One of the coolest off-season programs being a Broncos fan, is attending training camp, watching practices, and seeing the players battling for roster spots, up close.
Broncos fans pile in by the thousands with blankets, sunscreen and Broncos gear, to sit on a hill next to the practice field, interact with the players, watch practice and receive autographs.
The Broncos training camp is held at their Englewood practice facility at Dove Valley, southeast of Denver. The team opens up 10-15 practices a year to the fans, I try to go to 2-3 practices a year, and provide my football observations from those days, below are those observations:
Sunday was a full pads day, and it was a cooler day than Thursday and Friday, but that’s not saying much as it was 85 degrees and not a cloud in sight.
Philip Lindsay and Von Miller ran down the line and give high fives to the fans to start the day.
From what I could tell Munchak speaks and everyone listens, hes very respected. He will get the most out of this Offensive line, and everyone seems receptive of his coaching style.
Von Miller and Bradley Chubb worked in isolation together on stunts on bags during position drills, away from all other pass rushers.
Look and feel is that this coaching staff runs a tight ship. No nonsense, complete focus, hustle everywhere, no music at training camp.
Emanuel Sanders ran some offensive team drills, and looked crisp and healthy, but didnt get much work after the early sessions. Hes chomping at the bit to get back and prove something.
Royce Freeman and Devonte Booker both had touchdowns in the full contact first and goal period. Royce on a Wheel route which he lost the LB. Booker on a swing route where nobody covered him and he made a man miss.
Bradley Chubb jumped off-sides 2 times in the red zone period, both due to hard snap counts. He wouldn’t be the only person to do that today.
Isaac Yiadom had a good day making plays and getting the defense hyped all day, batted balls, tipped one, and had a good jumped route that should have been an interception.
Noah Fant caught a tough TD between two defenders that was fit in a TIGHT hole in the red zone from Joe Flacco.
Hard snap counts by Flacco routinely made somebody jump be it Offense or Defense. Handful of Off-sides and False Starts today. Seems like that hard snap count is going to be a good weapon for yards this season.
Dymonte Thomas had a nice 7 on 7 tip drill interception, in which he laid out and made the catch barely off of the ground.
Juwann Winfree had a handful of catches, seemingly a popular target from all QBs. Hes a fast guy, and hes earning his roster spot.
Will parks had an interception on a tipped ball in 7 on 7
Austin Fort seemingly had the most targets this practice. Eyes kept gravitating towards him, with the absence of Jake Butt and Troy Fumagali, Fort, Fant and Heuerman were the TEs getting most of the reps.
Philip Lindsay looks like hes got the most energy on the team, flying around at all times. Big plays all day, yelling, passion, excitement. Hes a real spark-plug on this team and it’s immediately visible when watching practice
TE Bug Howard had a big catch toward the end of practice, on the sideline keeping his feet in bounds and wowing the crowd
Flacco to Lindsay on a red zone TD screen 1st team Offense vs Defense period, Lindsay was motioned out wide a few times in practice for Jet Sweeps, misdirection, and other trickery, but this play he jabbed forward and came back to ball, and turned it up-field with a slew of blockers.
Booker had a nice TD catch on a swing route catch and run towards the end of practice
Brandon Langley had a nice TD catch from Hogan in the red zone session as a Corner back converted to a Wide Receiver, where he found the soft spot of the zone and sat and waited, taking a hit as he hauled it in.
None of the QBs really had an eye popping day, the defense definitely gets the better of them more often than not. The running game looks really solid, with Risner and James adding some serious toughness and strength. I wanted to see more from Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick and DaeSean Hamilton, as they are the future core of this team. Besides a few first down catches, nothing seemed incredible to me. Tight Ends are definitely a focus of this offense, if that room can stay healthy they are going to have an excellent TE season. the pass rush in practice doesn’t even seem fair, Von and Chubb live in the backfield it seems. Todd Davis injury paves the way for some undrafted guys to come in and compete for a roster spot.
