Broncos offensive coordinator makes sure his players know penalties aren’t acceptable

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — At Broncos practice on Tuesday, the whistle blew, a flag flew … and a starter was forced to watch the rest of that segment of plays from the sideline.

That’s how new offensive coordinator Davis Webb handles infractions from his offense. And twice on Tuesday, his starting offensive tackles ran afoul of the pre-snap rules.

First, left tackle Garett Bolles committed a false-start penalty. Then, in the final period of practice, right tackle Mike McGlinchey opened the “move-the-ball” segment by being whistled for a false-start infraction of his own, forcing the offense into a first-and-15 from which it wouldn’t recover, going four-and-out in the end-game scenario.

And each time, Webb brought the hook for his bookend tackles.

Frank Crum replaced Bolles, while Alex Palczewski stood in for McGlinchey, who would take the field four plays later — but with the Broncos’ second-team offense.

Webb’s rationale is simple, and comes back to two words being tossed around the Broncos with increasing frequency: “The standard.”

 

View on Threads

 

“It’s not our standard,” Webb said of the penalties and why he immediately removed players when they were committed.

“There’s been really good offensive production here in the history of this organization, and we went through that in OTAs. And if we’re not up to that standard, you will be taken out. I don’t care if you’re a starter or a backup.”

Best for the Broncos to learn these lessons now rather than later as they try to further reduce the number of avoidable mistakes. Some penalties are going to happen; they’re errors of execution at full speed, and sometimes infractions go hand-in-hand with maximum effort.

But the pre-snap infractions like false start, defensive offsides, illegal motion and illegal shift? Those are largely within a player’s control. And by watching a few repetitions, a valuable message gets reinforced — and a new offensive coordinator further imprints his stamp on the team.

Related

Broncos see tempers boil over in intense Tuesday practiceBo Nix eager for first game reps with Davis WebbESPN ranks Broncos among NFL’s elite for the futureThe Broncos beating up the Falcons shows just how far the they’ve comeBroncos get Jaylen Waddle back; can he and Bo Nix make up for lost time?Is there a Taysom Hill-type weapon hiding in the Broncos’ quarterback room?