Sean Payton is clear how many Broncos RBs will get significant carries

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton normally delivers lengthy answers at the podium.

But sometimes, his shortest ones can be the most telling.

It was an interesting development last week against the Tennessee Titans when Tyler Badie was active as the third running back instead of Jaleel McLaughlin.

That was a decision Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi called “tough,” as McLaughlin had to watch the game in street clothes.

We’ll learn Denver’s inactives against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2 around 12:30 p.m. MT on Sunday, with some fans wondering if Badie or McLaughlin will be RB3.

But the dirty little secret?

It might not matter much, at least in the running game.

Against the Titans, only J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey registered a carry as running backs. Dobbins had 16, Harvey had six and Badie had zero. Badie did catch two passes for 16 yards, but wasn’t a massive part of the offensive game-plan.

For Sean Payton, that’s just the way things are going to be. He’s comfortable handing the ball to two different players any given Sunday.

“I think the moral of the story always is, I’ve had a lot of experience feeding two, and that’s where the focus is,” Payton said on Friday. “It’s hard to feed three.”

Long story short, don’t fret too much if it’s Badie or McLaughlin who’s active. Payton is going to instruct QB Bo Nix to give the ball to Dobbins or Harvey, and that’s pretty much that.

Now, whether or not they get more carries than the first game is a fair question. The Broncos seemed to finally get control against Tennessee when Harvey busted off a 50-yard run then Dobbins had a 19-yard touchdown on the same drive.

Hopefully, Sean Payton commits more to the run against the Colts. Who’s carrying the football if so seems pretty clear.

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