May 11, 2024 • 14 mins
On this episode of "Broncos Now," Sydney Jones recaps Head Coach Sean Payton’s press conference following Saturday’s rookie minicamp practice. Plus, you’ll hear from quarterback Bo Nix, outside linebacker Jonah Elliss, wide receiver Troy Franklin and more of this year’s draft picks. Aric DiLalla also joins the show to discuss his top takeaways from rookie minicamp. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Stitcher or wherever you find your podcasts. Make sure to leave a rating and review.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's Up, Broncos Country.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Welcome back to the Broncos Podcast, networking and YouTube for
the latest episode of Broncos Now. As always are, your
host is Sidney Jones, and coming up on today's episode,
the team held working mini camp this weekend, so we'll
hear from head coach Sean Payan in all seven of
the Broncos draft picks.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
All that more coming up the number Broncos held.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Rookie mini caamp this weekend in which more than fifty
players participated, including all seven of the Broncos draft picks.
We heard today from head coach Sean Payn as he
detailed how the weekend has gone so far.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
So we just finished basically our second full practice of
the rookie camp. We'll have a walk through tonight, We'll
have one more practice tomorrow, and then you know, that'll
conclude the players on the roster. You know, free agents
or draft picks will then stay and acclimate into the
(00:56):
off season program.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
We have a number of players trying out here.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
So basically there's four groups of players. You have our
draft picks, you have our free agents. There's eight or
nine current Broncos that don't have a year credited that
are able to come to this, and then the last
group are the rookies or veteran trial players.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
The hardest thing.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
With this camp every year is just it's the only
time as a coach you don't really know the conditioning
level of the masses. I know, the Broncos that are
out here have gotten sixteen workouts in, but other than that,
you know, these draft picks have been visiting college or
(01:42):
visiting teams. So that's the challenge is just the overall
conditioning level and trying to make sure that we're staying
off the ground and staying healthy.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
We also went inside the locker room a falling practice
today and heard from a few of the Broncos a
draft picks. They detail their thoughts on their first few
practic this is over community camp.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
So far, all we're pretty good. You know, day two
out there.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
You know, my local is just to you know, go
out there, make sure I'm doing everything right and just
give a percent better every day, you know.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
So yeah, it's been good.
Speaker 5 (02:13):
It is a lot of you know, vernacular verbish that
they throw at us, but you talk kind of run
the similar offense the same way that the Broncos run here.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
So it's not too big of a difference. She's got
to make sure I get in my playbook. I mean,
it's awesome.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
You know the coaches, you know they're doing and treat
is good, so they're always trying to put us first.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
So it's it's a huge positive. And the culture here
already is awesome. It's been amazing.
Speaker 6 (02:33):
It's dream come true.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Honestly, hit now like I got drafted. It felt good,
but does it hit till you get here? And I'm
just blessed thinking for the.
Speaker 5 (02:40):
Opportunity here good, just just trying to get better and
trying to improve on my technique.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Sean Payton went on to talk about quarterback a Bone
next and discussed how he's learning the playbook and how
he's handled the install so far.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
He's handling the install well.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
I mean, you know, you had a pretty good practice
today and he's.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Grinding through it.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
He's doing a good job with two or three down
the field throws today. It's almost like watching a good golfer.
You know, sometimes when you watch his game over two years,
you just there's a patience to how he plays. The
ball comes out and I don't want to use the
(03:22):
term boring that's that's not the right term. But yep,
pretty good decisions and with each play, the efficiency and
how he's operating all of that.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
And look, we've.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Done these camps for a long time and some teams
no longer have a true rookie mini camp. It might
be more of an orientation. I like to have fifty guys.
I like to have the workout players here because we
found a tryout player every now and then. And then
it also allows you to have the full team drills
and I think it develops not just the quarterback but
(03:58):
everyone else. So oftentimes your first exposure to huddle, snap count,
verbiage that can be challenging. And so but I thought
he threw it well.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Go next talked in the locker room and discussed what
the process has been like a learning a new offense.
Speaker 6 (04:15):
Well, it's all about studying. It's all about, you know,
taking one play at a time, master it, make sure
you know the fundamentals, technique of that play, what the
play callers intent is, and essentially they just wanted to
go out and execute it. And you know, it's my
job as a quarterback to get the play started and
you know, get the ball where it's supposed to be given.
(04:35):
So a lot of that's completing passes, you know, run
game operation.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
It can be a lot.
Speaker 6 (04:41):
But you know, I feel like, you know, I'm being
taught really well by the coaches. They've done a really
good job of, you know, narrowing everything down and making
it simple so I can just get up there and
process and play fast.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Plush On Payin went on to talk about what he's
looking for from these guys during rookie minnie camp and
how he evaluates them during this time.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Number One, does a player know what to do? I mean,
this is oither being evaluated.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
Does he know?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Do they know what to do? And we know we're
going to give them a lot? So, but how then
how quickly are they learning it? And are they trying
to do what they're being coached? Number three? How well
are they doing it? Do they know what to do?
Are they trying to do what's being coached? How well
are they doing it? And then you get to athleticism effort,
(05:26):
and then you know that's talent. So you know it's
a for a guy who's trying out, man, it's a
it's challenging because you know there's there's essentially one two,
you know, three practices, a couple of walkthroughs, and.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
They're just trying to make an impression.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
And our job is to make sure that none of
those players end up somewhere else. And it was like, man,
they were here and now they're you know, so if
we're going to bring it in, then we're going to
evaluate every one of them.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And a few of the Broncos draft picks also talked about.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Their initial impressions getting to work with head coach Sean
Payton this weekend.
Speaker 6 (06:08):
He's been awesome. He teaches me, you know, so much already.
He's got a lot of knowledge and you know, he's
built a pedigree to where you know, when when he talks,
you listen. So that's what I'm excited to continue to
just learn learn from him more and more each day.
And uh, you know, as we go through practices and
(06:28):
walk throughs, you just can't learn enough from him. He's
like an amazing feeling because I used to watch the
Saints a lot, being from Obs, I used to see
him on TV, him with Drew Brees and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
But for him to be my coast nice just an amazing.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Feeling now joining me here in the Broncos podcast studio
is Broncos lead writer Eric Dall.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Eric, thanks for joining me today.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Nice to get back outside, see the guys back on
the practice field.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
Yeah, Football's back.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
I know football is back. Well, I want to start
off today. Obviously it was rookie minting camp. We heard
earlier in the show from head coach Sean Payton and
a few of our draft picks. Eric, but I know
our fans are dying to know more about bone Nicks obviously,
So what were your takeaways from practice today in terms
of him?
Speaker 5 (07:07):
Yeah, I mean I think first, when we watch these practices,
we do have certain regulations that were things were allowed
to talk about, so got to talk kind of generally here.
Can't unfortunately give folks throw by throw breakdown, But it
was nice to be out there and kind of get
to watch a whole practice, see how guys move from
drill to drill and kind of get their first taste
(07:27):
of NFL football. And with bo, I would say the
things that stand out, like they stood out to this
coaching staff in college, where he gets rid of the
ball quickly, look looks poised back there, made some good throws.
He looked the part and you know, obviously fans will
get a look you'd think during training camp at more
of what Bonix is able to do on the football field,
(07:48):
But just I think you don't want to make grand
declarations based off one mini one mini camp practice that
you see, but.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
So early in the most season exactly.
Speaker 5 (07:58):
But it was exciting to see him out and just
kind of get going and throw some passes to Troy
Franklin to Devon Vley. As Sean Payton said afterwards, if
you watched Devon Vley play during Saturday's practice, he would
have guessed he and Bo or college teammates, just the connection.
They had some nice plays there, So it was it
was fun to watch. And yeah, as Sean Payton said,
(08:21):
Boenix had a good practice, picking things up quickly, doing
a good job with the install Those are all good signs.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, I know, head coach Sean Payton, he joked, gave
an analogy that watching bo is kind of like watching
a good golfer just in terms of his patients, his
decision making over the weekend too, So it was nice
to hear that from Sean as well.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
Yeah, definitely, the execution is good, like you said, the
decision making, he said, Bo plays with patients, which I
think you saw out there. Talked about it, and he
said boring is the wrong word, but maybe uneventful, like
there's not there's not panic when you watch him play.
And Bo kind of joked after in the locker room
that he wished he played golf that way. Yeah, maybe
(09:00):
a better quarterback than he as a golfer, I guess
according to what he said. But yeah, definitely there's this
sense of calm and has the arm talent too, So
that's great to see.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Definitely, Eric, you mentioned Troy Franklin and Von Bailey there too,
But any other draft picks out there kind of specifically
catch your eye.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Maybe some guys on defense.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Yeah, I mean it's again, it's hard to tell. I
think one thing, kind of looping back to the offense
is this special teams change from a kickoff perspective is
really going to be something to watch, and the Broncos
worked on that. Sean Payton talked about it. He thinks
there's going to be double digit touchdown returns this year
based on the new rules, and there's certainly some lanes
(09:40):
for these guys to find, and so that was one
of the more interesting parts of practice was getting to
watch that special teams period and watch the returners kind
of find angles, find space, And that's a chance you'd think, right,
if you want to make this football team, if you
want to carve out a role, find a way to
be a special teams contributor. So that that stood out
(10:02):
to me as well during today's practice, Eric, why.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Do you think this time rocommuning camp is so important,
you know, in terms of these players, these rookies getting
here and getting some time in the coaching staff before
all the vets come onto the field.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
I mean, well, jokingly, if your boix, you want to
play well, because everyone's going to base their radio opinions
all next week based off however many throws on a
Saturday in your second practice ever with the Broncos. But seriously,
I think for draft picks, it's a good chance to
just kind of get into things, show how you take
(10:33):
teaching in the classroom to the field, which is one
of the biggest things in the NFL of can you
take the game plan or the offensive install or defensive
install to the field. Practice it, go inside, watch it,
make corrections, go do it better the next days. That's
a big part for draft picks to figure out. You
want to learn how the team practices so that when
you get Austin with the Vets here soon, you don't
(10:56):
miss a beat, certainly if you are BONICKX. And Sean
Payton said, hey, we're going to have a quarterback competition.
He said he talked with Ben Denucci and just the
number of reps made it tough to have four quarterbacks.
And so you've got Zach Wilson, Jared Stidham, bo Nicks
that competition. Chempayne said, they'll figure out how the reps
are going to work there. But if your Bonix, you
(11:17):
want to be able to jump right into OTA's when
those happen and be able to start competing right And
so using this time to get up to speed is
really important. Everything from how do we stretch, how do
these drills work? You know, how do we stay hydrated?
You know, we're at altitude, so it's a little bit
different for some of these guys in terms of getting
(11:38):
in shape. And then if you are a rookie tryout
or a CFA, this is your chance to kind of
show something. And you know it's rare for rookie tryouts
to make the team and then ultimately make the fifty three.
But it has happened. I mean, Adam Field's a famous
example of the guy who got a rookie tryout, made
the roster. He's gone on to do great things. So
(12:02):
there may be different objectives for each group.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
You know, you look.
Speaker 5 (12:06):
At some of these younger guys who are just looking
for a chance. Maybe you put out some good tape
this weekend and it helps you find another spot, even
if it's not in Denver. So a lot of different
reasons that this is valuable. And some teams don't do
on field works, but right Broncos are one of the
teams that focus on that. And it's fun for us
(12:27):
to watch and it's good for the players as well, definitely.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
And I know Jean Payn he talked about that and
how important it is to see these guys on the
field as well this week, and I thought it was
interesting he talked about how you know, for this time
period for rookie minnie camp, there's different tempos of practice
that you can have, and you said that really this
is the only time where he has guys come in
for camp and not really know what conditioning level they're at.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Yeah, exactly, the veterans, first year type players that participated.
He knows what shape they're in. You don't know what
shape some of these draft picks that have been training
for You know, you're not training for football in the
off season. You're training for the combine, so you can
run forty yards as quickly as you possibly can. Our
friend zoeare maybe could, and I maybe they could be doing. Yeah,
(13:13):
but yeah, you got to get in shape. And certainly,
again at the altitude, it's a little bit of a
bigger factor. So that's another part of it as well.
There's a lot that goes into being a pro, and
I think when you're a rookie you figure that out
really fast. And certainly, everything we heard in the draft
evaluation process Sean Payton tries to give these guys, especially quarterbacks,
(13:35):
more than they can handle and see how they react
to it. Sounds like a similar approach during mini camp
of let's give these guys a lot and see how
they figure it out.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Talking about being a pro.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
We went inside the locker room after practice today too
and heard from most of the draft picks, a few
college free agents. I must say, Eric, A lot of
the guys were very well spoken, they're very mature.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
So that was, you know, rather fresh air to see too.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
Yeah, I mean a bunch of these guys have been
in college long time, you know, not in a bad
way obviously, but just the current landscape of college football
across the league. You see guys that took COVID years
have been a little bit older maybe, And so yeah,
you look at a guy like a Devon Valley who's
a little bit older but a pro right and so
(14:18):
or a Nick Carjulo who spent four or five years
at Yale and then transfers to South Carolina, gets a
different level of competition, gets a new experience. And yeah,
you want guys that are going to come here and
be ready to compete, be pros. And I was impressed
with with what I saw this weekend, like you said,
both on and off the field.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Yep, me too.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
It's nice to be outside watch practice again. Eric, appreciate
you joining the show today. You got it said, that's
going to do it for today's episode of Broncos Now
Broncos Country.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Thanks so much for tuning in.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
We'd you write back here on the Broncos Podcast network
in YouTube and next week for another episode, I will
see you all then
What's Up, Broncos Country.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Welcome back to the Broncos Podcast, networking and YouTube for
the latest episode of Broncos Now. As always are, your
host is Sidney Jones, and coming up on today's episode,
the team held working mini camp this weekend, so we'll
hear from head coach Sean Payan in all seven of
the Broncos draft picks.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
All that more coming up the number Broncos held.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Rookie mini caamp this weekend in which more than fifty
players participated, including all seven of the Broncos draft picks.
We heard today from head coach Sean Payn as he
detailed how the weekend has gone so far.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
So we just finished basically our second full practice of
the rookie camp. We'll have a walk through tonight, We'll
have one more practice tomorrow, and then you know, that'll
conclude the players on the roster. You know, free agents
or draft picks will then stay and acclimate into the
(00:56):
off season program.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
We have a number of players trying out here.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
So basically there's four groups of players. You have our
draft picks, you have our free agents. There's eight or
nine current Broncos that don't have a year credited that
are able to come to this, and then the last
group are the rookies or veteran trial players.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
The hardest thing.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
With this camp every year is just it's the only
time as a coach you don't really know the conditioning
level of the masses. I know, the Broncos that are
out here have gotten sixteen workouts in, but other than that,
you know, these draft picks have been visiting college or
(01:42):
visiting teams. So that's the challenge is just the overall
conditioning level and trying to make sure that we're staying
off the ground and staying healthy.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
We also went inside the locker room a falling practice
today and heard from a few of the Broncos a
draft picks. They detail their thoughts on their first few
practic this is over community camp.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
So far, all we're pretty good. You know, day two
out there.
Speaker 5 (02:03):
You know, my local is just to you know, go
out there, make sure I'm doing everything right and just
give a percent better every day, you know.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
So yeah, it's been good.
Speaker 5 (02:13):
It is a lot of you know, vernacular verbish that
they throw at us, but you talk kind of run
the similar offense the same way that the Broncos run here.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
So it's not too big of a difference. She's got
to make sure I get in my playbook. I mean,
it's awesome.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
You know the coaches, you know they're doing and treat
is good, so they're always trying to put us first.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
So it's it's a huge positive. And the culture here
already is awesome. It's been amazing.
Speaker 6 (02:33):
It's dream come true.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Honestly, hit now like I got drafted. It felt good,
but does it hit till you get here? And I'm
just blessed thinking for the.
Speaker 5 (02:40):
Opportunity here good, just just trying to get better and
trying to improve on my technique.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Sean Payton went on to talk about quarterback a Bone
next and discussed how he's learning the playbook and how
he's handled the install so far.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
He's handling the install well.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
I mean, you know, you had a pretty good practice
today and he's.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Grinding through it.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
He's doing a good job with two or three down
the field throws today. It's almost like watching a good golfer.
You know, sometimes when you watch his game over two years,
you just there's a patience to how he plays. The
ball comes out and I don't want to use the
(03:22):
term boring that's that's not the right term. But yep,
pretty good decisions and with each play, the efficiency and
how he's operating all of that.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
And look, we've.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Done these camps for a long time and some teams
no longer have a true rookie mini camp. It might
be more of an orientation. I like to have fifty guys.
I like to have the workout players here because we
found a tryout player every now and then. And then
it also allows you to have the full team drills
and I think it develops not just the quarterback but
(03:58):
everyone else. So oftentimes your first exposure to huddle, snap count,
verbiage that can be challenging. And so but I thought
he threw it well.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Go next talked in the locker room and discussed what
the process has been like a learning a new offense.
Speaker 6 (04:15):
Well, it's all about studying. It's all about, you know,
taking one play at a time, master it, make sure
you know the fundamentals, technique of that play, what the
play callers intent is, and essentially they just wanted to
go out and execute it. And you know, it's my
job as a quarterback to get the play started and
you know, get the ball where it's supposed to be given.
(04:35):
So a lot of that's completing passes, you know, run
game operation.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
It can be a lot.
Speaker 6 (04:41):
But you know, I feel like, you know, I'm being
taught really well by the coaches. They've done a really
good job of, you know, narrowing everything down and making
it simple so I can just get up there and
process and play fast.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Plush On Payin went on to talk about what he's
looking for from these guys during rookie minnie camp and
how he evaluates them during this time.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Number One, does a player know what to do? I mean,
this is oither being evaluated.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
Does he know?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Do they know what to do? And we know we're
going to give them a lot? So, but how then
how quickly are they learning it? And are they trying
to do what they're being coached? Number three? How well
are they doing it? Do they know what to do?
Are they trying to do what's being coached? How well
are they doing it? And then you get to athleticism effort,
(05:26):
and then you know that's talent. So you know it's
a for a guy who's trying out, man, it's a
it's challenging because you know there's there's essentially one two,
you know, three practices, a couple of walkthroughs, and.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
They're just trying to make an impression.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
And our job is to make sure that none of
those players end up somewhere else. And it was like, man,
they were here and now they're you know, so if
we're going to bring it in, then we're going to
evaluate every one of them.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And a few of the Broncos draft picks also talked about.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Their initial impressions getting to work with head coach Sean
Payton this weekend.
Speaker 6 (06:08):
He's been awesome. He teaches me, you know, so much already.
He's got a lot of knowledge and you know, he's
built a pedigree to where you know, when when he talks,
you listen. So that's what I'm excited to continue to
just learn learn from him more and more each day.
And uh, you know, as we go through practices and
(06:28):
walk throughs, you just can't learn enough from him. He's
like an amazing feeling because I used to watch the
Saints a lot, being from Obs, I used to see
him on TV, him with Drew Brees and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
But for him to be my coast nice just an amazing.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Feeling now joining me here in the Broncos podcast studio
is Broncos lead writer Eric Dall.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Eric, thanks for joining me today.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Nice to get back outside, see the guys back on
the practice field.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
Yeah, Football's back.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
I know football is back. Well, I want to start
off today. Obviously it was rookie minting camp. We heard
earlier in the show from head coach Sean Payton and
a few of our draft picks. Eric, but I know
our fans are dying to know more about bone Nicks obviously,
So what were your takeaways from practice today in terms
of him?
Speaker 5 (07:07):
Yeah, I mean I think first, when we watch these practices,
we do have certain regulations that were things were allowed
to talk about, so got to talk kind of generally here.
Can't unfortunately give folks throw by throw breakdown, But it
was nice to be out there and kind of get
to watch a whole practice, see how guys move from
drill to drill and kind of get their first taste
(07:27):
of NFL football. And with bo, I would say the
things that stand out, like they stood out to this
coaching staff in college, where he gets rid of the
ball quickly, look looks poised back there, made some good throws.
He looked the part and you know, obviously fans will
get a look you'd think during training camp at more
of what Bonix is able to do on the football field,
(07:48):
But just I think you don't want to make grand
declarations based off one mini one mini camp practice that
you see, but.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
So early in the most season exactly.
Speaker 5 (07:58):
But it was exciting to see him out and just
kind of get going and throw some passes to Troy
Franklin to Devon Vley. As Sean Payton said afterwards, if
you watched Devon Vley play during Saturday's practice, he would
have guessed he and Bo or college teammates, just the connection.
They had some nice plays there, So it was it
was fun to watch. And yeah, as Sean Payton said,
(08:21):
Boenix had a good practice, picking things up quickly, doing
a good job with the install Those are all good signs.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, I know, head coach Sean Payton, he joked, gave
an analogy that watching bo is kind of like watching
a good golfer just in terms of his patients, his
decision making over the weekend too, So it was nice
to hear that from Sean as well.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
Yeah, definitely, the execution is good, like you said, the
decision making, he said, Bo plays with patients, which I
think you saw out there. Talked about it, and he
said boring is the wrong word, but maybe uneventful, like
there's not there's not panic when you watch him play.
And Bo kind of joked after in the locker room
that he wished he played golf that way. Yeah, maybe
(09:00):
a better quarterback than he as a golfer, I guess
according to what he said. But yeah, definitely there's this
sense of calm and has the arm talent too, So
that's great to see.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Definitely, Eric, you mentioned Troy Franklin and Von Bailey there too,
But any other draft picks out there kind of specifically
catch your eye.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Maybe some guys on defense.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Yeah, I mean it's again, it's hard to tell. I
think one thing, kind of looping back to the offense
is this special teams change from a kickoff perspective is
really going to be something to watch, and the Broncos
worked on that. Sean Payton talked about it. He thinks
there's going to be double digit touchdown returns this year
based on the new rules, and there's certainly some lanes
(09:40):
for these guys to find, and so that was one
of the more interesting parts of practice was getting to
watch that special teams period and watch the returners kind
of find angles, find space, And that's a chance you'd think, right,
if you want to make this football team, if you
want to carve out a role, find a way to
be a special teams contributor. So that that stood out
(10:02):
to me as well during today's practice, Eric, why.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Do you think this time rocommuning camp is so important,
you know, in terms of these players, these rookies getting
here and getting some time in the coaching staff before
all the vets come onto the field.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
I mean, well, jokingly, if your boix, you want to
play well, because everyone's going to base their radio opinions
all next week based off however many throws on a
Saturday in your second practice ever with the Broncos. But seriously,
I think for draft picks, it's a good chance to
just kind of get into things, show how you take
(10:33):
teaching in the classroom to the field, which is one
of the biggest things in the NFL of can you
take the game plan or the offensive install or defensive
install to the field. Practice it, go inside, watch it,
make corrections, go do it better the next days. That's
a big part for draft picks to figure out. You
want to learn how the team practices so that when
you get Austin with the Vets here soon, you don't
(10:56):
miss a beat, certainly if you are BONICKX. And Sean
Payton said, hey, we're going to have a quarterback competition.
He said he talked with Ben Denucci and just the
number of reps made it tough to have four quarterbacks.
And so you've got Zach Wilson, Jared Stidham, bo Nicks
that competition. Chempayne said, they'll figure out how the reps
are going to work there. But if your Bonix, you
(11:17):
want to be able to jump right into OTA's when
those happen and be able to start competing right And
so using this time to get up to speed is
really important. Everything from how do we stretch, how do
these drills work? You know, how do we stay hydrated?
You know, we're at altitude, so it's a little bit
different for some of these guys in terms of getting
(11:38):
in shape. And then if you are a rookie tryout
or a CFA, this is your chance to kind of
show something. And you know it's rare for rookie tryouts
to make the team and then ultimately make the fifty three.
But it has happened. I mean, Adam Field's a famous
example of the guy who got a rookie tryout, made
the roster. He's gone on to do great things. So
(12:02):
there may be different objectives for each group.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
You know, you look.
Speaker 5 (12:06):
At some of these younger guys who are just looking
for a chance. Maybe you put out some good tape
this weekend and it helps you find another spot, even
if it's not in Denver. So a lot of different
reasons that this is valuable. And some teams don't do
on field works, but right Broncos are one of the
teams that focus on that. And it's fun for us
(12:27):
to watch and it's good for the players as well, definitely.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
And I know Jean Payn he talked about that and
how important it is to see these guys on the
field as well this week, and I thought it was
interesting he talked about how you know, for this time
period for rookie minnie camp, there's different tempos of practice
that you can have, and you said that really this
is the only time where he has guys come in
for camp and not really know what conditioning level they're at.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Yeah, exactly, the veterans, first year type players that participated.
He knows what shape they're in. You don't know what
shape some of these draft picks that have been training
for You know, you're not training for football in the
off season. You're training for the combine, so you can
run forty yards as quickly as you possibly can. Our
friend zoeare maybe could, and I maybe they could be doing. Yeah,
(13:13):
but yeah, you got to get in shape. And certainly,
again at the altitude, it's a little bit of a
bigger factor. So that's another part of it as well.
There's a lot that goes into being a pro, and
I think when you're a rookie you figure that out
really fast. And certainly, everything we heard in the draft
evaluation process Sean Payton tries to give these guys, especially quarterbacks,
(13:35):
more than they can handle and see how they react
to it. Sounds like a similar approach during mini camp
of let's give these guys a lot and see how
they figure it out.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Talking about being a pro.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
We went inside the locker room after practice today too
and heard from most of the draft picks, a few
college free agents. I must say, Eric, A lot of
the guys were very well spoken, they're very mature.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
So that was, you know, rather fresh air to see too.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
Yeah, I mean a bunch of these guys have been
in college long time, you know, not in a bad
way obviously, but just the current landscape of college football
across the league. You see guys that took COVID years
have been a little bit older maybe, And so yeah,
you look at a guy like a Devon Valley who's
a little bit older but a pro right and so
(14:18):
or a Nick Carjulo who spent four or five years
at Yale and then transfers to South Carolina, gets a
different level of competition, gets a new experience. And yeah,
you want guys that are going to come here and
be ready to compete, be pros. And I was impressed
with with what I saw this weekend, like you said,
both on and off the field.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Yep, me too.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
It's nice to be outside watch practice again. Eric, appreciate
you joining the show today. You got it said, that's
going to do it for today's episode of Broncos Now
Broncos Country.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Thanks so much for tuning in.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
We'd you write back here on the Broncos Podcast network
in YouTube and next week for another episode, I will
see you all then
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