Training camp, special teams and the O-line: What we learned from Sean Payton

PHOENIX — In the Sean Payton era, special teams will be a higher priority, practices will be more physical and injury news will be scant. And that’s not because injuries won’t happen.

“Injury-wise, I’ll keep you posted,” Payton said during the course of a 30-minute question-and-answer session at the NFL Annual Meeting on Monday. “That’s something we’re not going to talk a lot about — probably ever.”

That doesn’t mean there were not items to take from Payton’s breakfast-table press conference.

CAMP HACKETT WAS “MUCH, MUCH DIFFERENT THAN I’M USED TO”

Payton has a way of not only answering the question asked of him — but of answering another question entirely, too.

When he was asked about his thoughts about the Broncos’ wide-receiver corps Monday, he did just that.

First, he mentioned that the trio of Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick “haven’t been healthy.” All three missed time, with Patrick sitting out the entire season.

But then he went further.

“From a team standpoint, we weren’t healthy. None of the starters played in any of the preseason games and there wasn’t any nine-on-seven, one-on-one [drills],” Payton said.

“The approach was much, much different than what I’m used to.”

Sean Payton is asked about WRs, but also talks about last year’s approach by Nathaniel Hackett in camp, saying it was “much, much different than what I’m used to.” pic.twitter.com/JJ8OQIajql

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) March 28, 2023

Payton indicated that starters would play in the preseason.

It seems like camp itself will be much different, too. Certainly more physical.

“I do know that we’re playing tackle football and you have to practice tackle football,” Payton said.

SPECIAL TEAMS “NEEDED TO IMPROVE DRAMATICALLY”

Beyond the top three free-agent signings, nearly all of the Broncos’ pickups have a special-teams background in common. The team will have a new long snapper and a new punter. And Payton’s second-in-command, Mike Westhoff, is a special-teams guru.

There’s a different emphasis being placed on that phase at UCHealth Training Center.

Sean Payton, on special-teams being a high priority in signings and moves this offseason: “It’s one way to improve your team pretty quickly. I don’t think we were very good in the kicking game, quite honestly, for a number of reasons.” pic.twitter.com/POyrMHKmDe

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) March 27, 2023

“I think it’s one way to improve your team pretty quickly. I don’t think we were very good last year in the kicking game, quite honestly, for a number of reasons. I’ve got a guy like (coordinator) Ben Kotwica, and a guy like Mike Westhoff. Those are considerable resources that I think can help us.

“It would be silly to have those two along with Chris Banjo and then not have a punter or not have the correct holder or even a returner that we’re still working on. It has to be an important point of emphasis.

“If you believe in hidden yardage and you understand yards equal points — each play you’re fighting for those yards. That’s an area that we felt like we needed to improve dramatically.”

Denver’s special-teams units have been bottom-dwellers for the past six seasons. That should change under Payton.

NO VOLUNTARY VETERAN MINICAMP

Last week, the NFL issued a release that outlined every team’s offseason schedule. For the Broncos, it listed a voluntary veteran minicamp scheduled for April 24-26.

That was news to Payton.

“We’re not having a voluntary minicamp in April,” Payton said. “I know the camp that you are referencing. It was on the league’s schedule, not our schedule.”

Teams that hire new head coaches have the option of holding such a camp during the week of the draft. It gives teams a chance for three extra days of offense-vs.-defense work. All other clubs with holdover head coaches can’t start those repetitions until Phase 3 of OTAs the following month.

Payton instead said the team would remain in Phase 1 of offseason work — which involves meetings and strength-and-conditioning work.

“We’re going right to Phase 1 for a month. We’re just going to lift and run,” Payton said. “I don’t know where that came from.”

THE DRAFT AND THE IMPACT ON JERRY JEUDY AND COURTLAND SUTTON

But one thing that was interesting about Payton’s response regarding those two wide receivers was how he framed the discussion of trade rumors through his belief that this year’s draft wide-receiver class is sub-par.

“It’s not a real deep receiver draft,” he said. “Look, you read a bunch of these things that are written now, and I would say a number of teams have called on those players. But I said it [Sunday], that’s not something that we’re interested in doing.”

Payton expects the rumblings to continue, despite his statements here at the meeting.

” It will continue, I’m sure, as we get closer to the draft. If you really look at the draft and you look at the receiver depth in the draft — it’s not a real deep draft. So, if you’re a team that’s looking for receivers — we’re not the only team people called. I’m sure Houston with Brandin Cooks and other players like that. It’s pretty common in the offseason, I think.”

Common, certainly. But don’t expect the rumors to vanish. Especially with Payton pointing out the relative scarcity of wide receivers, which could lead a team to meet Denver’s asking price.

THE RECEIVERS WILL MOVE AROUND

Last year, Jeudy didn’t move to the ‘X’ receiver position on a full-time basis until a Sutton injury necessitated it in December. The result was the best sustained play of Jeudy’s career, starting with a 3-touchdown explosion in a home loss to Kansas City.

It won’t take that long for Jeudy to get looks at the ‘X’ spot under Payton.

“We’re not a team that’s going to be, ‘This is the ‘X,’ this is the ‘Z,’ and then, this is our sub/slot receiver,” Payton said. “That’s just not going to be us.

“If you’ve ever followed what we did in New Orleans, that was never us.”

WHY DID PAYTON TARGET BEN POWERS AND MIKE McGLINCHEY?

I asked Payton what separated Powers and McGlinchey from the pack of free agents.

“Good question,” he replied.

And the answer came down to one word above all: “Consistency.”

“You look at all the tape, then you look at the makeup and the intelligence,” Payton said. “We felt like they were really good fits for what we want to do. There was a consistency that you saw, that you felt like you were getting each week. Health, makeup — all of that gets factored in.”

McGlinchey missed nine games in 2021. But he played every game in 2020 and 2022. And Powers has played all but four games in the last three seasons since breaking into the Ravens’ lineup.

AMID THE CHANGES, CUSHENBERRY IS STILL THE STARTING CENTER

Offensive line in general was “an area we needed to address,” Payton said. And that was obvious from the Broncos’ first strikes in free agency, in which they turned over 40 percent of they offensive line.

But Payton also feels that the additions of McGlinchey and Powers can help Lloyd Cushenberry, who heads into a fourth season that often proves to be a make-it-or-break-it campaign for starters.

“We feel like he’s certainly going to benefit from these additions,” Payton said.

Cushenberry’s ups and downs are well-chronicled. Last season, he missed nine games due to a groin injury. But he felt like he could have returned weeks earlier, only to be kept on injured reserve by a limit on the number of players designated to return from IR and the Broncos using those destinations elsewhere.

The Broncos added former Seahawks center Kyle Fuller over the weekend. But Payton still sees Cushenberry as the leader.

“We haven’t met any of these guys yet, but we see [Cushenberry] as our starting center,” Payton said.

PAYTON NON-COMMITTAL ABOUT A FEW PLAYERS

Regarding whether RB Latavius Murray would return: “We’ll see.”

Regarding the outlook for TE Greg Dulcich: “We’ll see. We haven’t gone through every player relative to the evaluation process. … Some of [the evaluation] was hard.”

Payton was more effusive about some of the free agents, particularly McGlinchey, Powers, Samaje Perine and Jarrett Stidham.

And while Payton continues to evaluate, the draft is the main focus now, according to George Paton. The Broncos general manager said that in the wake of free agency, Payton spends most days with him and scouts in the “dark room” preparing for the upcoming draft.

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