Broncos defense shows in joint practice it might be pretty good

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos defense brought the intensity for its joint practice with the Green Bay Packers on Friday — led by Nik Bonitto.

There must be something about joint practices that brings out the best in Bonitto. Two years ago, when the Dallas Cowboys visited, Bonitto exploded after a skittish start to training camp, posting four pressures that could have been ruled sacks in game conditions.

Bonitto wasn’t quite to that statistical level in his work Friday. And at one point, he almost went over the line — at least for a practice.

But he was a massive part of a defensive effort that saw the Broncos keep Jordan Love and the Packers offense from generating much momentum — and by the end of practice, shut them down completely.

With Green Bay’s first-team offense attempting to gain some momentum in the two-minute “move-the-ball” period at the end of practice, Bonitto turned out the lights, first sacking Love on a fourth-and-3, then providing the pressure that forced a fourth-down incompletion.

It capped a day in which the Broncos defense consistently pressured Love, with coverage on the back end — particularly from Pat Surtain II, but with Riley Moss also having a solid day — providing the ideal complement to a pass rush that consistently made Love uncomfortable. Both Surtain and Moss had near-interceptions during another “move-the-ball” sequence that saw Green Bay turn it over on downs. For Surtain, it was one of two passes defenses he had on throws intended for WR Romeo Doubs during the day.

But for Bonitto, the ending flourish was just part of a day that saw him dance on the edge of disaster. During a team-period repetition, Bonitto flashed around the edge and appeared to make contact with Love, forcing a fluttered pass that Alex Singleton intercepted.

In practice, that was considered a no-no; Love wore the red “do-not-touch” jersey. Packers coach Matt LaFleur yelled at Bonitto, and other players rushed over. But Love said later that he believed his own right tackle, Zach Tom, actually had the contact with Love that resulted from Bonitto’s pass rush.

“We make it a big point to stay away from the quarterback, so they might’ve thought the D-lineman hit my arm or something like that, which I don’t think happened,” Love told Wisconsin media after practice.

So, no harm, no foul … and no quibble with a day that saw Bonitto put the frustrations of a balky back behind him with a robust performance in the most impactful practice of Broncos camp to date.

• While the Broncos defense kept the Packers off the board on three “move-the-ball” series, Denver’s offense twice drove to field goals in a scenario in which they were down 3 points. Bo Nix drove the No. 1 offense to a score after a pair of passes to Tim Patrick and another to Samaje Perine. Jarrett Stidham guided the second-tea offense into scoring range with a pair of passes to Lil’Jordan Humphrey before a Frank Crum penalty knocked the offense back 5 yards.
• Penalties dogged the Broncos offensive line during a red-zone period, with three flags flying during the first 12 snaps before the group found its footing. A pair of touchdowns followed after that, with Stidham finding Sutton on a quick slant for a 4-yard score on third-and-goal and Nix delivering a tight-window bullet to Phillip Dorsett for a scoring pass.
• The teams used the special-teams periods to work on punts and kickoffs. The punt period might have been the most intense of Broncos training camp so far. It yielded the most notable skirmish, when Packers long snapper Matt Orzech stayed down on Broncos safety Devon Key after blocking him, lingering to the point that both teams’ sideline areas cleared as players rushed onto the field.
• Orzech air-mailed his next snap over the head of Packers punter Daniel Whelan, with the ball sailing through the end zone for what would have been a Denver safety in game conditions.
• Orzech’s action came just after Ja’Quan McMillian and Damarri Mathis knocked Packers gunner Kalen King to the ground on one punt, drawing an ovation and leading McMillian to further fire up the fans gathered on the west hillside.
• During the punt period, Riley Dixon had three punts while Trenton Gill had two. Dixon averaged 48 yards on his three punts, with hang times ranging from 4.33 to 5.36 seconds. Gill averaged 43.5 yards on his punts, but both of his hang times were below 3.9 seconds.
• One of the prettiest plays of the day saw Stidham drop a 20-yard pass to Jaleel McLaughlin on a wheel route out of the backfield during a team period. McLaughlin and Javonte Williams displayed plenty of burst and had some lengthy runs off cuts during the day’s work.

The near-misses on interceptions for the Broncos defense finally ended late in practice when cornerback Reese Taylor leapt and made a high-point interception of Packers backup quarterback Sean Clifford, ending the Green Bay drive in what was the final two-minute-drill “move-the-ball” period of the day. Taylor tempted fate by holding the ball out after catching it, but reeled it back in to clinch the Broncos’ win in that series of downs.

“I’ve said this before, ‘Young and hungry can be dangerous.’ So, I’m encouraged.” — Broncos head coach Sean Payton

• Wide receiver Devaughn Vele remained sidelined. Broncos coach Sean Payton expressed hope that Vele could play Sunday, while declining to specify the nature of the injury that forced him to leave practice early Thursday.

This was a very good day for the Broncos.

They brought the intensity against a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

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— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) August 17, 2024