The Broncos knew in OTAs this year could be different

LOS ANGELES — Within Denver Broncos headquarters, the knowledge that this season would be different settled in long before the four-game winning streak that took the team from teetering on the brink of another losing season at 5-5 to sitting at the precipice of the playoffs at 9-5.

It came before winning five of six games after an 0-2 start. Even before the preseason when rookie Bo Nix showed enough flashes to seize the starting job to become the first rookie starting quarterback in Broncos history since John Elway in 1983.

“I think we knew what we had when we came into OTAs,” safety P.J. Locke said.

“We’re practicing in OTAs, and everyone here is like, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re gonna be good,'” tight end Adam Trautman said.

So, how did he know?

The moves made in March and April gave him an indication. But then he saw the reconstituted team — particularly its defensive line — in action.

“I think the biggest difference that we noticed — especially as an offense going against our defense — was the defensive line,” Trautman said. “The camp before, the OTAs before (in 2023), to be honest, we were kind of gashing them in some of the periods, and we were doing really well, and it’s like, ‘Oh, you know, we’re just really good.'”

In the parlance of Vic Fangio, that became a “false positive,” and the offense — and team — petered out in an 8-9 finish that saw a 5-game winning streak sandwiched by a 1-5 start and a 2-4 stumble to the finish line.

Trautman returned to the team attuned to what he experienced in 2023.

“And then this year, it was like, we couldn’t really do too much in practice against them,” he said. “Like, they’re unbelievable, and they play the run really well.”

But that wasn’t all. It was “multiple things,” he continued.

And yes, that included the roster changes.

“It’s like an attitude thing. You clear out some of the guys maybe that you don’t want here or maybe you don’t think are building towards the culture,” Trautman said. “Obviously, that’s not a thing that I decide at all, but I think they did a good job culture-building and roster-building.”

 

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The result has been a cohesive team that is greater than the sum of its parts. Its strength of association has been a factor in some of the team’s unlikelier wins.

“I mean, obviously, younger team, whatever, but, I mean, that really doesn’t mean nothing. You just gotta have great vets,” Locke said. “We gotta have things that’s very detailed, so everybody understands the job at hand.

“Then you got Sean [Payton] and his pedigree. Can’t do nothing but trust it. And it’s coming to fruition right now.”

Whether that results in a win Thursday night that puts the Broncos into the postseason for the first time since the 2015 season … that is murkier. The Broncos will go into the game without their leader in per-carry rushing average, as well as one of their starting cornerbacks.

But the Broncos will have the right mindset for it.

“I don’t want to use ‘gritty’ because that’s Detroit’s thing, but it’s just like a — it’s kind of like a lunch-pail type of mentality, in my opinion. Like, we just kind of come here, put our head down and go to work,” Trautman said.

“I think intention’s another thing. I think everyone’s really intentional with what we do. We don’t go out to practice and just BS or, ‘Oh, it’s a short week. We don’t need to practice.’ Like, ‘You don’t need to go through your steps.’ We don’t do that. And we’re not relaxed with it at all.

“And we have one of the harder training camps in the league, too, and we attack that like, we do a Thursday/Friday practice during the season. So, yeah, I’d say lunch-pail kind of mentality is where we are.”

And once more, it’s time to grab that lunch pail and go to work.

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