Player attendance
Did not practice: Tight end Austin Fort (knee surgery) missed his third consecutive day. Receiver Juwann Winfree (groin) missed his second straight day, but did agility work on a side field.
Coach Vic Fangio said Winfree is “day to day” but Fort is going to be “out a while, at least 4–8 weeks.” With that timetable, injured reserve seems to be Fort’s fate.
Returned to practice: Fullback/tight end Andrew Beck, who was on the COVID-19 list, was activated and practiced.
“One of the things with COVID that happens with some guys, it attacks your conditioning and your capacity to work for longer stretches of time,” Fangio said.
New injuries
None.
Top play
At first glance, it appeared QB Drew Lock overthrew the underneath receiver, but we’ll look at the positive and say Lock lofted a pass over coverage to WR Courtland Sutton for a long gain during 11-on-11 work.
Thumbs-up
- WR Courtland Sutton. Can a Pro Bowl receiver fly under the radar? Yes, when his team uses first- and second-round draft picks on receivers (Jerry Jeudy/KJ Hamler). Sutton is clearly in-sync with QB Drew Lock.
- Defending the screen. The Broncos’ offense tried a few screen passes, but the defense swarmed to the football.
- Wearing pads. The first padded practice came and went without incident. “It was just OK,” coach Vic Fangio said. “It wasn’t as crisp as I thought it would be.”
Thumbs down
KR Diontae Spencer. The best way for Spencer to make the team is as a returner and the best way to win that job is catching the kicks/punts. Off the Jugs machine, Spencer dropped a kickoff, which under the conditions, is inexcusable.
Odds and ends
- The Broncos’ first day in pads featured 45 plays of 11-on-11 work and one period of 7‑on‑7. They can increase the practice time by 15 minutes on Tuesday.
- QB Drew Lock completed his first six passes during 11-on-11. Included was a throw to TE Noah Fant after a low shotgun snap from C Austin Schlottmann and an accurate throw to WR Courtland Sutton. Lock’s first incompletion was a pass break-up by ILB Josey Jewell (intended for Fant). Two plays later, he slightly missed Fant on a wheel route. Fant dove for the catch but didn’t hang on.
- On QB Jeff Driskel’s first pass, TE Albert Okwuegbunam had a step on S Kareem Jackson down the left seam, but the throw was slightly underthrown and incomplete.
- On the final play of practice, QB Brett Rypien threw deep middle for WR KJ Hamler, who tried to climb the ladder, but couldn’t quite get both hands on the football.
- Schlottmann took the first-team center reps for the second time in three practices. Rookie Lloyd Cushenberry was second-team and Patrick Morris the third team.
- LT Garett Bolles had a false start penalty during 11-on-11.
- To start 7‑on‑7, Lock found TE Jake Butt for 20 yards and to wrap up the series, ILB Todd Davis broke up a slant intended for Fant.
- Butt had three catches during 7‑on‑7, one apiece from Lock, Driskel and Rypien.
- In his second series of 7‑on‑7, Lock completed passes to TE Nick Vannett, WR Jerry Jeudy and RB Phillip Lindsay.
- The first padded practice meant the first chance to 1‑on‑1 pass rush/pass protection drills. The notable results: LG Dalton Risner won vs. DE Jurrell Casey and DE DeMarcus Walker; Cushenberry won vs. NT Christian Covington (twice) and NT McTelvin Agim; LT Quinn Bailey won twice vs. DE DeShawn Williams; OLB Malik Reed won twice vs. RT Jake Rodgers; OLB Jeremiah Attaochu won vs. RT Demar Dotson; and Dotson won twice vs. OLB Derrek Tuszka.
- Fangio said the Broncos will “probably” have live goal-line/short-yardage periods of practice later this week. “We’ll probably have some live action before the end of camp — how many days we’ll do that or how long in each practice is yet to be determined,” he said.
Tuesday’s schedule
Practice.
Staff writer Kyle Newman contributed to this report.