Training Camp Observations: The Broncos rebound with a high-energy day
Aug 5, 2021, 6:19 AM
It was the second day of padded practice for the Broncos on Wednesday. While things were slow and boring on Tuesday, the practice had a better energy as the team went through their drills.
It seems like each day we’re getting to see more and more from the Broncos. The installation of the offense continues, but every day there are new wrinkles to be seen. Defensively, the team is coming alive and showing their teeth.
Here are my five biggest observations from day seven of training camp.
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Better Tempo
Practice on Tuesday could’ve put you to sleep. On Wednesday, things were a little more spirited on both sides of the ball.
We didn’t need to see a fight when the pads came on, but improved energy was needed after a lackluster performance on Tuesday. It’s not about entertaining the media or the fans in attendance, it’s about getting the most of the work you can do when padded in practice.
I saw a better effort from players and there was an increased energy during drills. Even after the mandatory water breaks, the Broncos upped their energy. At one point, the offensive huddle started jumping up and down before the snap – it was fun to watch and seemed to get the juices flowing for them.
The Broncos have Thursday off, then they get back to practice on Friday and Saturday. After that, they travel to Minnesota for joint practices with the Vikings before their first preseason game on Aug. 14. Hopefully, they have a similar tempo to what they did on Wednesday going forward.
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Not 50-50
Broncos head coach Vic Fangio has gone out of his way this offseason to say how much this quarterback competition will be 50-50 between Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock. Every day during practice, Lock and Bridgewater seemed to get the same amount of work – switching back and forth during drills.
On Wednesday, it seemed like that wasn’t the case. This was the first day that it seemed like one quarterback received more reps, and that passer was Bridgewater. I may be wrong, it may have ended up as 50-50, but to me it was more like 60-40 in favor of the new guy.
Bridgewater was doing his thing with the increased opportunity, and I felt he won the day. However, the day ended on a Bridgewater interception. I knew when it happened that it was a wrong route from undrafted rookie Branden Mack, but most in attendance will just count that as a pass on Bridgewater. He threw it, and it was picked off so there’s that but even after practice Bridgewater talked about the miscommunication on that throw.
“Yeah, that was a little miscommunication. We’ll work on that. I’m glad we’re making that mistake now and not in the game. We’ll get together, we’ll watch the tape later today. Defense came with the pressure. We had to get the ball out. I think we just weren’t on the same page so something we can fix easily, and it’s nothing that we’re going to panic about,” Bridgewater said.
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Always Open
It seems like every day I’m amazed by what Jerry Jeudy does on the field. The second-year pro is always open. No matter the coverage, no matter the route, you can find Jeudy running free through the defense.
Not only is he getting open, but Jeudy is getting targeted by his quarterbacks. He is getting rewarded for his play by getting the rock. Jeudy is the type of player who can score from anywhere on the field, but his speed isn’t what makes him stand out – it’s his route-running ability that is something to marvel.
Lock has developed better chemistry with Jeudy this year. That’s apparent on the practice field, as Jeudy is the No. 1 target no matter which quarterback is tossing the rock. After practice, Lock commented on how great Jeudy has been performing.
“That man, he’s something different. He is making big, big strides. I know Jerry doesn’t talk much about what it is he’s doing, and he wants it to be shown on the field. I’ll let that speak for itself — his work and his play on the field. He is coming along, to say the least,” Lock said.
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False Starts Abound
There must have been at least five false start penalties on Wednesday. It started early in practice, and it continued throughout the day.
It was frustrating to watch as the day went on because those penalties or whistles seemed to keep the offense out of rhythm in certain drills. Sometimes, the offense took the penalty, but there were a few times they pointed to the defense as the culprit.
Either way, it was a way to knock practice off track. After practice, Fangio admitted they were changing things up a bit and that led to some false starts.
“I think it was a little bit of everything. We tried to change up the snap counts and pre-snap communication – checks and audibles. It was a little bit of everything,” Fangio said.
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He Can Play But Where?
I’ve believed in Royce Freeman since the day the Broncos drafted him. A third-round pick out of Oregon in the 2018 NFL Draft, Freeman was supposed to be “the man” to take over the backfield when the team moved on from C.J. Anderson. Instead, Freeman was beat out for the starting job as a rookie by Phillip Lindsay. That happened the second year and by year three (2020), Freeman was merely a third-string back who barely saw the field.
Even though he hasn’t produced as expected, I know Freeman can play. In fact, he’s having one strong training camp and I expect him to continue this into the preseason.
The Broncos aren’t going to keep four running backs on the final roster, and that means Freeman is on the outside looking in. Currently No. 4 on the depth chart behind Melvin Gordon, Javonte Williams and Mike Boone, I would hate to see Freeman released by the Broncos.
Instead, I think they could trade him for a late-round pick. Once we get to the preseason, Freeman can showcase his skills for the rest of the league. Injuries have already hit running back rooms around the NFL, and Freeman should get attention as a player teams covet. I think Freeman lost his confidence with the Broncos, but that natural ability to be a solid running back is still there. Perhaps another team would be able to unleash that talent.
