Broncos get wide receiver back who hasn’t practiced since January

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Broncos wide receiver A.T. Perry practiced for the first time in seven months on Tuesday, but finds himself in an uphill battle in a crowded room at his position.

A member of the Broncos’ practice squad last year, Perry worked in the individual period of practice after spending the first two-and-a-half weeks of training camp on the physically-unable-to-perform list. He also was unable to participate in organized team activities and minicamp.

“He is getting close,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “He’s smart.

“Today he was cleared for individual and again, we’re not going to put a player out there until they’re 100 percent ready. There’s kind of an on-ramp for someone like him who’s missed quite a bit of practice.”

The work was a solid first step for Perry, who steps into the thick of what might be the deepest position group on the entire roster.

PERRY SHOWED PROMISE BEFORE COMING TO BRONCOS

A sixth-round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2023, Perry averaged 20.5 yards per catch and scored on four of his 12 receptions over the final eight games of his rookie season, appearing to emerge as a promising prospect for the club.

But after the season, the Saints dismissed offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, who had assumed play-calling responsibilities after Payton left the club following the 2021 season.

Carmichael kept Payton’s scheme intact. So, when Perry landed on the Broncos’ practice squad after the Saints waived him last season and tried — unsuccessfully — to convince him to stay on their practice squad, he found himself in familiar circumstances.

 

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“Started loving football more since I came over here, so, it’s been good,” Perry said in January.

Perry’s on-field work included getting what he described as “a few periods” with the first team over the course of the season, he said, as well as receiving frequent repetitions facing Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss.

But an offseason injury derailed his quest. And now he finds himself trying to catch up in a wide-receiver room that was already full before the offseason additions of Trent Sherfield and Pat Bryant. Now, with some promising undrafted rookies, it seems to be bursting at the seams.

To that mix the Broncos now the Wake Forest product who has the requisite size and intelligence Payton favors in his receivers — but now needs some good health and good fortune to find his footing and gain some traction as he works his way back.

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