The Russell Wilson worry brigade needs to calm down about the QB

The Denver Broncos went through another day of training camp with pads on Tuesday. After the rain on Monday night, the conditions were muggy. On the field, things heated up quickly as the work in camp continued.

I believe Broncos head coach Sean Payton has to like what he’s seeing from his team. It’s early, and not everything is perfect, but there’s some good competition out there on the football field.

Here are three of my observations from Tuesday’s practice.

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Leave Russell Alone!

We live in a society where “hot takes” are the order of the day. I blame Twitter or X or whatever-the-heck we’re calling it, but I know that no matter what QB Russell Wilson does on the practice field, it’s going to be scrutinized heavily on social media. I’ve got one simple message for anyone with active thumbs – calm down.

Wilson developed bad habits under Nathaniel Hackett last year. It’s up to Payton to change those habits into good ones, and that’s going to take some time. On the first day of practice, Wilson was hanging onto the ball too long. Now, Wilson is doing a better job of taking what the defense gives him. He’s throwing interceptions in practice, but as I’ve highlighted before, he needs to challenge his receivers and the defense. Throwing interceptions in practice is not a big deal. However, you don’t want those bad decisions carrying over to the regular season.

On Tuesday, Wilson bird-dogged a receiver that led Justin Simmons right to his pass. That’s a habit young quarterbacks have – not seasoned veterans like Wilson. I don’t think he read the field and had his mind made up as to where he was going with the ball before he got the snap. Wilson needs to clean this up, and he needs to trust in the system. I think he may lack trust in his offensive line, but Wilson needs to trust that Payton will put in plays that get guys open – if you only read what was designed.

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Bonitto Wrecks Everyone

Even though he’s made some plays here and there over the last several days of practice, I have yet to write up second-year edge Nik Bonitto. He’s made my notebook each day for pressures or batted balls, so there have been some good things about what he’s doing out there. On Tuesday, Bonitto was great, so I must tell you everything.

Bonitto wrecked everyone in front of him. He made plays against Garett Bolles, Mike McGlinchey, and Cam Fleming. It didn’t matter who the opponent was, Bonitto was using multiple moves to create pressure and get sacks (even though there’s no live tackling to the ground). He’s always been a player with great burst, but Bonitto was showing more than just closing burst on Tuesday.

I saw him stack moves in practice. This is something he didn’t do as a younger player. In the matchup against McGlinchey that he won, Bonitto faked a bull rush and turned it into an inside spin move which immediately put him in the lap of the quarterback. Many rushers have moves, but the best rushers have another move in the register if the first move is stunted. Bonitto is learning to do that, and having those skills will help him tremendously.

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More!

Before the start of training camp, I wrote about three under-the-radar players you need to know who could make splash plays when things opened to the fans. Undrafted WR Taylor Grimes was on that short list because of what I saw during rookie minicamp, OTAs, and mandatory minicamp this offseason.

He has made some plays during the first few days of camp, but on Tuesday he was showcased more than before. Of course, Grimes came through with his quickness on underneath routes to help move the chains. Grimes is always open, and he catches everything thrown his way. Now, I’d like to see him move up the depth chart so he can go against some better defenders.

Grimes is the type of player who creates mismatches from the slot. He’s a precise route-runner, and he can sit down in the soft spot of a zone. Grimes goes all out to make a catch, and he can snare passes others wouldn’t dare try. After his best day on Tuesday, hopefully we see more for Grimes going forward.

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