into a brief tussle that involved some first-teamers on the lines — it certainly appeared that one could look at Tuesday’s work and see it as a culmination of two months of preparation:

Intensity: Check. Tuesday felt more like a practice a week into training camp than a June session. However, the jockeying didn’t boil into anything damaging.

“When it comes to the chippiness, that’s always going to happen. It’s football. We want these guys playing on that line, from getting crazy to not. But that’s our team out there, and I think they have to understand that we still have to work together. It’s not that anybody’s trying to do anything. Sometimes, little accidents happen, guys get upset. I mean, I like it, but at the same time, we can’t make it detrimental to the team. That is when it is unacceptable. It didn’t get to that level, so we took care of it and made sure we got good work in.

Balance of playmaking: Check. Justin Simmons picked off Russell Wilson on Tuesday, but Wilson and the offense struck with a long pass to Courtland Sutton.

But perhaps the most interesting arc in the last two days happened among the first units. Monday, the defense flourished in generating a pass rush, but allowed several runs that would have gained double-digit yards in game conditions. Tuesday, the run defense clamped down on the ground, but the blocking scheme did better at containing pressure on Wilson.

“My dad used to always tell me, ‘It’s never as good you think; it’s never as bad as you think.’ But I thought we did some good things,” Hackett said. “I think the defense did a lot better job [Tuesday] in the run game. We had some good runs [Monday] I thought they stepped up there.”

Progress in learning schemes: Check. It’s understandable that the defense could be ahead, given that Ejiro Evero’s scheme builds off that of former head coach Vic Fangio. But the offense’s progress is palpable, especially along the offensive line adapting to the zone-blocking scheme.

“(You’re) getting them to buy into the technique that we’re getting them to do — (which) is a little bit outside of the box, as far as this system,” offensive coordinator Justin Outten said. “This system is extremely special, and you have to have that trust factor.

“It takes a couple of weeks for them to realize what we’re asking them to do. Once they see the back matchup with their tracks, it starts to get really nice.”

If Tuesday was the end of full-tilt work until training camp, it seems like a good place to wrap it up.

***

PLAY OF THE DAY:

While the defense delivered, the standout moment of the day came when Wilson dropped in a long pass to Sutton near the right sideline, just past Michael Ojemudia and in front of Kareem Jackson. It was a well-placed pass to a small gap in coverage, and Sutton leaped to make the grab out of reach of the defenders.

***

RING OF FAMERS ON HAND

Headlining the ex-Broncos players taking in practice Tuesday were John Elway — who remains a staple — and safeties Steve Atwater and Billy Thompson. Thompson recently retired from the organization after a 29-year stint in various capacities, which began about a decade after his 13-year playing career ended. Tuesday, Thompson led the post-practice breakdown for the entire team.

In Thompson, Hackett sees a player who did exactly what he wants his defenders to do: generate takeaways. Thompson had 40 interceptions and 21 fumble recoveries during his storied career.

(By the way, the defense had two takeaways Tuesday.)

“For us, we talk a lot about our focuses every day, and one is the ball,” Hackett said. “That guy is one of the most spectacular defensive players to get the ball. In the end, that is the No. 1 statistic that wins or loses games in the NFL.

“To have a guy like that who has done it and done it for such a long time at such an unbelievably high level at taking the ball away — I want to see if we can suit him up for a couple of games and see if he can strip the ball a couple of times or intercept it. That’s the standard that we have here and that’s what we want these guys to do.”

***

NOTES:

• Jonas Griffith shone Tuesday, both against the run and in pass coverage. During the first team period, he crashed through the line to defuse a toss sweep to Javonte Williams. Two plays later, he diagnosed and blew up a screen pass to Damarea Crockett.
• Fourth-round rookie Damarri Mathis followed up a pair of pass breakups Monday with an interception of Josh Johnson on Tuesday. Mathis picked off a pass apparently intended for Melvin Gordon in the right flat.
• A good example of complementary defense came during the first team period. Wilson’s playfake did not fool Bradley Chubb, who rushed and forced a quick pass to Eric Saubert in the left flat. But Saubert wouldn’t have gotten far; Kareem Jackson diagnosed the play and was there for what would have been a minimal or no gain in game conditions.
• D.J. Jones’ strong week continued, as he forced a Wilson incompletion with a rush up the middle. Jones’ pass-rush work has been one of the most promising aspects of the front seven’s work in recent weeks.
• Travis Fulgham had a gain of approximately 25 yards when he plucked a Josh Johnson pass out of mid-air during a period later in practice.
• In the move-the-ball segment at the end of practice, pressure from Dre’Mont Jones forced an apparent third-and-5 incompletion, although the offense was given a resuscitated possession after the play. With that, Wilson got the offense into field-goal range with passes to Albert Okwuegbunam and Sutton.
• In the second-team move-the-ball two-minute segment, Johnson drove the offense from its 40-yard line into a goal-to-go situation. Passes to Kendall Hinton and Brandon Johnson provided most of the yardage. But a pair of incompletions on second- and third-and-goal from the 2-yard line stalled the series. Brandon McManus ended the possession with a 20-yard field goal.

***

PARTICIPATION/INJURY REPORT

• WR Tyrie Cleveland did not practice after suffering a leg injury on the final snap Monday, but he is expected to return in time for training camp. No coach breathed a bigger sigh of relief than special-teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes. “There’s no secret that we want Tyrie to be a core special-teams player,” Stukes said. “… The speed, the athleticism, the physicality — he brings all of that to our team.
• OL Graham Glasgow once again worked at center, handling snaps for backup quarterbacks Brett Rypien and Josh Johnson.
• Edge rusher Baron Browning and TE Greg Dulcich were on hand, but worked on the side field on the north side of the Broncos’ facility. When Hackett was asked whether Dulcich would be ready for the first day of training camp, he replied, “I hope so.”
• TE Eric Tomlinson sat out with what Hackett said was a “lower extremity” injury.
• ILB Josey Jewell saw only individual repetitions for a second consecutive day, leaving the team-period work to Griffith and Alex Singleton. Also not taking part in team-period work were CB Ronald Darby and WR KJ Hamler.
• Edge rusher Randy Gregory, WR Jerry Jeudy and OT Billy Turner were among the players on hand taking mental reps.

***

WEATHER REPORT:

A beautiful, partly-sunny day greeted the Broncos. Denver practiced in temperatures that rose from 71°F to 76°F during the practice.

***

WHAT’S NEXT:

One final practice before the offseason break is set for Wednesday.

***